www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Went in search of some royalty this afternoon. The weather wasn't on my side, and he made it hard work, but I found one. I'm quite sure more were lurking, but they really don't like flying unless the suns out!

Beautiful Buggy - well done for tracking one down!

Matsukaze wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:22 pmSunday 25 September - Geranium Bronze disporting itself amongst ornamental flower beds in the centre of Dinan, northern Brittany. I did not realise they got this far north in France. If they are truly resident here, and this isn't an accidental introduction of some kind, they should presumably be able to colonise Jersey (which is not very far away at all) and possibly parts of the Devon and Cornwall coast - the Torquay area springing to mind as being perhaps suitable.

It may have come in on pelargoniums in an earlier stage, Chris, and then pupated and subsequently emerged as an adult.

Mind you, the heatwave throughout France has been so intense this year that practically anything's possible!

David M wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:06 am

Matsukaze wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:22 pmSunday 25 September - Geranium Bronze disporting itself amongst ornamental flower beds in the centre of Dinan, northern Brittany. I did not realise they got this far north in France. If they are truly resident here, and this isn't an accidental introduction of some kind, they should presumably be able to colonise Jersey (which is not very far away at all) and possibly parts of the Devon and Cornwall coast - the Torquay area springing to mind as being perhaps suitable.

It may have come in on pelargoniums in an earlier stage, Chris, and then pupated and subsequently emerged as an adult.

Mind you, the heatwave throughout France has been so intense this year that practically anything's possible!

Geranium Bronze is another species that cannot tolerate frost and so would be unlikely to become truly resident in the British Isles. However, the much milder Mediterranean coast seems to suit it very well! One other distinctive factor (which leads to its appearance further north than you would otherwise expect) is its choice of ornamental pelargoniums (often called "geraniums") as a foodplant. These plants are readily available year-round in garden centres (and can be successfully overwintered in frost-free conservatories or even sheltered porches too) which means the larvae may survive the UK winter along with their foodplants in these somewhat artificial locations. This might conceivably lead to a kind of "human-assisted" UK residency.

Another point is that the species is not believed to be really migratory - their spread is entirely reliant on the huge popularity of ornamental pelargoniums and their ubiquitous presence throughout southern Europe especially. It is an easy hop from one windowbox to another! On top of that we transport the plants much further afield to and from the afore-mentioned garden centres. Geranium Bronze doesn't have to do much to widen its range - we do all the work for it.

One associated problem is that they have a capacity for breeding success that can lead to decimation of the pelargoniums, and they are therefore a potential pest - they may actually be notifiable as such to DEFRA in the UK though I suspect in southern Europe the battle (if ever there really was one) has been largely conceded: they are not an uncommon sight there these days.

Cheers,

Dave

Old Wolf wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:45 pm

Lawts wrote: ↑Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:32 pm A tough but very rewarding day providing two new British butterflies for me.

Hello Lawts, good to meet you too and as I said on the day, I salute you for a sterling performance.

As with many others I spent Sunday afternoon in the company of my very first Long Tailed Blues down in Worthing. A great deal of thanks goes out to Neil Hulme for being a perfect host and as soon as I had arrived and introduced myself mustered the troops to find me my first LTB.A shame you had to head off but I met some great people on the day including Paul Day, UKB member Lawts and Katrina who although we never actually introduced ourselves to each other. Our paths must have crossed paths as her PD (so a belated hello from me) among many others from near and far.

Full report in my PD soon but I estimate the following:
7-8 LTB's (1 female)
Fair few Cloudies (1 Helice which only landed for 2 seconds and one which caused quite a stir among everyone who saw it fly)
1 Small copper
1 Red Admiral
Some whites, no idea how many but to be honest everyone was only interested if they were being LTB bait

Mike did the Helice reappear? I know you and I saw it land briefly and then head off west towards the seafront houses.
Thanks.

Still some fresh Blues and Coppers on the hill this lunchtime. Beacon Hill, Wiltshire

Clouded Yellow (helice) x 1
Small White x 6
Small Copper x 2
Common Blue x 7
Speckled Wood x 5

It'll be quite a while before my personal diary catches up to the present day, so I thought I'd post some more new emergences from my local patch seen this morning between the sunny (but very cool) early spell and the cloudy remainder of the day.

This lovely fresh Red Admiral was actually the last to be seen, a common sight here every autumn.Also far from being unusual were the first two butterflies I spotted (within a hundred metres of home) - a female and then a male Holly Blue in quick succession. These lovely new butterflies must be third brood individuals, slightly earlier than their usual appearance here in October and November presumably because of the weather.Even without more exotic fare like LTB and QoS, the season here is far from dead...

Cheers,

Dave

Lawts wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:08 pm Mike did the Helice reappear? I know you and I saw it land briefly and then head off west towards the seafront houses.
Thanks.

Hello Steve, unfortunately it did not put in any more appearances. It was the only one I saw all day.

Old Wolf wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 6:21 pm

Lawts wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:08 pm Mike did the Helice reappear? I know you and I saw it land briefly and then head off west towards the seafront houses.
Thanks.

Hello Steve, unfortunately it did not put in any more appearances. It was the only one I saw all day.

Ah ok. Cheers.

Monday 19th, West Williamston, Pembrokeshire:

Small White 4
Small Tortoiseshell 3
Small Copper 2
Large White 2
Red Admiral 1
Comma 1
Brown Hairstreak 1

Brown Hairstreak eggs: 53

Not too much on the butterfly front for me. Visited Logie Steading up near Forres at weekend and managed to see a few red admirals. Still a few bugs visiting my Aberdeen garden when sun appears. Already looking forward to next year and hopefully a trip down south to add to my firsts.

Concerning the Walmer Q of S fritillaries .The Gent that reported the first Queens has now photograped 12 different males and another close by .............+ a couple of possible fly-byes ,he,s had no luck with the female Queens ,but i think i,m right in saying that at least 3 have been seen ,the foodplant (Field Pansey) has also been found on site .I did have a bit of a look myself ,but never managed to find any .
Allan.W.

That's a good number of Queens. Doesn't seem to be restricted to Field Pansy though as a larval food plant though, with some other Viola species mentioned in the literature including V. tricolor, V. hirta & V. odorata. One source also mentions Lucerne.

I realise that there are other foodplants ,but in this area (East Kent )it (field pansey ) is probably the commonest to be found , V tricolor is particularly scarce locally . The Violet species are possible but tend to be more woodland based here .
Allan .W.

Tuesday 20th, Port Eynon, Gower:

Small White 30-40
Large White 6
Red Admiral 4
Painted Lady 1
Comma 1
Green Veined White 1

Friday 23rd, Lower Kilvey Hill & Dan-y-Graig cemetery:

Speckled Wood 9
Small White 8
Small Copper 4
Large White 2
Common Blue 2

Friday 23rd, Crymlyn Burrows, Swansea:

Small Copper 4
Small White 3
Speckled Wood 1
Common Blue 1

Thursday 29th, Limeslade Bay, Gower:

Small White 17
Large White 7
Speckled Wood 2

September was an excellent month for Hummingbird Hawk Moths in the garden (Cumbria). From photos that I took, I identified two different individuals. At least one was present on 11 days out of 30, visiting up to four times a day and nectaring for between 5 and 30 minutes. They nectared on Buddleia, Verbena Bonariensis and Bowles Mauve but ignored the Red Valerian.

Those are lovely images, Sarah. I'm surprised they avoided the valerian though. When I've seen them on the coast near where I live that's been the plant they go for (although they don't have the option of buddleia or verbena nearby).