Pauline

[andy brown]

Great pictures again Pauline and yes you are becoming a twitcher , lets hope they were a genuine migrant and that they do go on to colonise

Catch up soon

Andy

[Maximus]

Brilliant Pauline, great photos I agree with Andy, lets hope they are migrants, they're a lovely little butterfly.

Mike

[Padfield]

I spent a lot of time hanging around nettle patches last year, Pauline, hoping to catch a female at it! Those are brilliant egg strings - something I've long wanted to photograph. Maps don't fly in my part of Switzerland so I thought I had an excuse, but as you've achieved it in the UK my excuse looks a little flimsy ...

This is one species I think has a real chance of getting a foothold in the UK, though it is more fussy and less opportunistic than other nettle feeders, that typically hibernate as adults. Spring 2015 is going to be very exciting, with first brood maps and yellow-legged tortoiseshells to look out for!

Guy

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline, I was going to comment on the range of species you saw at Noar Hill and the great photos from there ... and then you go and post those photos of the egg laying Map, fantastic stuff and superb images.

I remember seeing a picture of Map Butterfly egg strings in a book years ago and wondering at the time if they hatch out in sequence, last one first. What happens if the first one on the leaf hatches first

All the best,

Neil.

[badgerbob]

Wonderful Map pictures Pauline.

[Susie]

Superb photos!

[David M]

This is one species I think has a real chance of getting a foothold in the UK, though it is more fussy and less opportunistic than other nettle feeders, that typically hibernate as adults. Spring 2015 is going to be very exciting, with first brood maps and yellow-legged tortoiseshells to look out for!

I'm interested to know why you should think that, Guy.

In fact, I'd love to learn which continental species you feel have the best chance of colonising the UK in the next decade or so.

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Pauline

Lovely photos of the Map I reared this species many years ago, they are a delightful little butterfly. Hopefully we will be seeing more of them and not a million miles away

[millerd]

Just amazing.

Dave

[Wurzel]

Absolutely fantastic stuff Pauline - how do you get your information

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[essexbuzzard]

I was wondering that-wish they had told all us as well But then again,probably best not.

Given the colonisation of several dragonfly species in GB in recent decades,i for one am suprised that no new butterflies have colonised-yet.

I hope this is the start of something special. Great pics as always,Pauline.

[Pauline]

Thank you all so much for your amazing comments – too many to respond to individually on this occasion. I feel very privileged to have witnessed such a remarkable event. I have just read that Map ‘eggs or larvae have never been recorded in the wild in the UK‘ although I don’t know if this information is up to date and accurate. Obviously it isn’t now!

When I saw the female only inches from the ground, low down in the nettles going from leaf to leaf, it seemed to me that she was searching for a place to deposit her eggs . I wasn’t wrong! I am still suffering as I had to lie face down in a bed of nettles to get those shots but to my mind it was worth it. I did wonder why she kept flicking open her wings but looking at those shots now it would seem a spider was pestering her.

Once I had managed a few shots of both male and female Maps, the latter being far more obliging, I moved away from the central area and wandered to a different area to fully appreciate all the other butterflies. I am so pleased that I did as I chanced upon another half dozen Maps. I was treated to some wonderful aerial displays of 2/3 butterflies at a time and at one point I thought I was about to witness a mating pair. Quite often there were 2 or 3 butterflies sharing a flower head. It was hard to tear myself away from this amazing spectacle but my time was up. I have kept this report brief and may expand on activities at some point in the future but for now a few more shots of those gorgeous butterflies, the colours of which varied considerably with the frequently changing light levels:

The female has a double broken orange line on the hind wings whereas the male only has one.

[Pete Eeles]

I have just read that Map ‘eggs or larvae have never been recorded in the wild in the UK‘ .

Well - I suspect they have been, since there was a population in the Forest of Dean for 2 years (1912 - 1914) until they were all collected up. I think that sentence (from Wikipedia) is in relation to attempts to introduce this non-native species, and doesn't even mention that the Forest of Dean colony had become established and states that the introduction "failed" which is clearly wrong!

Cheers,

- Pete

[NickMorgan]

Wow, what an amazing series of posts. It is as though you live on a different continent from me! So many butterflies that I have never seen!
So, I take it that the Map butterflies are ones that have managed to fly over to the UK and establish themselves here? From what you say there were a few which would indicate at least a second generation. This is really exciting!
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as we have had five new species move up into East Lothian in the last few years, so if this expansion is due to climate change then I would presume other species from mainland Europe could be showing a similar movement. I wonder if their southern range is contracting? There is always so much to learn with butterflies.
I would also be interested to hear how Clouded Yellows and Long-tailed Blues are doing in England. If they came over in good numbers last year and have been breading, then with the mild winter I would expect them to be doing well.
Your pictures of the egg-laying are fantastic, by the way!!

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Pauline,
I can imagine you're "very privileged to have witnessed such a remarkable event".
I'm chuffed even when I see a Map in France - I imagine your sighting in the UK is the equivalent of seeing little green men getting out of a spaceship. Whatever will turn up next?
Chris

[Katrina]

Brilliant photos Pauline

[Maximus]

Superb photos of the Maps, Pauline

Mike

[Pete Eeles]

I have just read that Map ‘eggs or larvae have never been recorded in the wild in the UK‘ .

Well - I suspect they have been, since there was a population in the Forest of Dean for 2 years (1912 - 1914) until they were all collected up.

Thanks to Mark Colvin for letting me know about another colony that lasted at least 1 season in the wild, having been "put down" at the site shown on the data label. Sorry to clutter up your diary, Pauline - happy to remove these if unhelpful!

Copyright OUMNH

Copyright OUMNH

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pauline]

Thank you for the compliments Mike, Katrina - much appreciated. Great to hear from you Chris, and yes, I am still thrilled, despite much discussion and debate on their provenance. It is certainly worth keeping eyes open these days.

Morning Nick, uncertainty surrounds the provenance of these butterflies but my opinion (and it is just my opinion), these butterflies have not been released recently and for various reasons it seems to me that they are currently emerging on that site. This seems to point to a female arriving there (somehow) in the Spring. Apparently, in the wild, the 2nd brood is more mobile so if they are not the result of a release I am wondering if it could be feasible that a female arrived last summer and the spring brood simply was not detected. As I said elsewhere, we shall probably never know.

Certainly not clutter Pete - extremely interesting and thanks to Mark for bringing it to our attention. I took the 'recording' phrase as meaning 'seen and noted, photographed, documented' and I was certainly not disputing their actual existence - just trying to establish whether this is the first time they have actually been photographed.

I am soon to move on with a report closer to home and with that in mind I am posting this shot (taken a little while ago now) but worthy of note because she became the 20th species to visit my garden. Hummingbird Hawk moth entertained me last night but as usual my photos of this insect are now in the bin!

[Pauline]

The first set of photos of 2 Small Copper I am rearing: