www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Your dragonfly is a female common darter, Sympetrum striolatum, Bertl. The pair of mother-of-pearl bands on the side of the thorax is a useful character to distinguish it from other darters.

New life in my garden yesterday and today, in the form of freshly hatched green-veined white caterpillars:







They feed on the soft flesh on the underside of the leaves, leaving those characteristic pitting marks. The plant is annual wall rocket, Diplotaxis muralis. I repotted a few plants with eggs from the vegetable bed so I could follow them through:



The caterpillars eat their eggs completely, leaving no trace. This is where one was:



I also put some without eggs into another, bigger pot, in case they outgrow their initial plants:



Guy

Thanks for dragonfly ID

The Comma was warming up on top of the glass. I was underneath Brown Argus newly emerged in the exact spot that I found it last year! A couple of Small Coppers nearby that wouldn’t stay still for a photo, and Swallowtail caterpillar which has left ‘home’ today.

The colours on that Swallowtail caterpillar are amazing.

Very lively Clouded Yellow round our fields today. Would it stop ? Would it heck.

Few female Brown Hairstreaks about. This one was the opposite of the CY - it was slow and didn't mind me at all.

The Comma was beautiful in that end of summer light.

Just noticed that on the 4th picture down, to the "north west" of the hairstreak, there's a brown triangular thing with square-ish white spots on the underside of the leaf.

Do you think that's an insect of some kind ?

It looks very small though , so was considering possibly a panel of leaf decay or mold, but the white squares through the middle at least look very regular.

Welcome visitors to my garden, first this year.
https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

Today, a stroll along Widewater Lagoon at Lancing on the Sussex coast produced 3 Clouded Yellow (2 males and a helice female). All looked very fresh. Also a fresh Painted Lady in my seaside the garden and some groups of Large White eggs, but some of these are being predated (by birds, I think).
Later the sky darkened and a funnel cloud was produced which dissipated quite quickly.
Vince

Blues starting to look tired now, especially the Chalkhills, understandably. Beacon Hill

The Clouded Yellow was a bit more relaxed today (when the sun went in anyway)

Also saw my first blue of any sort for a fair while.

The pair of Small Coppers seemed to be courting. The lower one was rapidly opening and closing its wings in the general direction of the other one who was following.

The last few days have been very peculiar ,weather wise here in mid-Kent ,i seem to turn up on patch ,in quite reasonable warm sunshine ,and bit by bit the clouds creep across the sky ,and before you know it the wind whips up and its full cloud !
I,ve been trying to photograph a female Sickle bearing bush Cricket on this site ,to rule out the very slim possibility of an as yet un-recorded in
the UK ..............Southern Sickle Bearer ,so far i,ve had 8 sightings ,7 of which are males (the other i never got a close look !) .
Excellent numbers of Small Coppers (3rd brood ) now on the wing here ,and many Whites ,and most of the Small Whites ,i,m taking a much
closer look ! ,was lucky enough to find 3 pairs in-cop ,the males were particularly "Yellow " . Also found single pairs of Large White and Green Vein. The Browns (with the exception of Small Heath ) more or less finished on this site with only singles of Gatekeeper and Meadow Browns ,2 fresh
Peacocks and 2 Red Admirals ,was particularly pleased to have 7 Clouded Yellow sightings ,with at least 3 individuals involved ............things are
looking good here for a little later in the season .
At last the Common Blues seem to be turning up ,with some glorious females making an appearance ,particularly pleased with this "blue " one ,
when she first got up ,i thought it was a worn male . The "Brown " females were also well represented ,and another which i never managed to get a shot of ,was slate grey in colour ,overshot with
blue ,a very attractive individual..............................I,ll be back ! The final shot ,another Blue female ............................Loved to have found her about a week ago ! Regards Allan W.

Some nice fresh 3rd generation Small Coppers this lunchtime along with a nice Adonis Blue ab.
Beacon Hill

Pevensey Bay, Sussex - loads of Small and Large Whites in the vegetation on the shingle at the back of the beach, nectaring on red valerian. Two fly-bys by a Clouded Yellow, a HBHM and a Peacock. Also a dark vanessid (possibly another Peacock?) flying out to sea.

Cracking Coppers there Stevie B !! Allan.W.

Quick visit to a very busy Dungeness (Kent ) late morning ,large numbers of Small and Large Whites on the wing ,including
a pair of each ,a few Common Blues and two each of Brown Argus and Small Heath ,no sign of any Meadow Browns or Gatekeepers ,and 3rd brood
Small Coppers also seem to have finished ,found 1 fresh Peacock ,and one very tatty Painted Lady ,only my 6th sighting of the year ,in fact i,ve seen
about three times that number of Clouded Yellows ,including 2 today a fresh male and a female. Regards Allan.W.

Allan.W. wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:38 pm Cracking Coppers there Stevie B !! Allan.W.

Thanks Allan. Super fresh

Saw a pretty fresh-looking male Common Blue sitting across the path on my lunchtime wander.

Went back for a stroll after WFH and the Small Coppers were looking great in the low bright light.

I bet our Large Coppers were beautiful in similar light conditions.

A beautiful day here - as good as anything in Spring or high Summer. Still no Painted Ladies, but a Wall and a Map as well as a couple of Brown Argus and a Sooty(?) Copper. (Would be happy to be corrected and to know it’s a Small Copper as I’ve not seen any this year!)

Are these all from your garden Deborah ? Bit jealous if so.

Yours does look a lot like a Small Copper - but I've never seen a Sooty Copper (or any other sort of Copper to be honest).

How many species are there in Brittany ?

Red admirals seem very abundant this year, in my little area on the edge of north-east London anyway. Usually three or so in the garden at any one time at the moment, enjoying the selection of Buddleja I've provided, but ignoring the Sedum spectabile and Verbena bonariensis.

Deborah wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:33 pm...and a Sooty(?) Copper. (Would be happy to be corrected and to know it’s a Small Copper as I’ve not seen any this year!)

Definitely a Small Copper that one, Deborah.