January 2022

[David M]

Speckled Wood sighted on 14th January by one of the guys on the South Wales BC Facebook site. Apparently a few have been reported from Devon & Cornwall too!

[SarahM]

I was both delighted & surprised to see a Peacock flying around my Cumbrian garden today at 13.05pm. It was only 2oC in the shade and there was a ground frost, but it found a sunny spot on the fence where it basked for 10 minutes before disappearing. What a treat on 'Blue Monday!'

Sarah M

[David M]

What a treat indeed, Sarah!

It's been a strange January thus far with many more butterfly sightings than normal.

[Vince Massimo]

Today I checked the Red Admiral eggs that I have been monitoring at Ifield Meadow, Crawley. They are continuing to develop and hatch. One emerged in the last few days, as evidenced by an empty eggshell, and another at around 1pm. That means there are 16 eggs remaining, most of which still look viable.

Red Admiral larva emerging from egg - Crawley, Sussex 28-Jan-2022

Red Admiral larva newly emerged - Crawley, Sussex 28-Jan-2022

4 Red Admiral eggs - Crawley, Sussex 28-Jan-2022

Also an unusual-looking pair of mating Leafhoppers.

Leafhoppers - Crawley, Sussex 28-Jan-2022

Some of these are very difficult to identify from just an image, but Dr Joe Botting (British Bugs Website) https://britishbugs.org.uk/gallery/homo ... lidae.html thinks it may be Eupteryx urticae, but it's unusually late.

I have also had an update from Dave Harris, on the Large and Small White larvae in his Newhaven garden.

"I thought the last Large White pupa was going to be the one of 5th January; however today I have found a third instar Large White caterpillar wandering around the almost devoid remnants of Nasturtium on the front doorstep. The previous latest pupa was one of 8th February 1991, which hatched on 20th May. This particular caterpillar won`t be pupating until well into the middle or end of February...
Of the remaining Small Whites one pupated today, but the other is still chomping away and will probably join it in a week or two".

Vince

[Pete Eeles]

Great update, Vince! Have the Red Admiral larvae gone on to create suitable shelters?

Cheers,

- Pete

[zigzag_wanderer]

Not as cool as Vince's leafhoppers up the road from me, but I did attract an insect visitor whilst I was sitting eating my lunch at the garden nursery today.

I attempted a few one-handed snaps whilst trying to stay still and not spill my coffee. I like to think I focused near the intended target.

Banded mosquito I think. The brief sunlight and relative warmth in House #3 must've woken it up. Thankfully it seemed more attracted to my clothing than my skin.

[Vince Massimo]

Thanks Pete, I was unable to locate the larva that hatched since my last visit on 24th January and I left the latest one alone after it crawled under the leaf, but I will check it next time. I try to visit every 4 days, because things happen quite slowly in the cool temperatures. There are around 15 larval tents along the whole length of the nettlebed (which I have not disturbed), but I have seen three 1st instars and two 2nd instars either out in the open or nestled in the crown of the plant under a few strands of silk.

Red Admiral 2nd? instar larva - Crawley, Sussex 20-Jan-2022

I looked back at my surveys of the same site over the winter of 2017 and 2018. This started off in November 2017 with 464 eggs, but by 28th January 2018 there were only 24 unhatched/un-predated eggs remaining - compared to 16 eggs on 28th January 2022.

Vince

[Vince Massimo]

Today, a quick visit to the Daphne bush at Tilgate Park, Crawley produced 4 Red Admirals between 12.15 and 12.45. Mainly sunny at the time, with the temperature reaching 13C before the clouds rolled in.

Red Admiral - Crawley, Sussex 29-Jan-2022

Vince

[millerd]

With unexpected sunshine around midday, plus the forecast high temperatures (13, maybe even 14 degrees), I had a quick look around the nearer part of my local patch near Heathrow. I was delighted to spot my first butterfly of the year, a Red Admiral in surprisingly decent nick.

This is my first ever January sighting in the UK, and also means that I have now seen a butterfly in twelve consecutive calendar months (Feb 2021 to Jan 2022). I shall check to confirm, but I don't think this individual is the same as any of those I saw at the end of last year.

Cheers,

Dave

[David M]

Good end to what has been a remarkable month. Will we ever have a 'proper' winter again in the south of the country? Even here in south Wales it has been calm and mild (but sadly, often cloudy).

[Wolfson]

I saw my first butterfly of 2022 on 12 January in Penzance, earlier that day, and more unusual, three swallows were flying around the Sainsburys car park.

[David M]

Looks like a fine spray of bergenia there, Wolfson.

[Wolfson]

Looks like a fine spray of bergenia there, Wolfson.

Thank you for the plant ID, lots of winter flowering garden plants in PZ for insects tempted out on mild days.