www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi Pete,

Pete Eeles wrote:Thanks for the comments Gibster - did you ever post your obsoleta Small Copper?

I seem to recall reading somewhere on this site that pics had to be of a certain standard and in keeping with other pics. I wouldn't want to bring your website into disrepute with my appallingly rubbishy shots, so no - I didn't upload any, lol!

I didn't know the Indian Red Admirals on Canary Island had been split, apologies for that.

I'm half inclined to see what I can find out about the Tiger Swallowtail record though. Seems too intriguing to ignore...

All the very best,

Gibster.

Hi folks,

If you want to know why I've been quiet for the last month - the reason is here:

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/reports_variation.php

The new "Biology" section of UKB is officially launched (there is a new "Biology" main menu)! The first section has taken every spare second of my time over the last 6 weeks, but I do intend to cover off additional topics over time. If anyone would like to help out then please let me know! I have to say, it can be quite rewarding; I know more about genetics than I could ever have imagined!

And thanks to Guy and Piers, in particular, for their feedback - as well as the many photo contributors.

All comments welcome.

If anyone wants to hear this topic first-hand, I'll be presenting on the subject at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight AGM and Members' Day this coming Saturday.

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Pete,
Great effort! A mine of information and very nicely presented too. I haven't had time to read it all yet, but I'll be coming back.
Neil

Pete,

I have just finished reading your first article on variation, which was an absolutely fascinating account of my favourite butterflying subject. I particularly liked the presentation and layout which made it very accessable. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of work that went into researching the article, much less how you managed to find the time to do it all. I look forward to further offerings, not least because you have set a very high initial standard.

Cheers,

Vince

Thanks guys, and thanks for the use of your photos

As a friend of mine (a prolific author) once told me, "I write to learn". There's nothing quite like doing the research and writing down your thoughts to get it straight in your head!

So yes, a bit of a slog, but well worth it from a personal point of view. And as I say in the article, it barely scratches the surface!

Cheers,

- Pete

I notice that not too many people have commented on this.

I shall do my bit to buck the trend.

For someone such as me who is a relatively intelligent individual but who lacks a scientific background, this is fantastic stuff. We can't all be geneticists (in fact, most of us are anything but) so the dialogue is most welcome in the sense that it is sufficiently simple for people like me to understand yet fulfils the purpose of informing those of a more scientific bent as well.

Few indeed are those who can look upon a creature and immediately understand not only its 'niche' but also its relevance in the world from a genetic perspective.

I take my hat off to Pete for posting this. It was (is) extremely interesting and for someone who observes butterflies obsessively out of nothing more than natural curiosity that cannot be academically explained, it has most certainly enriched my knowledge.

I too found the whole thing absolutely fascinating and very very readable. It reawakened memories of school biology lessons more years ago than I'd like to count and made me wish I'd paid more attention! If only butterflies had been used as examples... I've seen a few quirky individual butterflies this year and this has helped me understand why they were the way they were.

Dave

Thanks chaps - high praise indeed!

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete,

Just to add my thanks for such good work. I'm only halfway through (I started at lunchtime and have just sat down again...) and it is fascinating. I've learnt things I didn't know and as you've stated, I would imagine that was the point both in writing and reading it!

The links to Wikipedia and other sources are inspired too.

Cheers

Lee

Just want to also say this section is great. Havn't been around much due to being busy with work and other stuff but will get a better look at it later, from what I saw its quite interesting. like the orange-tips, never seen oddities like that, some with varying steaks of orange in parts of their wings (somehow could be useful for me as I am writing a book on how genetics of butterflies or moths define local populations of a species) that will take quite a long time. I have started recently looking at local moth populations in different areas as moths are still around while butterflies are not.

Currently written a piece on Feathered Thorn as I caught quite a few in my garden and those where lighter coloured and slightly smaller than those I caught in a conifer forest as those were bigger and darker in colouration with more dark speckling in wings, see:

You can't really do this with butterflies except with pinned specimens, but with moths you can cam them down enough to photograph as a voucher specimen then release without killing it. What I have been doing is catching moths, noting the size of the moth, where it was taken and habitat and any notes such as male or female, marking, colour etc..

I started with using my Canon 500D, Sigma 105mm Macro, Tripod and a peice of grey card. I first photographed a ruler on the card (to show sizes of moths) then using the exact same settings, natural light, to take photos of the moths and make an image set of moths. Here is an example of Red-Green Carpet all taken in a Conifer forest not far from a mixed forest with some willows nearby:
And here are some more I have been working on (first were taken in a oak/birch forest and rest from my garden):

I don't know how helpful this would be but I came across an oldish book at my parents house that has some useful stuff about scale structure, genetics, mimicry etc..The book is "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World by Paul Smart, published by Book Club Associates by agreement with Salamander Books, 1975".

Hope you can get something from it, stroll on the spring!!

Cheers

Wurzel