www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Agreed. A spring without Orange Tips would be a sad place indeed.
You only have to look at Susie's 'which butterflies are you most looking foreward to' page to see how well-loved OT are to people using these forums.
However,OT ar a hardy,widespread species using a wide variety of habitats in many parts of Europe,so we can only hope it will find a way to survive.

I wonder about the possibility of former resident species returning, like the Large Tortoiseshell, Mazarine Blue, or Black-veined White?
Actually I've always wondered why the latter two became extinct, given that their food plants are common enough.

Cheers
John

John W wrote:I wonder about the possibility of former resident species returning, like the Large Tortoiseshell, Mazarine Blue, or Black-veined White?
Actually I've always wondered why the latter two became extinct, given that their food plants are common enough.

Yes, I hadn't given any thought to Black Veined Whites. Surely they'd be candidates?

padfield wrote:

David M wrote:The Queen of Spain Fritillary ... can clearly hibernate in conditions colder than those normally experienced in southern England.

To return to specifics, rather than doom and gloom...! Ironically, heat-loving, continuously-brooded butterflies benefit from cold winters because this helps to maintain a deep torpor. Thus, the Queen of Spain survives in Scandinavia (I think as a resident, not just a migrant, though I am happy to be corrected), despite the length of the northern winter. Britain has a maritime climate, buffered by the Gulf Stream, and has long, mild winters. I am sure this is the reason Queens never survive more than a season or two. If the climate does warm up, I can't see this resulting in Queen of Spain becoming resident unless that is accompanied by significantly colder winters (a possibility, if Arctic meltwater affects the Gulf Stream).

Guy

Is this why Camberwell Beauty doesn't survive here?

It's odd that Red Admirals have started to overwinter here successfully in the last couple of decades (presumably) due to milder winters, yet that very mildness precludes certain other species from doing likewise.

What I don't understand is if QOS Fritillary is successfully overwintering in northern France, why can it not do so in southern England (away from the coasts where it's obviously warmer)? There surely is precious little difference in conditions between December & March?

Ever since I started reading about butterflies some 65 years ago, Continental Swallowtail was always being mentioned as a potential colonist.

Why, I wonder, hasn't it happened? (except for brief one or two year periods). Larval foodplants cannot be an issue. An especially favoured plant, Fennel, occurs commonly in some southern localities.

Jack

In answer to David's post: I don't want to add much because I don't really know any more than I've already said. There are experts in this domain and I'm not one of them. However, I was thinking, as I wandered the vineyards this autumn and winter, how different the climate is here from in England. It's not the warmth or cold - but something more profound. On December 11th the ambient temperature was well below freezing in the morning and never reached higher than about 4° C in the early afternoon. But the sun brought out Queen of Spain, clouded yellow, wall and red admiral. Lizards were scuttling about and flies and bees were buzzing. Now, a week later, the whole thing is buried under deep snow. Last year there was a six-week period when the valley snow never melted. It does seem to me that the UK's long, mild, often damp, winters, with temperatures above freezing most of the time, must present a significant obstacle to many of the continental species.

Guy

Guy:

It's not the warmth or cold - but something more profound.

Solar insolation, eg greater elevation of sun (5° lower latitude in CH) combined with clarity of atmosphere, especially at higher altitudes, perhaps?

Jack

Absolutely. And much drier air too, especially in the winter months, which I imagine lowers the heat capacity of the air so it gains or loses temperature more quickly. Singers who move to Switzerland find they have to drink much more to keep their vocal chords in top condition - and while I teach I drink tea or coffee pretty well all day for the same reason. From October to March I keep a humidifier in my piano too but am told this is not necessary in the summer.

Guy

Gibster wrote:
Pete - I don't think I'd like to live in a land where Orange-tips are forced into retreat by climate change Will they head northwards then?

Gibster.

they are already here!
30 years ago an OT around Glasgow would have been a very rare sighting (despite them being further North e.g. Morayshire), nowadays at the appropriate time of year, they are exceedingly common & I can see the day when there may be more OTs than GVWs (our most numerous currently).

Currently we are gaining species in the SW of Scotland & watching with interest to see what the next arrival may be.
Unfortunately that doesn't mean that our traditional species are safe although we have perhaps been doing less badly than the South Of England.

padfield wrote:In answer to David's post: I don't want to add much because I don't really know any more than I've already said. There are experts in this domain and I'm not one of them. However, I was thinking, as I wandered the vineyards this autumn and winter, how different the climate is here from in England. It's not the warmth or cold - but something more profound. On December 11th the ambient temperature was well below freezing in the morning and never reached higher than about 4° C in the early afternoon. But the sun brought out Queen of Spain, clouded yellow, wall and red admiral. Lizards were scuttling about and flies and bees were buzzing. Now, a week later, the whole thing is buried under deep snow. Last year there was a six-week period when the valley snow never melted. It does seem to me that the UK's long, mild, often damp, winters, with temperatures above freezing most of the time, must present a significant obstacle to many of the continental species.

Guy

I understand exactly what you mean, Guy. I lived in Toulouse for a year and although it was often colder during winter than in the UK, periodically there would be days when the weather did things that would be impossible in Britain. In the mid-January of the year I was there, we had an extraordinary day when the temperature reached 18C in the early afternoon and the banks of the river Garonne were packed with locals eating lunch.

Yet going back to the issue that confuses me; why is it that, for example, QOS Fritillaries can and do successfully overwinter in northern France but hardly ever do so in southern England? There is precious little difference in latitude and climate and ambient/radiant conditions are very similar. In fact, parts of northern France are closer to the Arctic Circle than areas of southern England. Maritime influences are broadly similar too. Given that this species is a strong flier and disperses widely and willingly almost as a matter of routine, I find it hard to reconcile its apparent incapability to put down roots in the south of England when it clearly relishes the conditions in northern France.