www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi Pauline, lovely Wood Whites, hopefully I'll get to see them myself this year .

Your strange 'insect' is a spider of some sort but I don't know what type. I've flicked through my ID guide but can't see anything that looks like it. Many species are highly variable in colour and pattern though. Sorry I can't be more help

Thank you Buggy. You have confirmed what Vince suspected - a spider - and on that basis I have found the ID. Heliophanus Cupreus, the Copper Jumping Spider! Many thanks to you both for pointing me in the right direction

"Copper Jumping Spider", Pauline?

I don't like the sound of that!

Best wishes from a rather worried Hoggers!

Ahhh, your picture looks like a lot of the google imagies but looks nothing like the picture in my guide.....

That sequence of the emerging Glanville is terrific, Pauline. My experience of breeding butterflies is limited to the common Nymphalids and they seem to take their time a bit more. The thing with the tongue - when the butterfly emerges, the proboscis is in two separate sections (you can clearly see this in some chrysalids, almost like a seam). These have to join together to form a tube, and the butterfly sometimes spends some time extending and retracting it until this happens. (Apologies if you already knew this! ).

Dave

I totally agree Hoggers! I'm not a great fan of spiders anyway but if I'd known it could jump I definitely wouldn't have got that close - even if it was quite small I can't even get a bath if there's a spider in there - I have to wait until it goes

At least you were in the right ball park Buggy, but Weevil!!??? Good job we've got folk like yourself and Vince who know what they're talking about

Thank you for the compliment and information Dave - both greatly appreciated.

I managed to escape for an hour or so this afternoon to make a brief visit to Noar Hill. There's still plenty going on there and although some of the Dukes are looking a little faded and worn, there are still plenty which look very fresh. I saw a couple of mating pairs in this short space of time and there was a fair bit of egg-laying going on:
Many of the eggs I discovered earlier have disappeared but there must be a fair few around as they really are not difficult to locate:
Dingy Skippers were plentiful, as were Small Heath and numbers of Common Blue males are building. I was pleased to see my first female Common Blue of the season - very much blue rather than brown - but the shots I managed are not worth posting.

A colourful beetle caught my eye - I believe it is a leaf beetle known as Chrysolina Hyperici but I have been unable to identify an odd looking fly (which will probably turn out to be something completely different ):
I never tire of watching the Green Hairstreaks and here again there was plenty ovi-posting occuring:
As one might imagine, with so many rare orchids growing on this site, many visitors arrive primarily to see them from quite some distance. One such gentleman kindly showed me 2 forms of the Frog orchid - the normal form and an apparently rare white form (mind you, can't see the likeness myself ):
Living so close to this amazing site I do tend to take it for granted but seeing the reaction of visitors today just reminds me how special it is.

Edit: I have just been reliably informed by Martin (who knows a fair bit about orchids as well as Glanvilles that the orchids above are in fact Fly orchids and not Frog orchids as I was told earlier.(Don't think they look much like flies either!! )

Great shots Pauline, I'm off to GB tomorrow, hope fully the Dukes will still be reasonable to Photograph.

Talking of Spiders jumping, I lived in Haiti for two years and saw lots of Tarantulars, they can jump about six feet when disturbed We had one behind our gas Cylinder once I don't know who jumped the quickest ( My Husband was working there) Goldie

Great to see the Dukes ensuring a succession Pretty envious of the Fly Orchids - not seen those myself

Have a goodun

Wurzel

aah, no! I couldn't cope with Tarantulas Goldie At the AES they were selling bird eating spiders - impressive looking beasts but not for me! Thank you for your comment.

Yes, good to see all that activity Wurzel but y'know, if those orchids weren't rare, I doubt there would be so many folk flocking to see them as to my mind, many of the common wild flowers are more attractive.

This week I was delighted with the number and variety of moths in the trap, quite a few of which I hadn't seen before including this lovely Magpie moth:
Another newbie was what I believe to be Pale Tussock. There were 4 of these that all looked different, one of which I initially thought was a Winter moth, but seeing the variety in this species I now think that is incorrect. Whatever they are, they have become my new favourite moth - they are like little animals with their furry legs and nodding heads :
A couple of fresh Buff Tip and Pebble Prominent were among the many others:

I know what you mean about orchids pulling people just because they're orchids, even though many other flowers are just as lovely. But I have to say, they pull me too! I think those Ophrys species are just amazing. In early Spain in spring there seems to be a different species round every corner and they have the big plus that they are still there when the clouds come over, unlike the butterflies.

Those pale tussocks are pretty amazing too, with their great hairy legs. As I'm sure you know, the magpie is a small magpie - a micro. I don't seem to see those here but I did back in Suffolk, in my garden.

Guy

Lovely Moths Pauline, you sound to be really enjoying your moth trap
Talking about Orchids I was at GB today and saw the Slipper Orchid, beautiful , sadly no Dukes appeared, Goldie

Hi Pauline, that green 'fly' from a few posts back is a sawfly Rhogogaster sp.

I sincerely hope I haven't upset any of those folk who find orchids interesting Guy (including yourself) as that was never the intention. It is just that at the moment I think of them as just another attractive plant, but who knows, this time next year ........ , after all, if anyone had told me a couple of years ago I would be fascinated by cats and pupa (and moths), I would have laughed at them . Each to his own, eh?!

I confess that I didn't realise that moth was a micro After all, I don't like micros do I? If I have to get a hand lens out to see them they are already at a disadvantage but that wasn't the case with this very smart moth - which leaves me to ponder, what characteristics define a micro and differentiate it from a macro, apart from size of course?

Thank you Goldie. I just wish I had more time for it but in between times I am thoroughly enjoying Neil's fabulous photos of the moths he is getting in his trap, especially the Puss moth. Your Slipper orchids look superb by the way and are not one I have ever knowingly seen.

Thanks for that ID Buggy - I did try looking it up without any success.

Well, Summer is here - cold, windy and very wet - so time for a quick update on the little'uns. The WA are not so little any more and must be on the brink of pupating but still eating as of this morning - a few shots:
12 May
22 May
24 May

Last night I brought the BH in for a closer check of how they were doing. I have used a sleeve for the first time and find it a tricky thing to remove to monitor the cats as it gets snagged on those thorns. I could see the leaves were being eaten (perhaps decimated would be a better word). Last time I looked I found 3 cats of different sizes but I quickly located 4 cats (there may be another one as I think all 5 eggs hatched). 3 looked fine but I am a little concerned about the 4th as I haven't seen one in this position before and the colour didn't look quite right:
Healthy cat
Diseased(?) cat

The tiny Ringlet that I found in a friend's garden in Chiddingfold is on vacation in Liphook to enable me to learn about its development. I have had it for 4 weeks now and it seems to be progressing as it should:
I had a slight panic this morning. In trying to keep these cats in an environment as natural as possible, I had given the Ringlet no protection against last night's heavy rain assuming that it would take cover in the (potted) grass where it has been living for the last few weeks. However, I have one of those 'pop-up' cages to protect cats. from birds and other predators. They are not well designed and have a covering of plastic across the top or bottom (depending on which way up it is) but ineffective either way. Last night was the night the Ringlet chose to stray from his potted grasses and also the night that water collected in a deep pool on the plastic in the bottom of the cage. At 5.30 am this morning I found a rather lifeless Ringlet floating in the water. I was gutted! In a short nightie that was rapidly getting soaked through I scooped the unfortunate creature out of the water but there was no sign of life . I remembered an email Martin had sent me a couple of months back - I couldn't remember the context but I remembered him saying that cats can survive being submerged in water for a considerable period of time. I would probably have discarded the cat had it not been for this scrap of information but instead I brought him in, placed him in the warmth on some tissue and went to dry off and get a cup of tea. When I came back to check the cat was walking about!!!! More shots of him on a drier day and I'm afraid his activities (or wanderings) have been curtailed a little.

Hi Pauline, Some wonderful photos and observations! It was really great meeting you and fantastic to chat and share what we've been upto. On the way back to the car me and Doug saw a female Wood White lay a single egg, we missed the chance to take photos whilst she laid the egg but it was great to observe such behaviour, we did get a photo of the egg afterwards. When I have the time I'll post a few photos on my diary. I love the last photo from that day's session of the Wood White with it's abdomen clearly visible, really nice to see and makes a change from the shots I got. Amazing revival story of the Ringlet cat! At first I thought your Brown Hairstreak cat might just be discarding waste but I realised it's the head end, the tail tapers off. Hope it's ok, all the best Stunning White Admiral cat photos, colour and detail is amazing! Thanks Jamie.

Pauline wrote: ...I confess that I didn't realise that moth was a micro After all, I don't like micros do I? If I have to get a hand lens out to see them they are already at a disadvantage but that wasn't the case with this very smart moth - which leaves me to ponder, what characteristics define a micro and differentiate it from a macro, apart from size of course?...

... I am thoroughly enjoying Neil's fabulous photos of the moths he is getting in his trap, especially the Puss moth....

Hi Pauline,

From what I understand, the distinction between micro and macro moths is more to do with the family they belong to. There are some micros such as your Small Magpie and the even larger Mother of Pearl Moth that are a decent size and some macros such as most of the Pugs and Least Black Arches for example that could easily be taken for micros.

I was determined that I was not going to get into micros, after all there are so many macros to confuse me. The trouble is once you start getting them in the trap, the temptation is there to try and identify them too.

I am glad you are enjoying my moth photos ... some of them are little sods to photograph, especially the Geometrids.

Great reports and photos again recently, I am particularly liking those of your moths and the White Admiral cats.

All the best,

Neil

Absolutely fascinating following all your caterpillars as they progress, Pauline - especially the White Admirals as they turn into those wonderful green marvels from the shrivelled brown winter versions.

Dave

Thank you Jamie. I am impressed by your dedication and I am looking forward to seeing the sequence of shots you told me about. I shall say no more than that Sadly, that BH was beyond my resuscitation skills.

That's really interesting Neil - I shall stop classifying them as macro/micro and just enjoy the ones I like. I have to say that your shots of the moths are stunning and are far better than some of those I've seen on several web sites and in various publications.

I'm pleased you're interested Dave as it gives me an excuse to post another shot I really like the WA cats (which is why I've kept a couple 2 years running (and I seem to be pretty successful with them too ):
A few years ago the demand for turf dropped so growers cut back on its production. Turf takes 2-3 years to grow under normal circumstances apparently. Now the demand has picked up, the only way suppliers can meet this in the short term is to use a nylon type mesh to grow the turf on. This encourages the root growth and gives some support and structure to the turf so that it can be rolled up earlier than would otherwise be possible. The mesh is supposed to be biodegradable but this takes several years. I have tried using this turf but both the chickens and the rabbits have ended up entangled in this netting. ‘What’s this got to do with the price of fish?’ I hear you ask. Well, B&Q told me over the phone today that they had some turf without the netting. I went straight down there but annoyingly they were wrong and the turf had the nylon mesh incorporated. Every cloud ..... so they say. B&Q is pretty close to Paulsgrove which is how I came to be taking photos of Small Blue at that site this afternoon.

It is obviously a great year for the Small Blue here – they were everywhere. I didn’t even have to stray from the path as they seemed to be all over the site. From where I stood – not far from the gate – I could count 14 and I didn’t even get as far as the usual ‘hot-spots’. Many were quite worn, as is to be expected at this stage, but that didn’t stop the males who were still practising their courtship skills. If they didn’t get the message when the female closed her wings and moved away she would drop down onto a lower leaf/stem as I have seen other species do.
Most of the females were only interested in egg-laying. I watched a couple of them – this one appeared to lay several eggs on the one flower. I took a quick look and saw a couple of eggs embedded deep in the flower head. I did not probe as I have seen and photographed this before at MHD so just took a record shot.
Whilst doing this I realised I was being watched. I enjoyed the company of this little lizard for a while before I moved on.
The site is looking splendid – and yes, there are lots of orchids.
I also came across this larva which, even tho’ I have seen it before, I had to check to make sure it really wasn’t a bird dropping!
One of the butterflies seemed to have significant pale patches on both fore and hind wing on one side. Although in a worn condition I am not sure this was simply wear and tear.
There were a few fresh individuals and I enjoyed watching their antics whilst chatting to several locals. By now, my initial irritation about the wasted trip for the turf was completely forgotten. The wonder of butterflies!

Pauline wrote:........I shall stop classifying them as macro/micro and just enjoy the ones I like......

Very sensible! According to Capinera’s Encyclopedia of Entomology, "The moth divisions, Macrolepidoptera and Microlepidoptera ... have no scientific basis but commonly are used as a convenience in grouping the mostly larger macro-moths versus the mostly more primitive and smaller micro-moths (extraordinary exceptions in size are known for each group)"

As I'm sure you know, your orchids are Bee Orchids and I think you'll agree they do have quite a good likeness. The Fly Orchids you showed earlier are rather variable but some forms are good fly mimics too.

Another splendid series of photos and good to see Small Blues doing well.

Thank you for that explanation Mike and for your lovely comment. I can actually see the likeness to a Bee with these orchids and therefore tend to remember what they are It's actually becoming quite a 'blue' week but it would be nice to make it a hat trick:

Great Blues Pauline I was thinking about the Small blue that you saw - isn't a lack of colour on the wings often of a pathological basis?

Have a goodun

Wurzel