Pauline

[bugboy]

Adela reaumurella Pauline , and no Trevor, I was out as well chasing butterflies

[Pauline]

You've known me long enough now Trevor to know the weather rarely keeps me in Glad we all got lucky - some nice shots too

Cheers Buggy - couldn't quite remember the last bit

No car today so report from a bit closer to home. I've reared Comma in the past but not entirely successfully as one was parasitised. In addition, the larva have been fairly well developed when they came into my care but I was keen to see this species emerge from the egg. Sadly, that was not to be - despite careful watching this appears to be another species that prefers the cover of darkness before hatching. Below, the egg developing at various stages and the larva just a couple of hours old (makes you wonder how they ever survive!).

The differences in the larva between various instars appear to be quite marked. Below is 1st, 2nd and 3rd instar, including skin which has just been shed:

(1st instar)

(2nd instar)

(Having just shed skin)

(3rd instar)

[David M]

Lovely sequence, Pauline. Like you, I often wonder how the newly hatched larvae survive. They're barely ant-sized and very vulnerable. Nice to see the variances between the instars. I look forward to seeing images of the pupa, which is very attractive in this species.

[millerd]

Smashing sequence, Pauline! I've only ever encountered newly laid eggs and mature caterpillars, so it's great to see them in between. I had no idea the big white splodge on a full-grown larva starts out as a series of stripes when it's younger. I do know they are hard to find under the leaves and more than once I've inadvertently brought one home with the food for growing Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells.

You have tremendous patience, something I envy you.

Dave

[Goldie M]

Great sequence Pauline , I've seen Comma Caterpillars at HLB but when I went back with my lens changed ready for shots they'd disappeared, the shots I took with my other lens won't too good. Goldie

[Wurzel]

Interesting sequence Pauline, great to see the scale of the instars I suppose the level of 'threat' of predation remains the same, it's just the (scale of the) predators themselves that change

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Maximus]

Hi Pauline, lovely shots of the Green Hairstreak emergence sequence, I understand just how difficult it is to get the actual moment of emergence on camera! It always seems to happen when you have a quick break from watching
The shot of the Green Hairstreak on the Bluebell during the Noar Hill release is simply stunning as are the Pearls that you photographed recently
I agree with the comments already made regarding the shots of the Comma Cats in their various instars, a fascinating sequence
Mike

[Pauline]

I really hope I don't disappoint you David. I'll do my very best to ensure a successful conclusion.

Thank you for your lovely comment Dave, but 'patience'???? I'm not sure it's that - more a real desire to see these amazing transformations with my own eyes and some determination to give myself the best chance........ but it can take up a great deal of time and at times it can be worse than watching paint dry!!!

Thank you too Goldie - that was a pity but I am sure there will be other opportunities.

I am sure you are absolutely right Wurzel. It amazes me that any of them make it through to adults and the more I learn the more questions I have.

Thank you so much for your very generous comments Mike. I am still hoping that the other GH will emerge safely and if that is the case you and Cath will be very welcome to join me on NH for their release, should you so wish .


I think this recent spell of freezing weather has taken its toll as the last few days there has been little butterfly activity round here and I have had to resort to taking photos of moths - micro moths!!!!! I know!!!!!! I had to look this one up but I am fairly confident it is Ancylis Badiana:

I stopped to take shots of a few larva and I have tried to identify them but I am not at all confident. The first I think is Mottled Umber. I checked out the moth and what a strange little creature the wingless female is:

I am even less sure of this one - just guessing at Scalloped Hazel as there are so many that look similar:

There were a lot of bugs about including male and female Scorpion fly, what I believe were Grasshopper nymphs and these couple below which although small and colourful looked quite predatory. No idea what they are:

[Pauline]

The day started ordinarily enough - quite chilly as I attended to the outside critters, so I was a bit surprised when a GVW fluttered weakly across the garden and landed on the pear tree. As the sun emerged any increase in temperature was hardly discernible but the butterfly took advantage, nectaring from any source he could find in his vicinity. A few snapshots:

Anyway, that got me thinking that last year on 21 April I was taking shots of Wood Whites. I had assumed that the recent cold snap (I mean freezing nights and bitterly cold days) had set them back a bit but I decided to take a chance and go check them out. When I arrived there were a few butterflies on the wing - half a dozen Brimstones, including one female (the most I have seen for a while) and a few Peacocks, including this one which seems to confirm that the defence mechanism of the 'eyes' does actually work:

I saw Speckled Wood, Small White, Green veined White but no Wood White. Whilst I was looking I came across a couple of WA cats. I was probably more excited about this than it warranted but after the dreadful season they had last year I do hope this is an indication they are bouncing back:

As I searched I had a couple of false alerts - a couple of white moths:

Quite a few of those Scorpion Flies - not sure if there are more of them or whether I am just noticing them more:

and an odd little bug with an orange cap:

Just as I'd decided to call it a day, right by the entrance where I'd left my car, I came across 3 Wood Whites - perfect ending

[MikeOxon]

What beautiful Wood White portraits, Pauline. You know how to get the best from your 'old' FZ38

Mike

[trevor]

Well done with the Wood Whites, particularly like the Primrose in use as a perch.
Hopefully numbers will increase as time goes on.

[millerd]

Great to see the Wood Whites out, Pauline. They do pose beautifully on the flower heads. I must pay them a visit soon. Nice White Admiral caterpillars too - I can never find them, however hard I llok.

Dave

[Pauline]

I think I just got lucky Mike and I don't know what I'll do when this camera packs up as I can't take photos with anything else!!

Cheers Trevor. Perhaps I'll see you there as I will be back at some point. I have never seen a Wood White settle on Primrose before, but I swear I didn't set it up even tho it would have been easy due to the temperature - just in case anyone is interested.

Thank you too Dave - they are a bit later than last year but good to see them. I was very excited to find the WA cats - last year I failed to find any at 3 sites!!!!

I am hoping the service provider has sorted all problems now but just in case I'll keep this one short.

[Pauline]

Well, all seems to be in working order so I'll risk another post. A cool, damp start to the grey day provided the opportunity to look for roosting butterflies or immatures (as the garden centres were not yet open ) so I headed out for Oxenbourne, a good site for Grizzlies and Dingies. I was also keen to take a quick look at the area I saw the DGF egg-laying last year. There was evidence of feeding damage and on nearby Sorrel signs of Small Copper feeding too but no larva to be seen. I had a quick walk around areas where I had found roosting butterflies in the past but with the gathering storm clouds it was looking unlikely I would find anything. Just as I was about to leave I stumbled across 2 very fresh looking Grizzled Skippers. They weren't on the seed heads I had been examining and were sitting close, face to face.

Closer inspection revealed one male and one female (I think!), based on their relative size and shape of abdomen:

Female?

Male?

I am assuming that perhaps this couple mated yesterday during one of the sunny interludes and were caught out when the clouds quickly moved in and temperatures dropped. It was tempting to wait for the sky to brighten for an open wing shot but the heavens suddenly opened sending me scurrying for the car and the garden centre

[Pauline]

Until I read Buggy's diary this morning I felt fairly confident that the moth I saw at Chiddingfold was a Small White Wave. I knew it wasn't a Common White Wave as I took a photo of both of them. Now I'm confused. Looking at the description of the Cream Wave it would seem that the background colour is very variable. The one I saw was very white but could it have been a Cream Wave? The sizes also seem to overlap and the larval food plants were all present. How can I tell the difference?

All sorts of domestic problems meant another day in so it was time to catch up with the immatures. I hope folk are able to see the fairly well developed Purple Hairstreak larva in the following shot as it is extremely well camourflaged. I would have highlighted it with Photoshop if I could have remembered how to! It looks like a large bracket on the right hand side just above the bottom few leaves.

This was the first egg to hatch but given that all the eggs hatched within a few days and have since been kept in identical conditions, its rapid development has been a surprise. The second largest larva can be seen below:

Likewise, the Green Hairstreaks which were reared last year, pupated within days of each other. However, the timespan between the first emergence and the last is getting longer and longer, no doubt linked to the weather. One of the remaining pupa taken yesterday, very much alive:

.... and just to finish - a couple of the Green Hairstreak shots I think I omitted from earlier posts:

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Pauline,

some more beautiful images lately, difficult to pick out which I like best, they all have something that I like about them

I would agree that your moth from Chiddingfold is a Small White Wave, I had a few of these in my garden trap last year and that was my immediate thought when I saw your photo. I have also looked in a couple of my books and the pattern of the markings/wavy lines fit that best. The Cream Wave is also somewhat larger in it's normal forms.

All the best,

Neil.

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Wood Whites from a while back Pauline...I'm tempted to make the trip for them but then I've still got to find Dukes, and the Pearls are flying, and I could do with a few more Dingies...it's all too much Nothing for weeks and then 'Bam' Brill!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Goldie M]

Fantastic shots Pauline, the Wood White's are lovely they remind me of my first sighting of them last year. See you soon Goldie

[essexbuzzard]

Those green hairstreak pictures are among the finest I have seen. Your white admiral caterpillars were a cracking find, too. And beautifully captured by you and your camera.

[Gary.N]

You do take some fantastic photo Pauline. I love your Wood White, Green Hairstreak and Grizzled skipper Shots.
Gary