www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I went to get some new slippers for Minnie this evening. These four looked good:



Minne wasn't interested. She said those were for little girls and princesses. Fair enough. So I just took a few photos and took her home again.







On the way, I jumped off the bike to photograph my first black-veined white of the year. There were several about but I didn't have much time if I was to get a sensible train home.



In the morning, although it was cold and overcast, this geranium argus was clinging to a geranium:



All the iris cats are in the same condition as yesterday - two laid up for transition to 5th instar, two enjoying their last couple of weeks as caterpillars.

Guy

You truly live in a golden part of Europe with flora and fauna like that, Guy.

Those slipper orchids are to die for, and for once, they eclipse the accompanying butterflies.

I agree with you, David. As flowers go, you can't beat a ladies' slipper.

Today was mountain dappled white day. As it turned out, I think I was too late. The foodplant was abundant and the weather was perfect but I saw just a single female of the butterfly. She was up and down a difficult slope but I got a couple of reasonable pictures of her:





Most excitingly, I saw a single cardinal, probably a male, motoring up the road. This is in a different valley from my cardinal site, but connected, and I think the species has spread. I know one was seen here last year. I had to be home early and couldn't spend much time looking for suitable spring nectaring sites but did note in passing a good summer nectar site so will probably come back then to confirm residence here.

I didn't take many pictures, but here is a small selection from what I did take:


(scarce swallowtail)


(first olive skipper of the year)


(Glanville fritillary)


(mating pair of de Prunner's ringlets)


(same pair)


(male wood white, on left, unsuccessfully wooing a female)


(female Chapman's blue)


(Apollo)

Guy

Stan was missing from his leaf when I checked on him this morning. This was no great surprise - I expected him to move off at some stage during his fifth instar. What was surprising was that by some miracle I spotted him elsewhere in the tree. He had moved approximately 4m, as the caterpillar crawls, along branches and twigs to reach his new location in a much shadier part of the tree. This is only day 11 of his fifth instar so it would be too much to hope he has selected his pupation spot - but it would be a good place if he has. To the naked eye he is distinctly a more sickly shade of green - a colour change that happens before pupation. Most probably, he will rest up there a few more days and then move off again, but fingers crossed ...





Mr Garrison has transitioned to fifth instar:



That leaves only Wendy still laid up.

Padfield wrote:Today was mountain dappled white day. As it turned out, I think I was too late. The foodplant was abundant and the weather was perfect but I saw just a single female of the butterfly. She was up and down a difficult slope but I got a couple of reasonable pictures of her

'Mountain Dappled White Day' - that can only mean a lot of hard work and frustration, Guy!

You did well to get any kind of image, and to be fair, she looks in pretty decent condition.

Your beautiful butterfly images overwhelm me a little Guy but I am fascinated by the immature stages you post. Are you following any specific White Admiral this season? I only ask as for a few years now I have thought they must move away from the Honeysuckle to pupate - surely all the ones I have followed can't all be predated just as they are about to pupate? I have started searching nearby on bramble and Hawthorn without success. I would love to find a pupa in the wild. Finding a PE cat in the wild is, well, beyond my wildest dreams!

You're right, David, she does look in good condition. She didn't seem to be ovipositing, though she was checking out all the flower buds, and doesn't really look fat enough anyway. I didn't find any eggs on the accessible plants I examined. Last year there were many more flying on 15th May. So basically, it's a bit of a mystery to me what's going on this year.

Thanks for the compliments, Pauline! Like you, I've followed many white admiral cats right up until they are ready to shed their skin for the last time and like you I've never found a chrysalis. They just disappear. In some cases I've checked every single leaf of their honeysuckle bush. Surely they can't all get eaten just at the very last minute ... I agree - they must be going off somewhere else.

This is now my eighth year of watching purple emperor caterpillars. I found my first, Nero, in the spring of 2010. In the period 2010-2016 I found just 5 pupae, of which only one, Trajan, hatched. I rescued him as a chrysalis after the woodmen chopped down his copse and he emerged a few days later in my living room against a backdrop of faux sallow leaves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v178tNcX2gc&t (real time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeKK5f9XcZY (speeded up six times)

My hope, of course, is to film this in the wild, but the odds are heavily stacked against my doing this, not least because I need to be in the woods at just the right moment. Purple emperors don't really colour up so even knowing which day one is likely to emerge is difficult unless the pupa is accessible enough to examine really closely.

Guy

Padfield wrote:Thanks for the compliments, Pauline! Like you, I've followed many white admiral cats right up until they are ready to shed their skin for the last time and like you I've never found a chrysalis. They just disappear. In some cases I've checked every single leaf of their honeysuckle bush. Surely they can't all get eaten just at the very last minute ... I agree - they must be going off somewhere else.

I managed to relocate a final instar White Admiral larva today, at least a metre from its previous position a week or so ago. I agree; they seem to wander quite some way!

Cheers,

- Pete

I have high hopes of you findings some wild pupae this year, Pete! And when you do, it will be very interesting to know where they were in relation to where they grew up.

I found my first and so far this year only final instar white admiral cat today:





All the others are still fourth instar.

This chap is on a small, isolated honeysuckle. I'm willing to bet his pupa will not be on it (though I really hope I'm wrong).

As for my iris cats, all are now final instar. Wendy made the grade last night or this morning:



Mr Garrison and Mr Mackey both began feeding while I watched. It is sometimes said iris cats feed at night. This is not true in my experience. They feed during the day, in short, energetic bursts, before retiring to their seat leaf to digest their eatings.


(Mr Garrison)


(Mr Mackey)

Both Mr Garrison and Mr Mackey are deep in shade and very difficult to photograph.

Stan is also in shade now, since his relocation:



I do so hope he likes that leaf and chooses to pupate there ...

I read on the Purple Empire blog that the species is already pupating in the UK. This is without doubt a very early year. Normally, the beginning of July is the best time to go looking for pristine emperors. This year it is more likely to be the second half of June, with the first emerging before mid-June.

Guy

Wow! Just watched your video Guy - twice! Stunning!

Pauline wrote:Wow! Just watched your video Guy - twice! Stunning!

I know you've seen dozens of butterflies emerging, Pauline, but it is a miracle that never loses its magic. I'm glad you like the video. The tragedy (for me) is that I wasn't there at the time! I waited all morning and until after lunch, then took a walk - and within minutes of my closing the door behind me Trajan was making his bid for freedom ...

Here is the other end of caterpillar life - a first instar brimstone. I photographed it this evening, in very poor light, unfortunately:



This is a more or less natural-colour photo of Stan, also this evening as the light was fading. You can see he is getting noticeably paler. He is not far off pupation now:



I took the photo from a very great distance as I really don't want to disturb him now. Having translocated about 4m from where he lived his whole life he might just pupate under that leaf.

Guy

On yesterday's forest check I discovered all four iris cats had eaten half their seat leaf and moved. The half-eaten leaf confirms they weren't taken by a bird - this is what they do before making a significant journey. Stan must have moved off to pupate, Wendy higher up her tree, Mr Mackey just to somewhere different (he lived in a complex thicket of leaves and stems of various plants) and Mr Garrison also up his tree. I might be able to relocate one or more of them - we will see!

I worked this morning but was free in the afternoon so decided to go for the cardinals again. Last time (13th May), I saw just one. Today there were plenty. It was a very hot afternoon and they were incredibly mobile but I got a few shots as they rotated on their clover heads. Nothing brilliant, but a good record of yet another successful breeding season:


(female)


(female)


(female)


(female)


(female)


(male)


(crinkly male - but he was having a great time)


(the only glimpse I got of a male upperside)

There were lots of iolas blues zooming around - at least a dozen in total. These were even more difficult to keep up with than the cardinals, as the bladder senna plants are mostly on rocky/shaley slopes. I got just one passing shot:



That is a male. I saw up to four males in the air at the same time but they never nectared for more than a few seconds and never at all opened their wings. For that you need to be there first thing in the morning.

Guy

With purple emperors already pupating but white admirals mostly still quite small it is difficult to know when to head off in search of poplar admirals. The earliest I have seen this species in the Geneva region is 21st May (2011). In 2015 I saw a dozen fresh males on 6th June. Last year, none at all. So this morning, Minnie and I headed off for what we expected to be the first of several checks for the species. Not a sniff. In fact, the only Nymphalids I saw at all were a single comma and a fritillary that looked like pearl-bordered but I couldn't give it any attention as a tractor was passing and it was a narrow track. In fact, I saw very few butterflies of any variety, despite wonderful weather. The list was: black-veined white (common), Berger's clouded yellow, small white, green-veined white, common blue, sooty copper, comma, speckled wood, small heath, meadow brown, chequered skipper. I saw a couple of meadow browns - my first for the year. Here is one of them:



I think this pure white orchid is a heath spotted orchid:





I don't think I've seen one with absolutely no markings in the flower before.

Finally, here is a field cricket going walkies last night. This is, I believe, a very rare species in the UK now but it is still thriving in the Alps:



Tomorrow I'll take my chance with black hairstreaks and large coppers if the sun is shining ...

Guy

The sun did shine so we went off today for black hairstreaks and large coppers.

It was a very hot day. My first site was some 15km away from Geneva station and by the time we got there it was already too late to catch anything sunning itself. I had to pour water onto Minnie's backpack twice during the cycle ride to stop her overheating (I can tell when she's too hot because she puts a paw out of the bag). Black hairstreaks were flying, but mostly disappearing over the back of blackthorn thickets or diving down into them. Here is the only one that stopped long enough for me to get a long zoom on it:



That one is definitely a male, as evidenced by the sex brand in relief in the forewing. Most of the others I saw were females, going low and deep.

At that site the large coppers were not forthcoming - perhaps they had all been stashed away by this watchful shrike:





I don't think these circling black kites (against a backdrop of the Jura) concern themselves with such small fry:





At my next site I looked first in the places where territorial male large coppers hold sway. There were none there. I caught a glimpse of what I took to be a male and followed him for a while but he clearly had no intention of setting up anywhere. I got a record photo, from which I can't even confirm he is male. Later, as I was leaving the site, I saw a female drifting around far from water, seemingly aimlessly and never stopping more than a second or two. I managed a few snatched shots of her:





I didn't think she was looking for sites to lay as she was so far from any wet ground. But then I found at least two and probably three more females who definitely were intent on laying and were equally distant from wet ground:




(I think those two pictures show the same individual)

Here are the goodies they were producing:





The location - a dry field with horses, not very far from a running stream:



I can't confirm the species of Rumex being used.

Other species new for the year were heath fritillary, knapweed fritillary, marbled fritillary, pearly heath, Reverdin's blue (pretty much over - just a single, very worn, male) and brown argus.


(heath fritillary)


(Reverdin's blue)

The second brood of violet fritillaries was fresh on the wing:



I think these are late spider orchids:





Guy

The Cardinal photos are none too shabby Guy, especially the first one ....... where in time is the dispar season?... the first one looked worn, but the others didn't... but being females, would one deduce they are well into, if not nearing the end of their flight??
I fly out to Samoens this coming Friday, can't wait!!!

Hi Paul. My feeling is that the spring brood of dispar is nearing the end. That's not to say there won't be any left in a week's time, but I woudn't count on it. There should be some eggs there though. I paced out exactly where one particular patch of dock was so I could relocate it later, for the cats, It's impractical for me to do the populi sites and the dispar/pruni sites in the same day on my bike but if you were driving and wanted to spend a day in the Geneva region next weekend it would be perfectly reasonable. Although the populi site is nearer to where you are staying it makes more sense to do Lycaenids in the morning, as early as possible, and Nymphalids in the afternoon. See what the weather is like and what other things you have to draw you!!

Guy

Yesterday, the largest of the coppers. This afternoon I stayed local and went for the smallest of the coppers, the violet copper. Despite the bizarre spring, which has seen their habitat alternately snow-covered and snow-free on almost a weekly basis since March, they were on good form today. It seems to be mid-season for them, or perhaps slightly after mid-season. Some males were very worn and none were very fresh but there were plenty about. I saw no females - these tend to frequent slightly different areas when they are egg-bound, preferring to lay in dense bistort patches away from the wet ground where the males set up their territories.







Also new for the year were marsh fritillary, false heath fritillary and tufted marbled skipper. Here are some marshies and a tufted marbled:









Green hairstreaks are still on the wing:



I ventured higher up the mountain to see what was flying there but by then the weather had turned cold:



Cycling back down, I spotted a Camberwell beauty flying by the roadside at about 1300m. I screeched to a halt and tried to follow it but it didn't stop. I don't normally see them up here in the spring - it is the summer individuals that disperse. It suggests they are actually breeding up here now.

Guy

As many others have commented before, I find it remarkable how the number of butterfly species increases as soon as one crosses the English Channel and yet there is still a good sprinkling of familiar ones in the mix!

I'd agree with your orchid id's - I have seen a similar 'plain' white Heath Spotted (Dactylorhiza maculata) on Exmoor, with a photo on my website. Your other orchid shows the prominent 'tooth' at the bottom of the lip, which is a key feature of the Late Spider Orchid (Ophrys fuciflora)

I agree with Mike Guy so I'll say it again: it's hard not to be blown away by the sheer numbers and diversity of species you have there

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Mike and Wurzel. I guess that's the thing about islands in general - rather few species but lots of interesting endemic taxa. That said, Switzerland is particularly rich in butterflies. The climate favours them and the huge range of habitats and altitudes provides built-in diversity.

My most advanced white admiral caterpillar has departed, leaving no forwarding address. He is not anywhere on his home honeysuckle nor on neighbouring bushes (of other species - there are no neighbouring honeysuckles). This always happens!

Here is a different cat, seemingly caught in a spider's web:





The web was there the last time I looked at him (23rd May) and I don't think it bothers him. I nudged his head to make sure he was free and he was. He just carried on eating the leaf he had been munching to nothing for the last few days.



Here is a brimstone caterpillar, now six days old:



And here a wood white egg, freshly laid:



Pearl-bordered fritillaries are still around in the woods. Here is one with a slightly melanic hindwing:



Guy