www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Well, here's to a good painted lady year, Wurzel!

I'm surprised you saw so few in the Pyrenees, David. There were loads in southern Spain back in April. Perhaps they headed north and kept going on past the Pyrenees ...

Hi Nick. It's like what they say about lemons and lemonade: When the weather's lousy, learn to love lice!!

Guy

Despite generally grim weather much of today, a fair few butterflies crossed my path. In the afternoon, despite heavy cloud, I popped into a heathland site on my way to the shops just to see if any silver-studs were out yet and roosting in the heather. I didn't see any, but instead did spot a green hairstreak doing just that:



It's a site I've often checked in haste for hairstreaks this spring, without seeing any. When the sun shines I'll try it again.

In the local meadow, common and holly blues were both soaking up whatever heat they could:





Also there, on hedge mustard, was this cabbage shield bug, Eurydema oleracea:



And the usual orange tips and small whites were up and flying any time it wasn't actually raining.

Lots of 7-spot ladybird larvae about in the nettle patch in the garden:







And more hairy shield bugs were emerging from the many batches of eggs all over the nettles:



Guy

Those shield bugs are fascinating, Guy.

That's the first time I've seen Green Hairstreak nectaring on heather - makes for a nice contrast. The Holly Blue female is lovely too.

I agree David - shield bugs are fascinating.

Today I revisited a place where I found orange tip females laying eggs on hedge mustard. I was pleased to locate a caterpillar quite quickly. They're actually much better camouflaged on hedge mustard:





Tangerine is ailing. I removed what looked like an aphid from her the other day and I think it might have penetrated:



On a brighter note, can anyone confirm that this is, as I believe, Aeshna isosceles? I had a brief encounter with this individual not far from Woodbridge in Suffolk. It zoomed off before I could get better pictures (I didn't get any square-on dorsal views) but I will be back for more if I am right, as this is a scarce and important species:



Guy

To my eye's I'd say that looks good for a Norfolk (or in your case a Suffolk) Hawker Guy. There's enough of the yellow triangle at the base of the Abdomen to be pretty confident although I can't see any sign of the amber patch at the base of the hindwing, but that may just be the angle it's sitting at in the picture. Good luck finding more, I think I saw one when I was in Norfolk last weekend but unfortunately it had seen me first and all I saw was a Brown Dragonfly vanishing over the reedbed

Guy
Nice find. For what it’s worth, it looks good for Norfolk Hawker to me. Maybe send photograph and location to British Dragonfly Society, they are very helpful and welcome records.

Thank you, Buggy and Wolfson. I sent the photo to Adrian Parr, the Suffolk dragonfly recorder, and he confirmed it is a young female Aeshna isosceles. I'm amazed. This is just 10 minutes' cycle ride from Woodbridge - nowhere near the Broads, which I understood to be the home of this species. As soon as the sun comes out I'll be going back for more.

Guy

Guy
That’s brilliant, a friend of mine had them turn up on his land just inland from Cromer. Not as far from The Broads as Woodbridge but still a lot of farmland in between. Clearly they are capable of getting about. As you probably know there is a relationship between the aquatic plant “water solider” and NH, this may help your hunting.

Padfield wrote:...Tangerine is ailing. I removed what looked like an aphid from her the other day and I think it might have penetrated..

Oh no!

Certainly doesn't look good, Guy. I didn't know aphids were able to harm larvae like this.

Thanks for your interest, Wolfson. I revisited the site briefly today and in about 15 minutes saw two isosceles, both in flight (and for a moment, both at the same time, so I know they were different individuals). As soon as I can get a morning free I'll go earlier and wait around until I can get good photos. I was very lucky indeed the other day. On flight views alone I wouldn't have dreamt of calling this species until I really knew it was there. Now I do, there was no real option for the two I saw today.

I think Tangerine has perished, David. But on a different plant, Mandarin is now about 18mm long and thriving:



Today's real interest was watching the paint dry on a harlequin ladybird larva in the process of ecdysis. I suspect the white, fresh legs are not fully rigid as the insect made no attempt to move or finish shedding its skin until they had gone black.













And the exuvia:



I'm unsure if this creature nearby is also harlequin or the related cream-streaked ladybird:



This is a 14-spotted ladybird:



And this is a 7-spotter:



The truth is, you don't really have to leave your garden to find all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures ...

Guy

Hi Guy,

Very pleased and surprised that you encountered a Norfolk Hawker near Woodbridge, what a find. I went to the broads last week for Swallowtails and was hoping to find a NH, but drew a blank. I should have stayed nearer to home

Regards
Kev

Thanks Kev. The two I saw yesterday suggest this is not a single stray but part of a local population. I'm sorry you missed them on the Broads - maybe, as you say, you'll soon see them closer to home! I understand from the Suffolk dragonfly recorder that the species has been spreading recently.

No chance for dragons or butterflies today - rain, rain rain, with torrential downpours and lightning outside the window as I type. In the morning I photographed this orange tip caterpillar by its newly shed skin:



I've given up on orange tip names, as the caterpillars seem to zoom around all over and between plants. Mandarin has apparently disappeared, having only appeared on her plant a couple of days ago. This one was new to science when I found her today:



There are still a few orange tip eggs around:



One of the red admiral eggs I watched being laid on 27th May now looks like this:



This is a dramatic change in appearance over the last three days or so.

Guy

Padfield wrote:...No chance for dragons or butterflies today - rain, rain rain, with torrential downpours and lightning outside the window as I type...

Yes, it was quite something wasn't it, Guy? If it's any consolation, it's our turn to suffer in the west of the country today.

I'll be grateful to decamp to the Piedmont Alps tomorrow, I can tell you.

David M wrote:I'll be grateful to decamp to the Piedmont Alps tomorrow, I can tell you.

I hope you have a tremendous time. Have you ever considered going there in July, for humedasae?

For myself, I returned to the isosceles site this morning and stood around in quite good sunshine waiting for a likely candidate to show up. It's possible I saw one but many other dragonflies are emerging now and hawking in the same places. Today I saw several Libellula quadrimaculata, a couple of Orthetrum cancellatum and at least one Aeshna cyanea.


(Libellula quadrimaculata)


(Orthetrum cancellatum)

The reason I've been visiting this site is because I figured during the winter it would be good for green hairstreak. I've probably popped in twenty times since mid-April without seeing any (except a few 'possibles' tumbling over hedges that I couldn't swear weren't the ubiquitous small copper). Today, finally, I spotted one for certain, nectaring (or perhaps looking to lay) in the middle of a bramble bush, bringing my total of local greenie sites to three:



Not far away, a painted lady was nectaring. These are around in good numbers.





At one point I suddenly realised I was being watched ...



Rumbled, she fled!



Guy

Fabulous shots of the ladybird larva shedding its skin Guy. Falls into the 'wish I'd taken those' category. With so many so close to home I must keep my eyes peeled!

Great to see the Greenstreak still hanging on Guy they've been around for quite a while it seems now If you keep finding them you'll be spoilt for choice as to which site to visit for them next year

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Padfield wrote:...I hope you have a tremendous time. Have you ever considered going there in July, for humedasae?

Is that the one which is very common either side of a hiking track but practically absent everywhere else?

Guy,

Lovely photos of the Dragonflies and I especially like the first Painted Lady, catching it from the underside. They seem to eb arriving in their hundreds this week along the Suffolk coast. 200+ seen at Felixstowe ferry the other afternoon. Lets hope we have a long overdue inward migration.

Regards
Kev

Thanks Pauline. That's high praise coming from someone who takes pictures like yours! I only took up ladybirds when the new field guide, illustrated by Lewington, came out, but even as a newbie I could see that particular larva was weird. Only on looking more closely did I realise that was because it was only half dressed.

Thanks Wurzel. Green hairstreaks seem to exist at a much lower density in Suffolk than I am used to on the continent. Given that at two sites I've only seen one individual, despite several visits looking for them, I suspect they might be under-reported here.

Yes David - humedasae is locally common but with a strong emphasis on 'locally'. There are basically two places in the world where you can see it, and they're not very far apart!

Thanks Kev. Yes, painted ladies are arriving in good numbers and should put on a strong show in late summer.

I've had very little time to keep this diary up to date. Undoubtedly, the most notable sightings since my last post were the Ipswich little blues (thanks to Kev). Other than that, the emergence of meadow browns over the last few days has marked definitively the transition from spring to summer, as has the steady increase in hawkers and chasers. One of my orange tip caterpillars is now almost full grown and one other is in fifth instar. All the others that I particularly had my eye on have gone awol, mostly presumed dead.


(little blue)


(meadow brown)


(a perfectly camouflaged orange tip caterpillar in the rain)


(painted lady)


(a spotless harlequin ladybird, form succinea)

That last harlequin means I've now found all the common colour forms of the species in my garden:


(OK - the third one was in my house, but I presume it flew in from the garden)

On a cloudy day I found this lovely teneral female blue-tailed damselfly ...



... and today this teneral male common blue damselfly:



Neither very good photos (my sister's dog sabotaged the second) but really lovely, almost pearly colours on both.

Broad bodied chasers have joined the four spots:



Guy

More cracking shots Guy Now you're back in the UK you'll have to start referring to Little Blues as Small Blues again

Have a goodun

Wurzel