www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Fabulous to have Silver Washed Fritillaries as garden visitors, Pauline. How often do you get White Admirals chez toi?

un ou deux ans la plupart des annees David

Thank you again to Allan and Vince for the ID of the tiny larva brought in on branches for the PH. You may be interested to know that as of last night it is now back in my Oak tree:
Interesting 'face' with tongue poking out
Empty pupal case - one of the more interesting ones I have seen:

Just had this moth on the window. It was very attractive and not one I've seen before so once I'd grabbed a shot of the underside I rushed outside to see the upperside which was fairly similar. Unfortunately it took off a split second too soon but I have read that it is CYDALIMA PERSPECTALIS (Box-tree moth) which apparently was first recorded in this country in 2007. I cannot find out much about it except that it is considered something of a pest to Box - that's if I've got the ID right! I wonder if it will come to light. If it diesn't rain the trap will be out tonight.

I'm glad you liked the SWF Wurzel. Apologies for overlooking your comment - that's the trouble with changing pages Today the SWF was replaced by this RA:
Today I visited Oxenbourne just to see if there was any sign of SSS. Everything looked right - exactly as it always is when they emerge. There were loads of Chalkhills including females and mating pairs, worn female DGF cruised around looking for places to lay their eggs, Small Copper were about along with masses of other butterflies. The Devils Bit Scabious was in bloom and plenty of Creeping Thistle. It all looked perfect except there were no SSS's - or none that I could find despite them being out here by 22/7 for the last few years:

Lovely set of Chalkshills Pauline - things do seem to be running a little later this year, mind you I've only just caught up with Graylings so a bit of a breather will be welcome

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pauline wrote:Just had this moth on the window. It was very attractive and not one I've seen before so once I'd grabbed a shot of the underside I rushed outside to see the upperside which was fairly similar. Unfortunately it took off a split second too soon but I have read that it is CYDALIMA PERSPECTALIS (Box-tree moth) which apparently was first recorded in this country in 2007. I cannot find out much about it except that it is considered something of a pest to Box - that's if I've got the ID right! I wonder if it will come to light. If it diesn't rain the trap will be out tonight.

Oh dear.

Two years ago, Pauline, this moth turned up in the Mercantour Park in France where I visit at the beginning of July every year. They have quickly reached pestilent levels and they have destroyed most of the box trees upon which their larvae feed.

There are clouds of the things everywhere you go, and they fly both during the day and at night.

I believe they arrived from SE Asia a few years back but they certainly seem to have made themselves at home in the Alpes Maritimes.

I suspect only when all the box trees have been destroyed will their numbers diminish.

Wurzel wrote:things do seem to be running a little later this year

Surely not Wurzel! I think you're only about 7 weeks behind in your posts Just teasing wurzel - it has been a funny old season hasn't it?
Hey Wurzel, I have another one of those very tidy tunnel spiders for you - this time it is littered with Marbled White wings I caught up with the original one as well - that has what looks like some sort of Burnet moth this week:
It is a bit worrying David - personally I only have one large, untidy clump of Box that I was thinking of digging up so they're welcome to it. I have read that the Asian Hornet is a natural predator but I gather they are not welcome either if all the notices I see pinned up on my travels are anything to go by. I think they eat our bees I certainly didn't get any in the moth trap last night - just a million micro moths and a very impressive Elephant-hawk moth:
This is where someone will tell me it's the Small variety - I HAVE looked. Yellow forewing or olive green? Personally I'd say it was light brown but that's just my opinion There were a couple of little moths that caught my eye. I took a shot whilst they were still in the trap as I suspected they might fly which is exactly what they did. I believe the first one is Catoptria Pinella but the second one has defeated me despite looking at half a dozen websites:
The last one I am not even going to guess at! ..... but if I was forced to I would say True Lover's Knot although there are about 4 very similar, all with much variety within species.
As usual I had a large number of wasps within the trap. They all left except one who was most reluctant. I shook him out (none too gently I might add) and the ungrateful creature landed on my leg and stung me!!!

Hi Pauline

Your micro looks like Rhyacionia pinicolana and the last one is a True Lover's Knot

Cheers

Maurice

You'd think that the spiders would keep the trap clean so as not to give the game away? You're right with the Elephant, the Small had blockier markings on the wings whereas the Elephant seems more striped if that makes sense?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Maurice - great to hear from you. How are you? Thanks for the ID's. I can't believe that I got 3 out of 4 correct. I reckon it was more good guessing than anything else!

Thanks for help with the ID's Wurzel - did you get that:3 out of 4 Almost a gold star? Re spiders, I would be really worried if I thought they had that much intelligence

Haven't been able to get out (yet) as it is almost a full time job trying to keep all these critters cool and comfortable (hose pipes, wet sheets, water sprays etc). The garden however is alive with butterflies - possibly more than I have ever seen at any one time. Gatekeepers are chasing Skippers, Green-veined Whites and Small and Large are egg-laying, a Meadow Brown is trying to get under the eaves or into the window, a Red Admiral had just landed on one of the patio sets and a Holly Blue has flown past whilst I'm typing. To name only some. Trouble is, whenever I dash out with my camera they have moved on to something else!

I've been monitoring a Glanville larval web for a few weeks now:
Unfortunately, when I last checked it seemed to have been destroyed. Could it have been those heavy rains? Could they have eaten all the Plantain and starved ? There didn't seem to be any more within about 18" so would they have migrated en masse to somewhere else? Perhaps they had been stood on as the site is accessed regularly by locals? Is it worth checking again in the vicinity to see if they have 're-built' the web?

I should add that the little larva found on nettles has now been identified. It is not a RA, nor a Painted Lady (sadly), but has shown itself to be quite conclusively a Comma:

I was wondering if your moth trap had been out much recently Pauline.

Nice Elephant Hawk Moth, I usually have a few of these but not had one yet this year.

Those two little micros are crackers as well. That Catoptria Pinella shows that it is worth paying attention to some of those little grass moths.

Regarding the Box-tree Moth, I have seen quite a few reports of them turning up around the midlands and I believe they have reached much further north now as well.

Cheers,

Neil

Of the 2 Glanville Webs i found at Hutchinsons Bank, both have moved from where they were laid in the last week, [Web 2] they are 3 ft away and now spun the hibernation web for the winter, low down in the scrub. [Web 1] have done a runner in the last 2 days, although i found a smaller larva on it today, the others were hibernation size last time i looked, their ex-web looks a bit like the one in your picture now its empty. Glanvilles spin the hibernation web the last week of July, so they are due to vanish from the webs. The larva seen today was racing about at high speed too.

They tend to move to longer growth for the hibernation web, so if its on a path, they will be some distance away now.

We have an Openday at Hutchinsons Bank Wednesday 24th July, so i will photograph the hibernation web.

2nd Brood Small Blues are also out.

Those Glanville cats prove that not all webs are bad, Pauline!

Not as much as it should have been Neil but it's just been down to time and other priorities. I'm sure you will get an Elephant Hawk moth and plenty of other lovely moths before the season is over so please keep posting them. I do enjoy seeing them even if I don't have time to comment

That's really interesting Martin and something else new that I have learned. I hadn't realised that they had a web specifically for hibernation (heavy duty is it, to withstand the weather? ). Seriously, do other species do that as well, eg. Marsh Fritillary? I had just assumed that they stayed in the original web and expanded it as they grew. I must admit I only had a cursory look around but it might just be worth another look.

Those Glanville webs are not easy to find David (which is why I am finding so many spider's webs). I had imagined they would look like a spider's web but they seem much finer, much less obtrusive, much smaller and well hidden low down in the vegetation. Finding one felt like a triumph!

The other reason they might have left is the temp may be too hot at the moment, in our scrapes its well over 50 oC at the moment, with their thermo propeties they can increase their body temp by another 20 oC which would make it far too hot. So probably like a lot of other insects have gone into deep shade.

Ive only ever found two larval webs at Hutchinsons Bank, so they are not easy to find. Web hunts are normally done in the spring, when they are much easier to find.

Today I have had a Hummingbird Hawk moth in the garden - 2 days earlier than last year. It was gone before I had picked up the camera but if previous shots are anything to go by that is no great loss.

On 25 July last year I was taking shots of BH on the ground trying to get moisture. Today I watched a number of species on a damp piece of ground - Holly Blue, Common Blue, Green-veined White, Comma, Red Admiral. I half expected a BH to join them having caught what I thought was a glimpse of one yesterday. Many butterflies seem to be seeking shade or moisture in this intense heat so it would not surprise me if the BH have emerged but are keeping a low profile. To pass the time, in their absence, a few shots of other species:
These little ones (and some really are quite small this year) have given me a few heart-stopping moments!
Not quite the shot I've been wanting but nice to see a couple around.
Another one desperately trying to find a way to cool down.
Lovely fresh Peacocks all over the place but I have so far failed to capture that gorgeous shimmer.

Thank you again Martin - something else that hadn't occurred to me. Perhaps I'll leave it until the Spring then as I would hate to accidentally stand on them and the vegetation is so lush at the moment I expect they are hidden quite deep. I wouldn't want to create any disturbance. After your comment I feel even more pleased at having found it. This is probably a daft question but does the female lay all her eggs in the one batch or can a single female be responsible for more than one larval web?

Like the other Melitaea fritillaries, the female lays in batches upto 200 eggs, after 2 days she can lay another batch although they tend to be smaller in size about 60-100 eggs.

The winter web is stronger dense silk as it has to last the winter, there is a mass of black larvae in the middle.