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Marsh Fritillaries in central Lincolnshire have been well behind schedule so far this year, but given good weather over the next week or so, they may be heading for a particularly good season. Larvae have been numerous this spring, and today I found more wild pupae than I have ever seen before!
This is, I feel, a particularly attractive chrysalis, which in previous years I have struggled to find other than as the odd one or two, usually located quite low in the vegetation. Today, several dozen were visible on the upper-sides of the larval food plant, along with some that had chosen more discrete sites for their pupation.

Hi Bugboy.

I didn't see any egg laying although with the abdomen always poking around I assumed this was the most likely reason. However, if you are right it is such a big lunch for it that I'm sure there will be a few left alone!!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on these tiny critters!!!

Superb work with the chrysalids, Pete! What an attractive stage that is and I congratulate you for having the patience to both find and photograph them.

Not a great day yesterday (13 May) weather-wise until very late on so I spent some time searching for the smaller immature stages.

I visited Six Hills Common at about 9 am to look for White-letter Hairstreak larvae especially around the area of elms where I found an egg in the winter. After over half an hour of searching I found one, about 3 feet above ground under some leaves near a 'fork'. I was surprised how broad it looked .

In the afternoon, I went to Millennium Wood to look around the nettles and hazel leaves. I didn't find any Nymphalid eggs or larvae but discovered a larva under one hazel leaf with some feeding damage. Does anyone know what moth (I presume that what it is) it refers to?

ATB

Peter

Having failed to find Small Blue at Biggin Hill this morning , I headed for Hutchinsons Bank nr. Croydon for another search for a Grizzled Skipper ab. taras that has been seen recently . After about half an hour , I glimpsed a GS along the nature trail , but it was gone before I got a good view . I seached back and forth across the area and finally found it , sheltering from the wind in a small depression . Well pleased with the find , but disappointed about the
condition . I then moved on looking for Small Blue and managed to find 7 , up from the single on my last visit . I then went uphill from the large scrape looking for Green Hairstreak , but got distracted by 4 Skippers in aerial combat , one of which looked like another ab.taras , the other 3 being Dingy .
The four disappeared uphill and though I waited only 2 Dingy returned . Back uphill for GH again , but 15 metres along the track came across the Grizzled , nectaring on Buttercup . This time it stayed put and allowed photographs . A much tidier individual . I returned to looking for GH , but didn't find any .

Hello Peter ,
I,m not certain but think your caterpillar may be Mottled Umber (Erannis Defoloria ),I posted one similar on May 21st 2015 , on the identifications
page ,id,d for me by Tony Moore . Regards Allan.W.

Allan.W. wrote:Hello Peter ,
I,m not certain but think your caterpillar may be Mottled Umber (Erannis Defoloria ),I posted one similar on May 21st 2015 , on the identifications
page ,id,d for me by Tony Moore . Regards Allan.W.

Thanks for checking, Allan.

Someone on another website thinks it might be Mottled Umber too so good that there is agreement there

ATB

Peter

David M wrote:Superb work with the chrysalids, Pete! What an attractive stage that is and I congratulate you for having the patience to both find and photograph them.

Thanks David! They really are quite beautiful aren't they? It was a rare pleasure to find so many; this is very unusual, and I do have to ask myself why some of the larvae have chosen to pupate in such visible positions this year, whereas usually they pupate in well concealed locations. I don't have an answer to this, but any opinions or theories would be of interest!

Just got back from a couple of days down in Sunny Sussex,the two things I was hoping to find were Starry Clover (Trifolium
Stellata ) Which we were told grew along the beach ,and around the old fort at Shoreham , and a trip to Rewell wood for the Pearl Borders ,which we lost down in Kent around 2000, ,at Shoreham after a walk around the fort (Where we had no joy !) we took a walk along the small shore path and soon
found some really large clumps of this beautiful (and rare ) Clover.
At Rewell Wood we had a go at accessing the wood from Fairmile Bottom , but unfortunately Lynne couldn,t manage the slope up through the Yew wood ,so we planned to visit early this morning (14th) coming in from the other side (if we could find a parking space ! ) we were lucky and proceeded down the ride ,and on reaching the ride at the top ,we found Pearls almost immediately ! What a joy ! the first Pearls I,d ever seen (outside Kent !),and they were just where Neil (Hulme ) suggested in his book ,where they may be found. The areas a real credit to Neil and his team. A couple of woodman stopped for a chat ,and we were able to show them a Pearl ,which they hadn,t seen before . Yesterday we stopped by
Kithurst Meadow ,not too much on the wing,but we did find 10+ Dingy Skippers ,2 Dukes ,several "Whites",a female Holly Blue ,and a few Orange Tips.
A very enjoyable short break ! Regards Allan.W.

A visit to Ewyas Harold Common in Herefordshire last Saturday yielded approximately two dozen Pearl Bordered Fritillaries.

I daresay next weekend could see three figures on the wing so if anyone lives within an hour or so of this location, I can heartily recommend it:

Today I had a days holiday ,and decided to do our yearly visit to the wonderful Denge Wood ,near Chartham (Kent) ,not only is it the largest colony of Dukes in Kent ,but has incredible numbers of various Orchids ,most notably Lady Orchids in various hues,they are quite a sight ! The Dukes never disappointed ,and we found 30 ,my best count here by far ,we also saw 4 Green Hairstreaks ,2 Holly Blues ,various Whites
A n Anania Funebris (Golden Sable moth ),several Small Purple Barred .
Later I visited a local Grizzle site , this is quite a site ,although not found in huge numbers (I,ve seen about 14 in 2 visits ) ,the remarkable thing is that every Grizzle (that I,ve seen settled ) has been either "Taras " or" Intermedia " ,I,ve yet to see a normal one. !
Regards Allan,W.

Those are stunning Grizzled Skipper aberrants, Allan. I could sit and watch them all day!

My own patch is still seemingly devoid of Small/Common Blues, Dingy Skippers, Brown Argus & Small Heath. It can surely be only a matter of a short time now?

I visited Crymlyn Burrows on Sunday afternoon but didn't see a great deal. This Small Copper was the pick:
I stopped off on the way back home at a bit of scrubby wasteland adjacent to Kittle Quarry where this geriatric Peacock gave me a lift:

On Monday (14th) I discovered that in my garden one of the Orange-tip eggs laid on Garlic Mustard, had just hatched and the tiny larva had eaten away most of the egg shell. Alas, a couple of hours later it was nowhere to be seen. Also on the same plant was another egg, white in colour. I presume it is Orange-tip again due to its position on the plant so perhaps it had been parasitised having been this colour for nearly 2 days. Or could it be a another Pieridae species like Small White?

Yesterday I saw my first Small Copper of the year at Knebworth Park.

ATB

Peter

After work this afternoon,i had a couple of hours spare so decided to visit a small site about 5 minutes away from me, I,ve been watching the Grizzles there ,for about 3 seasons now and they seem to be doing really well,today I counted 14 ,some just beginning to show a bit of wear ,and two I reckon emerged this morning ,I was on site by 5.15 and by 6.15 the Grizzles were starting to roost ,after a bit of searching I managed to find 3 at roost.
In the 3 seasons at this site ,I haven,t come across one variant ,complete contrast too my other site where I haven,t come across one normal one !
Regards Allan.W.

Today i was showing a few people around Hutchinsons Bank, the Small Blues are starting to appear in numbers, Grizzingy Skippers at or near their peaks, plenty of Green Hairstreaks.

At Chapel Bank i pointed out a White-Letter Hairstreak larva, on the usual elm tree, not in an easy location to photograph. On return to Hutchinsons Bank i found a Brown Hairstreak larva on one of the marked blackthorns.

Just catching up on this page - Pete, I love your Marsh Fritillary larva, wish I had a site near me. Allen, those Grizzlies are extraordinary; Well done Martin, well spotted with both the Hairstreak larva. Note to self - keep checking the sightings page

Hello Pauline ,yes they are unusual aren,t they , as I said in the post ,normal ones are very rare here ,come to think of it I don,t think I,ve seen one !
Today I spent the afternoon at Dungeness in glorious sunshine ,a bit breezy but otherwise excellent,plenty of Coppers on the wing from the pristine to the very worn individuals ,I counted 78 ( the warden had another high count a few days back of 250 ! ) ,was pleased to see my first Brown Argus (5) ,Small Heath (3) ,Common blue (16) I also saw one solitary Grizzle Skipper and Peacock.
The plants are looking fantastic,the shingle red with Sorrel ,quite a site revisited some scarce plants, ie. Subterranean Clover ,Birds foot Clover,Yellow Vetch ,and Small flowered Buttercup ( although the Buttercup is scarce in Kent ,I found an absolute mass in the car park when we were down near Arundel !) The plant pictured is Subterranean Clover the flowers are about the size of a match head ,but real beauties .

Finally caught up with Wall Browns this morning, with two males seen at the top of Kilvey Hill in Swansea:
Greater satisfaction came in the shape of two Green Hairstreaks, the first I've ever seen on this site in 8 years of visits:

Today we made a return visit to Samphire Ho , (near Dover ) , On the Way in we were lucky enough to see a Red Kite near Dover ,and later a Raven ,so a nice start to the afternoon .
A beautiful sunny afternoon ,but a bit breezy ! The Early Spider Orchids are all but over for another year ,but one or two still about for anyone caring to search . As I,ve said a bit breezy for large numbers of butterflies but in the sheltered areas ,still a fair few about ,managed to find my first Adonis Blues of the year ,about 5 metres from the sea , I look forward to these showing every year ,and today we found 8 males and 1 female.
A good count of Small Blues ,with a minimum of 9 ( inc; a pair ), 10 + Walls 10+ Dingy Skippers , 15 + Common Blues (some absolute beauties !) and single Green Hairstreaks ,Peacock ,Brown Argus , after a well earned ice-cream we headed for home.!
Regards Allan.W.

After leaving Kilvey Hill on Friday, I dropped into the nearby Crymlyn Burrows.

Common Blues were out, with around a dozen males seen:
Small Blues were seen in similar numbers:
No Dingies or Brown Argus, but plenty of all three Whites, although Orange Tips have declined in number appreciably.

Three Brimstones on the wing (1 male, 2 females) along with quite a few Small Coppers.

Surprisingly, I only saw one Small Heath, a butterfly which can be very common here. Perhaps they are just getting underway.