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June 15th.........

On a very windy evening with the sun disappearing behind the trees, i came across a male Wood White trying to woo a female that had clearly been mated. With the normal ritual for this species, repeatedly recoiling, and then propelling his Proboscis towards the female, hitting the tops and sides of her wings, which i, and many of you have seen on many occasions. But, after flying off, the male decided to chance his luck for a second time with the same female. Landing unusually high, [even though not by much] and over the top of the female, the male proceeded to lash her with his Proboscis, only this time with a difference, or at least something i had never witnessed before. The second time round the male thrust his Proboscis at the female, moving his head and body from side to side, continuously, without recoiling his Proboscis even once, hitting her on one wing, then the other, only stopping for a breather, then repeating the process again, and again, until he finally gave up. The whole ritual lasting just over six minutes, but to me a fascinating and, worth while few moments spent watching a small part of the lives of these beautiful insects.

Orange-tip 5th instar, a few minutes before completing it`s attachment to this stick.Completion

28 hours, 30 minutes later............

This is going to be an incredible sequence Nick . What is going on with it's head? I can just about make it out in the "spike" but where did that come from? Looking forward to the next installment.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, your comments are always appreciated. As for the spike appearing like that is absolutely amazing, nature is never short of ways to take your breath away.

All the best, Nick.

A further 24 hours later, with a slight adjustment to the body, and the lovely green body colour of the pupa in the previous picture, now starting to fade.....

This is fantastic stuff! I hope you'll be able to keep us updated throughout the next several months.

Thank you David for your comments, much appreciated. I will try to keep you updated as the pupa develops, and hopefully a photograph of the butterfly next spring.

All the Best, Nick.

Going back............

I was`nt intending on going down this road but, as a couple of you have shown a keen interest in my photos of the Orange-tip larva and pupa, i thought i would throw in some facts.

When the Orange-tip larva changes to the final instar it quite quickly becomes restless, and will climb all over what is left of it`s food plant, going up, down and across it until it finally goes on walk-about, in search of a stick or plant stem of it`s choice, to pupate. This he/she will do by inspecting several sticks/ plant stems, going up and down them, pausing now and again then moving on until it finds a suitable one, normally one that is slightly bent/bowed. Once the larva is in it`s resting place, it will stay there upside down, for anywhere between five and seven hours, then just before attaching itself to the stick/plant stem it will right itself, and position itself upright still on the same spot he had come to rest on, some five hours or so earlier. The process of attachment to the stick/plant stem takes about half an hour, and here the larva will stay for between 3o/40 hours before pupating. All these facts were observed in a artificial setting.Final instar Orange-tip larva upside down on a stick,where it will eventually pupate in exactly that spot.

Hi Nick, one of our Orange Tip larvae has pupated and the second is in the process of doing so. We also have two more still 'feeding up' on Garlic Mustard. The pupae do start a lovely shade of green but soon begin to fade to brown. Your photos show very well the different stages involved as we have also observed. We too are looking forward to seeing an emerging Orange Tip butterfly next spring!

Regards

Mike

Hi Maximus,

I `m pleased to hear your Orange-tip larva are doing well, watching them develop is quite fascinating. It seems i have a pupa of the green form as well as a couple of the normal ones. I was watching another larva attach itself to a stem last night, and realized that the reason for the lavra to spend the first few hours upside down on the stem is to make a base of silken thread so that it can attach its abdomen to it before it continues to attach the middle of it`s body to the stem, wonderful to watch and learn the reasons behind certain behaviour.Good luck with your pupa, all the best, Nick.

In the photo below which was taken today, depicting the two Orange-tip pupa, the green form of this species on the right is now just over eight days old, while the more commonly found pupa on the left is about thirty hours older.

A couple of close-up shots of the Orange-tip pupa, after five days.Wing and head From the top.View of the front, showing the antennae.

June 30th

A quick trip to Dunsfold produced my first Marbled White of the year, a single male.

What a wonderful picture of the Marbled White

Along with all your other great pictures.

Wonderful....

Debbie

Thank you for your kind comments Debbie, appreciated.

All the best, Nick.

Indeed a cracking shots Nick There must be something in the air today as I too saw my first Marbled Whites of the year.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel, it was so windy that day i never thought i would get a shot in focus. Then i went back the next day and could`nt even find one Marbled White, so it just shows you, when your lucks in, its in.

All the best, Nick.

I am behind again with my personal diary, but whats new? So here are a couple of photos taken on 25th June at Chiddingfold Wood. The first picture is of a butterfly you don`t often see me posting in my diary, but its one that normally eludes me and my camera no matter how long i take in creeping up on the thing. But today i managed this one shot, and with the high numbers of this species flying right now, it was about time i got a photo. The second picture is of a butterfly that has been flying for nearly two weeks now and, are still emerging in good numbers, [saw some today] which is very reassuring.

Lovely shots Nick - especially the Speckled Wood, I like the way it's hind wing is brushing against the leaf I know what you mean about getting behind with the PD - but think of it as a good thing, it's only because you're seeing so much

Have a goodun

Wurzel