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Doings @ Home

I'm currently oop north (more to follow) but 5 minutes before we were due to leave, I noticed that one of the White Admiral pupae I've been rearing was about to emerge. Camera out at the double - and some shots below! Unfortunately, I missed the finale (wings fully inflated) but am happy knowing that the critter is now flying freely in a Berkshire wood.
Cheers,

- Pete

Northern Specialties - Part 1

I'm spending this week visiting my in-laws near Consett, County Durham, and was lucky enough to spend all of yesterday out butterflying. Thanks to Iain Cowe's (IAC) expert advice (thanks Iain!), I set out to visit St. Abb's Head as well as a site further down the coast. My 2 targets were Northern Brown Argus and Grayling ssp. scota.

A 5am start saw me at the first site by 7am, and butterflies were already very active. But I wasn't prepared for the first proper encounter - a pair of Grayling flew in front of me, landed, and proceeded with their amazing courtship display, right in front of my eyes! I've only seen this spectacle a few times before and felt very privileged to be witnessing this first hand once again (although the two didn't mate). The sequence of events is along the lines of:

1. The male and female land on the ground, the male behind the female.
2. The male moves around to the front of the female to face her head on.
3. An unreceptive female flutters her wings (shot 1 below) while a virgin female will remain still.
4. The male flicks his wings upward to reveal the orange patches found on the underside of the forewings.
5. The male flicks his wings open and shut for a short time before bowing to the female and slowly bringing his wings together, when the female's antennae are brought together over the sex brands found on the male's forewings (shot 2 below).
6. The male moves behind the female who is then mated.
Keeping on the Grayling theme - I was particularly interested in getting some shots of this subspecies (ssp. scota) which is said to differ from the nominate subspecies as follows:

1. Slightly smaller size.
2. Upperside fulvous markings extensive but very pale, almost yellow.
3. Underside of the hindwings with extensive and very dark marbling, with the white transverse band variably expressed; Dennis (1977) states that this band is not lacking a white transverse band, as its formal definition suggests.

I can't say I noticed the smaller size, but the other characteristics definitely hold. A few shots below show the variability of the underside hindwing markings, the first where the white transverse band is pretty much absent.
More to follow!

Cheers,

- Pete

Northern Specialties - Part 2

Of course, one of the species I was hoping to catch up on (and probably the main reason for visiting this area at all!) was to see Northern Brown Argus and, in particular, the nominate subspecies ssp. artaxerxes that I'd never seen before (I'd only ever seen ssp. salmacis at Arnside Knott. The first site I visited was extremely good for NBA (the same site where I saw the courting Grayling) and I eventually moved onto St. Abb's Head. Some photos of St. Abb's are below, the first looking north-west away from Mire Loch and the other looking south-east towards Mire Loch, where I was half expecting to find a sign reading "Kipper was here" The steep embankment above and below the road were extremely good for Grayling, and I saw half a dozen Dark Green Fritillary in the green area below the road.
Most male NBA were anything but fresh, but most of the females were in mint condition, and very photogenic!
The white spots on the forewing were also quite variable and I saw at least one individual where these were completely absent (but failed to get a photo). There were also several ab. quadripuncta flying, where spots can also be made out on the hindwings - an example is below.
And finally, I took a look at some lush Common Rock-rose plants to see if I could find the apparently (according to Thomas and Lewington) conspicuous eggs. The first plant I looked at had a hatched egg which was pretty conspicuous (although I didn't find the larva, despite evidence in the form of "windows" on the Rock-rose leaves). The next plant I looked at had one egg, then two, then three etc. Within 2 minutes I'd found 12 eggs on a single plant, and I'd have to concur with Jeremy Thomas that this must be one of the easiest eggs to locate! Again - another superb day of butterflying and, again, my thanks to Iain/IAC for being so generous with his local knowledge.
Cheers,

- Pete

Great reports Pete, fascinating stuff with the Graylings and that first photo is a bit special

Cracking NBA photos as well, loving the colours on the third one down (11.jpg)

Cheers,

Neil F.

Fantastic stuff Pete! I love the WA emergence sequence, particularly the first shot. A fine example of the 'so much' that we never get to see. The female artaxerxes images are stunning. It's a VERY long trip to St Abb's Head, but one day I must go back.
BWs, Neil

Sterling stuff once again, Pete.

That Grayling image is the best I've ever seen of this insect with its wings open.

Thanks all - yes, it's been a rather splendid week so far

Cheers,

- Pete

Cracking stuff Pete those NBAs are lush Are you going for the Small and Large Heath Races as well?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Superb Pete, Grayling photos are very nice indeed. NBA females are cracking. I was thinking how long it had been since I had last seen a 4 spotter female...then I started thinking....hold on...I have seen that young lady somewhere before. I rattled through some snaps I took the other day......and....hey presto...of all the butterflies present, would you believe it!! Its a very small world indeed.

Enjoyed reading about your trip...well chuffed I could help.


Iain.

Wurzel wrote:Cracking stuff Pete those NBAs are lush Are you going for the Small and Large Heath Races as well?

Thanks Wurzel. The Small Heath ssp. rhoumensis is too far away and will have to wait for another year (unless I find myself in the Inner Hebrides sometime soon!). Large Heath ssp. polydama are a possibility, but not sure if I'll get the opportunity!

Cheers,

- Pete

IAC wrote:I was thinking how long it had been since I had last seen a 4 spotter female...then I started thinking....hold on...I have seen that young lady somewhere before. I rattled through some snaps I took the other day......and....hey presto...of all the butterflies present, would you believe it!! Its a very small world indeed.

Very nice photo Iain - and should be added to the NBA aberrations species-specific folder (I intend to continue documenting the aberrations over the winter)!

IAC wrote:Enjoyed reading about your trip...well chuffed I could help.

Not as chuffed as I Thx again!

Cheers,

- Pete

Excellent sequences of the WA emergence and the Grayling courtship, neither of which I have ever seen.

The Small Heath ssp. rhoumensis is too far away and will have to wait for another year (unless I find myself in the Inner Hebrides sometime soon!

The Small Heaths I am seeing here on Mull would appear to be absolutely standard. Yet the Isle of Rum is a mere stone’s throw away. I know the ukb doesn’t mention Mull as a locality. Here's recent Mull Small Heath.



Normal I would have thought.

Jack

Thanks Jack - as shown on the species page ...

This form was first defined in Harrison (1948) (type locality: Isle of Rhum, Scotland). This form is found on the Isle of Rhum in the North Ebudes of Scotland, where it is widespread and common. Harrison (1951) extends its distribution to North Uist, South Uist, Eriskay and the Barra isles (but not Barra itself) and Harrison (1952) further extends this to Raasay. This form differs from the nominate form as follows:

1. Forewing underside has a duller ground colour and a narrower pale area around the eye spot.
2. Hindwing underside largely grey rather than brown. The white band is inconspicuous, narrower and often absent.

As we know, the separation between subspecies isn't an exact science and I'd say your individual is definitely tending towards an underside that is largely grey and where the white band is inconspicuous!

Cheers,

- Pete

Great stuff Pete. St. Abbs Head is a fantastic spot if the weather is fine. I've seen Clouded Yellows coming in off the sea onto the grassy areas above the cliffs there.

I didn't realise Small Heath ssp. rhoumensis was on the Outer Hebrides. I'll keep my eye out for them in a couple of weeks. Do you know if the nominate ssp. is also present on the islands?

Keep the reports coming in.

Thanks.

Paul Wetton wrote:Great stuff Pete. St. Abbs Head is a fantastic spot if the weather is fine. I've seen Clouded Yellows coming in off the sea onto the grassy areas above the cliffs there.

I didn't realise Small Heath ssp. rhoumensis was on the Outer Hebrides. I'll keep my eye out for them in a couple of weeks. Do you know if the nominate ssp. is also present on the islands?

Keep the reports coming in.

Thanks.

Thanks Paul. I'm almost tempted to say "get as many photos as you can and we'll sort it out later"! Seriously - I think the whole region is massively under-recorded. The formal localities given for ssp. rhoumensis are shown above, namely "This form is found on the Isle of Rhum in the North Ebudes of Scotland, where it is widespread and common. Harrison (1951) extends its distribution to North Uist, South Uist, Eriskay and the Barra isles (but not Barra itself) and Harrison (1952) further extends this to Raasay". The inference is that any individuals found elsewhere do NOT conform to the subspecies description and are therefore the nominate subspecies, pamphilus ssp. pamphilus. I believe that all of the listed islands are in the Inner Hebrides (but would need to check).

Cheers,

- Pete

North Uist, South Uist, Eriskay and the Barra isles....I believe that all of the listed islands are in the Inner Hebrides

Rum is Inner Hebrides. However, North Uist, South Uist, Eriskay and the Barra isles are Outer Hebrides.

Jack (Mull - Inner Hebrides)

Thanks Jack!

Northern Specialties - Part 3
Just catching up with my diary. Friday was my last opportunity to get out ann about, and so I got up early to visit Muckle Moss, which is just down the road from Hadrian's Wall! I was hoping to find some Large Heath ssp. polydama but drew a blank. However, I did enjoy looking at the extensive patches of Hare's-tail Cottongrass, the larval foodplant.
Back at base, we were having a quiet day and, not being someone who can sit still for more than an hour, headed off to Bishop Middleham Quarry, even though I knew that any Northern Brown Argus ssp. salmacis would be past their best. It was my first visit here, and I'll definitely be returning - the number of NBA was still very good, despite the intense heat and it being early evening. The photos below are a scan of the site, from left to right.
Some of the NBA were still relatively-fresh, and I managed to find a female with a particularly striking underside What really surprised me was that a few of the individuals whose uppersides I saw had the distinct white spots, supposedly reserved for ssp. artaxerxes. Given my previous sightings of some NBA ssp. artaxerxes with no white spots, I've come to the conclusion that the white spotting is a generalisation, and the presence or absence of these white spots is within the normal bounds of variation!
And finally, once again, I found quite a few eggs on the Common Rock-rose, all laid on the upper surface of a leaf.
Cheers,

- Pete

Doings @ Home

Everything seems to be happening at once and the same is true at home! A couple of Brimstone larvae have pupated and the first emerged this morning (although I missed the big event). A Chalkhill Blue larva has also pupated and will be released tomorrow (as a pupa!).
But the species I've been wanting to see for some time as a full-grown larva - is the Silver-spotted Skipper - considered by some to be the ugliest larva of all of our British butterflies. Unfortunately, I have to agree - as it looks like a saggy bag barely held together by its skin! The larva lives in a tube formed from strands of Sheep's-fescue (in this case), sealing the top with some strands of silk, and looks quite strange hunkered down in its protective home! While watching this morning, one of the two I'm rearing through decided to go for a wander (possibly to get to fresh food) and I managed to catch it in mid-sprint (and they really CAN move!) since, thankfully, it remained perfectly still when disturbed (which is handy for photography!).
Cheers,

- Pete

Cracking shots of a caterpillar that has definitely been hit with the ugly stick

Have a goodun

Wurzel

It's not a lovely creature is it.

Terrific photos, though - and it does become a particularly attractive butterfly in the end.

How large is it? A couple of centimetres?

Dave