www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Greenie wrote:...At the same site , 25+ Brimstone , with a shortage of females it seems .

They're having a tremendous year, Greenie, but that last image is fabulous irrespective of how common they've been in 2019!

more holly blues in the back garden ( Cambridgeshire ) just now...

Charles Nicol wrote: ... more holly blues in the back garden .... femaleblue.JPG

Great open-wing shot, Charles !!
Nice one.
Chris

Love the way you casually included a closed-wing specimen in the background for effect.

Chris Jackson wrote:

Charles Nicol wrote: ... more holly blues in the back garden .... femaleblue.JPG

Great open-wing shot, Charles !!
Nice one.
Chris

David M wrote:Love the way you casually included a closed-wing specimen in the background for effect.

the one in the background is the female; they were getting flirty in the bushes

Seen at Eaglehead Copse near Ryde Isle of Wight on Tuesday. Is the white a female orange tip, or another white?

the female should have black dots on the forewings ?

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/ ... main-image

Thanks. I did not think it was a female orange tip for that reason, but it was flying with the males. Not enough black on the wings for it to be a green-veined while, perhaps a small white?

Hi Ian - it look like a male Small White to me.

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks, Pete.

That Small White's an unusual one for sure, but they CAN be very scantily marked during the spring brood.

Beginning a couple of days ago, orange tip eggs laid in my garden on 21st April have been losing their orange colour and showing the caterpillars within. These two pictures show the same egg, yesterday:





And this is a different one:



Today was very cold, with alternating hail, rain, cloud and brilliant (but still cold) sunshine. I checked these eggs during the day - no change. Then in the evening, on my last check, I found both had hatched. The first one was guzzling his egg:





Not very brilliant, but the best I could do, as I had to manipulate the plant to get the evening sun on it and a wind was blowing.

The other egg seemed at first to be empty but intact and I thought it had failed. But then I spotted the tiny person on the other side of the pedicel:





There was an ant on nearby seedpods and I wonder if this caterpillar had felt threatened while feeding and moved on before finishing his meal.

Other orange tip eggs in my garden are still orange.

Guy

Fabulous close-up images, Guy. I've been checking plenty of cuckoo flower round my way but have yet to find any ova.