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Lovely images of the Chequered Skipper Pete tho I don't envy you the midges!

Thanks Pauline!

Chequered Skipper Study

Now that the Chequered Skipper that I've been monitoring have emerged, I can now share some sample photos - much more to come! The reason for the "secrecy" is that I didn't want to broadcast my study area since I had placed markers down and anyone visiting the area, including unscrupulous individuals, could have found my precious horde! As I've said several times, there will be full report written with lots of photos but, for now, I thought I'd share these

The first is of a post-hibernation larva. The larva overwinters in a hibernaculum that is made up of a number of Purple Moor-grass leaves that are silked together. Within this, the larva constructs what I would call a "cocoon"; a casing tightly bound in silk. The amazing thing is that the pre-hibernation larvae are green (matching the green leaves of the foodplant) whereas the post-hibernation larvae are brown, perfectly matching the colour of the dead leaves of the foodplant.
After 2 or 3 weeks without feeding further, the larva silks a few dead leaves together and gets ready to pupate on a grass stem, attached by a silken girdle and a pad that attaches to the cremaster. The pupa is one of the most beautiful of all of our British species, in my opinion and a rare sight indeed; it only took me 3 years before finding one!
And finally - a pupa that is fully coloured-up. Unfortunately, I didn't see this particular critter emerge, but would like to think we saw each other when I was at Glasdrum yesterday
Cheers,

- Pete

Brilliant stuff, Pete
It's worth all the effort when it finally pays off like that. I look forward to the detailed report.

Vince

Amazing work, Pete. I monitor caterpillars in my local woods. Somehow, you manage to monitor them at the other end of the British Isles, with even more impressive results!

That last pupa is distinctly sinister. It looks like the Dark Avenger from the planet Thworg, lying in suspended animation against the leaf, about to come alive and wreak doom on the world at any moment ...

Guy

Thanks Vince, Guy - I have to say, the effort is outweighed by the pleasure I've had!

Padfield wrote:The Dark Avenger from the planet Thworg, lying in suspended animation against the leaf, about to come alive and wreak doom on the world at any moment ...

I think that should be the formal description of the pupa, personally

Cheers,

- Pete

Epic, awe-inspiring stuff Pete - the effort and skill...extraordinary!

BWs,

Will

Just echoing the others - splendid work on a none-too easy site. I remember the midges and the boggyness only too well! Other CS sites in the area are a much pleasanter experience but Glasdrum does seem to be a very reliable colony.

Mike

Wow that pupa is a stunner, so subtle yet so beautiful I think your opinion is bang on the money Pete

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Pete,

Superb reports and photos from Glasdrum
I am heading up to that part of the world at the end of next week for a few days stopping at Fort William and am planning to check out a few sites around the area. I have yet to see Chequered Skipper and your reports have really got me looking forward to my trip.

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks Will, Mike, Richard, Neil! I have to admit to being besotted with the Chequered Skipper!

Local Doings
The bank holiday weekend has been a welcome respite from both work and an insane amount of travelling. With most of my family around this weekend, I took great pleasure in showing my 2-year old grandson the sites within the garden, which includes Brimstone larvae on the Alder Buckthorn, Orange-tip larvae on the Garlic Mustard and, as of yesterday, around a dozen Red Admiral eggs! Not forgetting the snails of course, which my grandson seems quite expert at handling! The whole family watched as a female Red Admiral flew around our BBQ meal before heading into the Stinging Nettle patches where she laid on practically every young leaf available. I didn't realise that they could lay at quite this rate but, when you think that Red Admiral is closely related to both Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock, which lay a couple of hundred eggs in batches over the course of an hour or so, perhaps it's not so surprising. With Robins, Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves and Blue Tits already fledged, we are now monitoring our Great Tits' nest daily in their nest box (which has a built in camera) - they are relatively-late (but may be producing their second brood) with the 4th of their eggs laid today. Quite amazing for such a small garden!
In terms of captive-rearing, a Large Skipper larva has pupated. The shot below is the result of me peeling back one of the leaves that forms part of its pupal chamber (which is now back and safely intact with a piece of cotton). I do need to look this up, but the pupal chamber seems to also contain a powdery substance - I've seen this in some other species too. Does anyone know what this is? I could immediately see why the Large and Silver-spotted Skipper are considered to be so closely-related, taxonomically (aside from the appearance of the adults); despite the pupa being almost jet black from the outset, the casing of the two parts of the proboscis is reminiscent of those of the Silver-spotted Skipper, extending well beyond the pupal wing cases.
Cheers,

- Pete

peterc wrote:Hi Pete.

It may be something to do with the quantity and/or quality of the larval foodplant itself. For Brimstones and Dingy Skippers, for example, there might be enough 'good' food from the plant to continue their development.

ATB

Peter

Hi Peter - apologies for not acknowledging this; I like your thinking

Cheers,

- Pete

Jack Harrison wrote:Orange Tip cannibalism is in my [limited] experience of breeding them, purely opportunistic. I have never seen larvae actively attacking one another, but if a larger larva happens upon a smaller one that is where it is eating, then the poor little fellow is simply eaten along with the developing seed pod. It doesn't seem to be a deliberate act. My ten penn'orth.

Jack

A belated thanks, Jack, and an observation that I wholeheartedly agree with! When I get to updating the species description, I'll make sure that this is noted!

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:

peterc wrote:Hi Pete.

It may be something to do with the quantity and/or quality of the larval foodplant itself. For Brimstones and Dingy Skippers, for example, there might be enough 'good' food from the plant to continue their development.

ATB

Peter

Hi Peter - apologies for not acknowledging this; I like your thinking

Cheers,

- Pete

No problems at all, Pete. Still so many unanswered questions in the butterfly world

Well done on your Chequered Skipper finds - fantastic!

ATB

Peter

I haven't posted for quite a while, so thought I'd provide the briefest of updates!

First off, I've had a few trips to Scotland, but the highlight was a week spent in the company of Mark Colvin visiting various Chequered Skipper sites, with a view to providing a rounded picture when it comes to the habitat requirements of this species. We visited Allt Mhuic, Ariundel, Glasdrum Wood, Glen Loy, Glen Nevis, Spean Bridge and Loch Etive, finding Chequered Skipper at every site apart from Glen Nevis (although it was late in the season, given that this year is "early" for this species by all accounts). Details will be included in the promised Chequered Skipper article which may need to wait until the autumn since I have so many things going on at the moment, lots of images to process and lots of things to say! One conclusion is that Glasdrum Wood, my study site, is not typical Chequered Skipper habitat since the requirements of adults and larvae can be found in a relatively-small area, and this does not translate to other sites. So knowing what the requirements of adults (nectaring, territories, egg-laying etc.) and larvae (nitrogen-rich Purple-moor Grass) was a huge benefit when trying to find the adults at other sites.

Mark and I became quite familiar with fending off ever-present midges that were especially prominent in early morning - ridiculously so at some sites. And it was a pleasure to bump into Neil Freeman during our travels, who gave us a tip: use Avon's "Skin so Soft" that, apparently, was tested by the Marines and is their preferred product (although, I think, in spray form), according to the landlady of the hotel we stayed at. I'm not sure what any "enemy" would make of such aromatic and soft-skinned hard men

The highlight (although there were many!) was finding Chequered Skipper ova once again - many thanks to the kind trio at Glasdrum who pointed us to the exact plant on which a female had laid! Although we didn't find that egg, we did find 3 others in the vicinity, as well as several others laid by female Chequered Skipper that we kept an eye on (as best we could) at other sites. I thought it would be a good idea to invest in an inspection mirror (a mirror on the end of a stick, used to inspect the underside of cars etc.) when looking for eggs, which are usually laid on the underside of a leaf of Purple Moor-grass. I can confirm that this was a complete waste of money and time (!) since it's almost impossible to get the contrast needed when looking for a white egg when the backdrop is the sky! The better technique, by far, is to gently fold back a side of a tussock and just take a gander!

A bunch of photos below; any Chequered Skipper-related items are being held over for the article. Many thanks to Neil Freeman for helping us find the right spots to look at when at Glen Loy (which was derived from fellow UKBer Lee Slaughter, I believe).
And, finally, I popped into a Somerset Large Blue site last week specifically to look for the eggs. A couple of photos below. The eggs in the pair are different colours, indicating that they were laid by different females. Almost every Thyme flowerhead I looked at had at least one egg on it, which is promising regarding this particular site. Both images are stacked, and taken in the field.
Cheers,

- Pete

Stunning photos of the Large Blue Oval. Good to see someone else get great shoots of the MP-E 65mm len.

Gary

Cracking set of images as usual Pete Is the Puss Moth larva within the normal range of variation as the only one I've ever seen was mainly green with purple and cream strips down the side - is this a Northern variant?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Great report and images Pete, they are bringing the memories flooding back. That scotica is a cracker and those Large Blue ova images are astounding

Pete Eeles wrote: ...Mark and I became quite familiar with fending off ever-present midges that were especially prominent in early morning - ridiculously so at some sites. And it was a pleasure to bump into Neil Freeman during our travels, who gave us a tip: use Avon's "Skin so Soft" that, apparently, was tested by the Marines and is their preferred product (although, I think, in spray form), according to the landlady of the hotel we stayed at. I'm not sure what any "enemy" would make of such aromatic and soft-skinned hard men ...

Thanks for the kind words...and yes, I have since found out that apparently the body spray is the more effective midge repellent, although the lotion that we had seemed to do a good job of keeping them at bay. There are some ex-army guys at work and they have owned up to using it as well

I had read Lee Slaughters original article which is what prompted me to go to Glen Loy in the first place but I must also credit Phil and Rosalyn for showing me the right place which I may not have found if left to my own devices.

Cheers,

Neil.

Gary.N wrote:Stunning photos of the Large Blue Oval. Good to see someone else get great shoots of the MP-E 65mm len.

Gary

Thanks Gary!

Wurzel wrote:Cracking set of images as usual Pete Is the Puss Moth larva within the normal range of variation as the only one I've ever seen was mainly green with purple and cream strips down the side - is this a Northern variant?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks Wurzel,

The Puss Moth larva is penultimate instar - the first and last instars are very different from those in-between! I think your description is of a final-instar larva.

Cheers,

- Pete

Neil Freeman wrote:Great report and images Pete, they are bringing the memories flooding back. That scotica is a cracker and those Large Blue ova images are astounding

Thanks Neil!

Cheers,

- Pete