White Admiral Egg Laying Behaviour

[PhilBJohnson]

"The female selects Honeysuckle that is in partial shade, often at the edge of a woodland ride or in lightly-shaded woodland. She also selects leaves on straggly pieces of isolated plant, rather than the lushest leaves that are often growing in full sun." - UK Butterflies March 22nd 2019

In many of our Lincolnshire woods there is much honeysuckle that is immature.

In the Spring 2018 Lincolnshire Butterfly Conservation newsletter:
Searching for White Admiral larvae in the Lincolnshire Limewoods – August 2017 by Pete Smith

Pete Smith, having surveyed College Wood, Apley, explains about the female White Admiral:
"she will completely ignore any lush, rich, healthy- looking honeysuckle growth, and will choose instead the most straggly, spindly and often quite unhealthy looking wispy trails of honeysuckle on which to oviposit: these must be growing in either partially or completely shaded conditions alongside ride edges, beneath the shade of larger trees, or straggling through shrubby growth of Sallow, Birch or other ride-side scrub."

About 29 minutes into this Chris Baines video: The Making of a Wildlife Garden, Chris explains that the White Admiral Butterfly lays it's eggs on the
"young leaves at the tip of very old honeysuckle"
Reference:
https://youtu.be/qG0aCIbw5Wk

Do we have evidence in the British Isles, that within different isolated populations in different woods, the female White Admiral butterfly behaves slightly differently, depending on the maturity of honeysuckle stands, was Chris slightly mis-informed in the 1980s or has White Admiral behaviour changed since then?
i thought that this was a really good video anyway, pioneering in it's time and many very good tips for wildlife gardeners.

Kind Regards.

[Pete Eeles]

I’m not sure what "young leaves at the tip of very old honeysuckle" actually means! Honeysuckle is deciduous and young leaves will sprout the entire length of its growth, in my experience. White Admiral almost never lay at the very tip, since there are usually much more suitable leaves part way up a length of Honeysuckle.

Cheers,

- Pete