www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Here in the Mendips ash dieback is ravaging the woods, and I wonder how it is going to impact the area's butterflies. In 2019 the canopy had thinned noticeably, more light was reaching the woodland floors, and Silver-washed Fritillaries were starting to explore parts of the woods where I have never seen them before. This year virtually the entire population of ash in some woods is dead, and the rides had been sealed off because of the danger of falling trees. Where the woods are accessible, brambles seem to be exploiting the canopy gaps, which is providing plenty of nectar but may well shade out the violets that the fritillaries depend on. On the other hand, the wych elm in the woods may be benefit, which will help the White-letter Hairstreak populations there.

This scourge is affecting my neck of the woods too, Chris. I guess it'll be some while before the impact can be evaluated. There will undoubtedly be a few species that benefit but I fear they will be in a minority.

Brown Hairstreaks are noted for their preference for ashes as "master trees" where males congregate and wait for new females to join them. Hopefully they will be able to adapt to using other species. As an example, they did appear to be using a field maple in this role at Shipton Bellinger at the end of July.

More local to me, a number of substantial ash trees have been lost in the last couple of years, taking with them substantial quantities of ivy. The impact on the local Holly Blue population remains to be seen - they made much use of this resource!

Dave