www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

A great online talk by Will Langdon at the BC Recorders' Meeting - at 2:28:30 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQwQEtijPGE
BWs, Neil

I completely agree - some superb investigative work!

Cheers,

- Pete

That was extremely interesting and informative and a great start to my Sunday morning. Thanks Neil.

Thanks for posting that, Neil. Very illuminating.

Some excellent info there. Will's assessment does align with my own thoughts on the Large Torts fortunes. Non of the reasons I've read in books over the years really made any sense. It's only when we take our blinkers off and look at the bigger picture (rather than just focusing on the UK) that things start adding up and making sense. Being on the edge of a species natural range makes it kinda obvious that it will periodically vanish if it naturally has a habit of waxing and waning over the years. Hopefully we're on the cusp of a nice waxing moment and this isn't just a tiny blip in it's fortunes .

The only photograph of an adult Large Tortoiseshell taken last summer was mine in July at Tout Quarry Portland as varified by Neil at the time. Let's hope we can be more successful this year. This photo was a bit of a fluke, I had made an effort to find one one the opposite side of the island that day. This one was deep in the Buddleia so could have easily been missed! This was the only photo I managed to get before it flew off. I'm truly stunned because I didn't know it was a Large Tortoiseshell until I uploaded my photos when I got home to the Forest of Dean.