Swallowtails in NE England!

[DaveO'B]

Does anyone know if there have been any sightings of European race Swallowtail in the UK recently? I've had two reports of sightings this month, one in Durham City, and one on the Hartlepool coast. In both cases, neither was positively ID'd to species, but both recorders stated that they were familiar with Swallowtails on the Continent. I inferred from this that they were European Swallowtail.
I suspect that they are releases, but any other sightings would strengthen the possibility of them being genuine immigrants.
BTW, I'm aware that there is a butterfly house in the Botanic Gardens of Durham University(the location of one of the sightings!), but they have been contacted and don't rear any swallowtails (they do rear Zebra Longwing, Heliconius charitonius, though, and confirmed that a number had escaped through a broken pane, which explains a sighting in a garden in Shincliffe, Co. Durham).

Thanks,

Dave O'Brien
Butterfly Recorder
BC NE England Branch

[Matsukaze]

Hi Dave,

There are a couple of sightings reported on the BC south coast branch web pages - Sussex, Hampshire, Devon I think - but would Swallowtails arrive on the south coast and the Durham coast at the same time?

[DaveO'B]

Hi Matsukaze,

Thanks for that info. I think that for the Durham sightings to be genuine, there would have to be a lot more sightings nationally, not just on the south coast. I'm inclined to think that these were escapees.

Cheers,

Dave

[Andrew R]

There are a good number of Papilio Machaon ssp Gorganus in the County of Durham and also Cleveland area.
You will also see a good number of Nymphalis Antiopa.
There are other sightings of other species but most people do not bother reporting them.
The records for the country will show species that people think are genuine rare migrants.
There are P. Machaon to be found in the Yorkshire area. I have seen them and know where they came from.

Cheers Andy

[DaveO'B]

There are a good number of Papilio Machaon ssp Gorganus in the County of Durham and also Cleveland area.
You will also see a good number of Nymphalis Antiopa.
There are other sightings of other species but most people do not bother reporting them.
The records for the country will show species that people think are genuine rare migrants.
There are P. Machaon to be found in the Yorkshire area. I have seen them and know where they came from.

Cheers Andy

Hi Andy

Can you elaborate on this? I record in, and collate records from, Cleveland, Durham, and N. Yorkshire, and I've never heard of a sighting of Swallowtail in any of these counties before. Are you saying they are being deliberately released?
If you don't wish to post details on this forum, my contact details can be found here: http://www.yorkshirebutterflies.org.uk/recorders.htm

Cheers,

Dave