Excellent sequence of pictures. Thank you.
Back in the 1970-80s, I knew and frequently visited an old retired Lepidopterist who lived on the Surrey/Hants border. He had several large pines in his superb garden and this beautiful moth actually bred there. He was also fortunate in that the occasional Purple Emperor would pass through.
How bad is that ! Some folks have all the luck ....
I believe the Pine Hawk larvae pupate in the pine needles and after emergence, the imago soon crawls up the Pine to expand its wings. Magnificent moths the Hawks. When I was breeding various Apaturinae back then, the occasional Poplar Hawk would lay ova on the Poplars and Salix species in my relatively small garden. Never had the beautiful Elephant Hawk on my Fuchias or even the Eyed on the sallows but both have turned up in gardens very closeby. Neighbours know of my interest and alert me when something turns up ~ which is nice. Ordinary folks are much more clued up now about such things ~ by ordinary I mean those who do not have a keen interest in such things usually ~ Years ago that 'big worm' on the plant would be trodden on ....
Talking about garden butterflies, whilst working on one of my hobby cars, I straightened up my back after bending under the bonnet for a while and noticed that a sprig of Holly was hanging over the fence near where I was working. It was a female Holly and a large number of green berries were present. Despite a poorish spring weatherwise, the Holly Blue has been numerous through the garden this year.
It's over thrity years since I've searched the Hollies in May on the local hills for the ova of the Holly Blue so I thought I'd try my luck again in the garden. I did not find any ova ~ too late for them ~ but did find some half grown larvae:
Looking again at this picture ~ I think there is a single ovum present on one of the green berries.
They may have fed up. Hope so ~ they were gone a week later ~ hope the Sparrows and Tits which are always searching the shrubs and stuff in my garden did not get them.
Where I now live, as a schoolboy in the 1950s, the area was rough pasture and trees. Good habitat in fact for all manner of things and only a couple of miles out of the city. I used to go rough shooting, Birds nesting and 'butterflying' as it was called back then in those fields now covered in hundreds of houses ... including my own. I had a licence for the gun then ~ cannot imagine what might happen if some youngster wandered around with a shotgun today .... things move on and not always for the better.
Over the thirty odd years I've lived here, I've observed the following butterflies breeding in my garden. Orange Tip ~ found pupae on fences ect. Speckled Wood # pupae found ~ there's a permanent small colony in my garden for some years now # see the fine females ovipositing on the grasses near the fence and the adults do not stray much staying about the same shrubs and trees all the time every year. Wall Brown. Frequent up until late 1970s ~ females laying ~ not seen one for over twenty years. Small Copper ~ fine freshly emerged female expanding its wings perched on my garage wall. Do not know what this larva fed on in my garden # seen the females laying on Sheeps Sorrel in my own little nature reserve ten miles away... even very small indeed miniscule sized plants in fact which would go unnoticed had it not been for the butterfly's activity which drew my attention to them. Observed Green Veined White females laying on miniscule plants I've not been able to identify. So small that the plant would hardly see two GVW larvae through to maturity ~ counted seven ova on one of these small plants.
I also grew species of potted Elm/Ulmus for feeding Apaturinae species ( and some White Letter Hairsteaks ) in my garden and female Commas laid a few ova on them ~ Did not observe that event but their larvae are very distinctive. I have not raised or bred any species for close on twenty years now ~ However, those Ulmus species are now larger trees in my 'reserve'. Fine trees.
The 'rarest' butterfly I've ever seen in my garden was a Wood White # a most unusual 'one off' observation which I've previously described on this site under the heading of 'Million to one chance' or somesuch title... I believe this insect is expanding it's range in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire ( always strong there ) Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire from my own observations and no doubt elsewhere. It is certainly present in several Gloucestershire woods where it was not found in the 1950/60/70s and later.
Finally, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Ringlets and Marbled Whites sometimes pass through ~ less so now the shrubs are larger. All observed egg laying whenI've not cut the grass with the exception of the Marbled White ~ which may have laid or, more accurately, dropped # takes little effort when dropping its ova over grassland ...
Keep 'em peeled.
....
Ever the gentleman, I offered to take the offender from the back of her thigh 
It turned out to be a beautiful female Pine Hawk Moth, obviously it had fallen out the tree with emerging as it's wings were yet to expand.
