www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Had official written confirmation that my current employers for the past eighteen years can no longer support my continuing part time employment.... hard times and all that. Cannot complain, I'm well past my sell by date..... So lots of time on my hands for all sorts of things.

Clearing out my desk last week, I came across a long forgotten photo prints album compiled when I used to breed butterflies regularly. Here for those who may be interested are some of those images. Do please bear in mind that these are Digital Compact reproductions of 6 x 4 prints, mainly from the 1980s, some thirty years old so the quality has suffered somewhat but, they serve their purpose.

This first image shows a pair of Apatura iris in copula in one of my breeding cages. Maybe some of those who frequent this site maybe thinking that pair of butterflies should have been left in their English native broadleaved woodland habitats. But, they would be wrong, very wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth with the emphasis on further. This pair is in fact from the extreme eastern edge of our single Apaturinae species' range from South Korea. It is Apatura iris peninsularis. Identical to our own species but, to my eyes, often a tad larger and there is usually a fine mauve tint to the underside of the Korean butterfles which I have never seen in our butterfly.



Over the years, I have bred large numbers of about twenty Apaturinae/Preponini species in my cages, sometimes so successfully that sheer numbers can cause problems. For example, how to provide five hundred natural winter hibernation sites for Purple Emperor larvae. It can lead to problems but, I managed as I prepared with ample growing foodplant. Even so, ideal locations can be at a premium and leads to overcrowding.. as in this composite picture of three separate prints:~



Also, with continued further generations in mind, pupae management needs to be coordinated ~ these are the Korean race of A.iris :~



The leaf specimens on the card I used to pass around the audience when giving slide-talk shows to interested groups years ago. shows what to look for so, if you find something like this in late summer, early autumn on the Salix species ( Sallows) in your local woods, then consider yourself lucky... I discovered a few 'new' woods with this butterfly simply by looking for these tell tale signs on the leaves after the flight season.

I've used similar captive breeding techniques for other members of this fabulous butterfly family. Here's the female and life history of one of my favourites :~ Chitoria ( previously Apatura) ulupi. The sexes are strongly dimorphic as can be seen in the picture of the paired couple. The upperside of the female is similar to our own butterfly, the male completely different although I'm informed, some males resemble the female's upperside but, I've never seen that form in my breeding cages and I've bred a good number. The larval foodplant is Celtis, not a native UK species but, a member of the Elms. First the female underside :~



The pairing :~



Egg batch and 1st instar larvae :~



Fully grown larva and pupa :~



Look carefully to the upper left of that suspended pupa. There you will see a small larva about to enter hibernation ~ note its colouring. Actually, this picture was taken in Autumn and the pupa is a rare 2nd brood example ~ all the other larve did the sensible thing and settled down to successful hibernation. The Oriental winter can be harsher than ours....

Some of the other species bred include the Camberwell Beauty and Lesser Purple Emperor ( Apatura ilia ). The two 1st instar larvae are on one of my growing Aspen saplings. The honey coloured egg batch of N.antiopa are as they appear when freshly laid, if fertile, they colour up a week or two later when the black heads of the tiny larvae can be seen through the egg shells.... Those eggs are on one of my potted sallows used for the PEs...



Finally, here is another composite picture of my very favourite European and South American butterflies .... The Poplar Admiral ( also reared on the same Aspens as A.ilia ) and a representative of my all time favourite Butterfly families, the Prepona and Agrias. Thirty years ago, I grew an Avvocado plant from the large seed stone. Within a couple of years it became a fine, atractive two metre high plant which my wife wanted as an ornamental house plant ~ no chance ~ it was reserved for my beautiful Preponas ~ they, for those who are not familiar with them, are large, powerful butterflies not too far unrelated to our own Purple Emperor.... They too have a black upper wing surface with rich irridescent blue or purple bands... fabulous. The closely related Agrias sp.are even more breathtakingly beautiful. I have also obtained fertile pairings of Prepona in capativity.... I still have one ambition... to breed some Agrias. I even obtained some seeds of their foodplant... then discovered that the foodplant is the very same as that the drug Cocaine is obtained from.... DOH! You need a licence to grow that ~ difficult to grow in the UK anyway... shame...



Did I mention I've also bred fine Morpho species ~ those huge beauties with breathtaking irridescent blue upper wings ? ... on of all things peanuts ..yes, not the actual nuts..... .... , but the plants you can grow from the nuts..... got pictures of their life history too ...

All this is now ancient history for me but, if there's sufficient interest in my ancient butterfly breeding activities, I'll get those old albums down from the loft... there's lots...
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Sorry to hear about your job

Very impressed with your highly organized breeding arrangements ....especially the Korean pupae neatly lined up on the corkboard

Best wishes

Charles

Sorry to hear about your job , but nice to see your photos. Never knew sticking pupae on corkboard actually could stick them and they would be fine, thanks for sharing! I have to post my pupae soon, got a lot in breeding at moment.

Dave McCormick wrote:Sorry to hear about your job , but nice to see your photos. Never knew sticking pupae on corkboard actually could stick them and they would be fine, thanks for sharing! I have to post my pupae soon, got a lot in breeding at moment.

Glad the pictures are appreciated.

With suspended pupae like those in my pictures, the fully grown larva places a silk pad on the leaf and when the transformation takes place, the newly formed pupae thrusts its cremaster into the silk pad ~ bit like Velcro, numerous little hooks in the cremaster and it works well in the silk.

After a couple of days to allow the very soft pupae to fully harden off (always do that before posting any pupae ) I carefully tease away the silk pad from the leaf and place that between folded paper using Uhu glue. Then you can pin the paper up allowing the pupae to hang at a natural angle. Have something nearby for the insect to grip when it emerges in case the empty pupa case is not sufficient for them to grip. It usually is.

Uhu glue is useful stuff. I once saw a fertile Purple Emperor ovum on my greenhouse floor. Must have dropped off one of the potted sallows. The females do not always fix them securely even in the wild, they even lay on the underside of the leaves too ~ seen that several times in the wild. There are reasons for that unusual egg laying procedure... I was continuously breeding only W.Sussex A.iris at the time. Using a pin head with a very little Uhu glue on it, I dabbed a minute quantity on a leaf of an ornamental Poplar tree growing in my garden. Populous candicans aurora ? sp. IIRC which is not always the case. Then moisened my index finger so that the ovum on the floor would adhere to the saliva on my finger. I then carefully positioned the egg so that with its flat base facing down, I lightly placed it into the small spot of Uhu on the Poplar leaf. Fully exposed to all the elements and numerous avian predators which visit my small garden during the course of the year, I was able to follow that larva's developement for the following eleven months. That little larvae completed its developement the following spring and summer producing the largest female English Purple Emperor I've ever seen! So, my taking time to recover that single ovum on the floor was time well spent. I spotted it's hibernation site too ~ tucked into deep bark fissures about eighteen inches above the soil from November to March.

Yes, useful stuff Uhu glue ..

Hi CC. I moved house last November and one of my missions this summer has been to try and find poplar admiral in my new local patch. The butterfly flies at low density in the region as a whole and I see typically one or two a year, generally by chance. The first stage of the mission was obviously to find some suitable local aspen, which eventually I did - suitable in that it is growing along a beautiful ride where already woodland browns and white admirals are abounding (and where I expect purple emperors to fly). What would really help me would be knowing what sort of leaf damage to look for, for populi. A little earlier in the year the only interesting damage to the aspen was being done by these little sawflies:



Do you have any photos showing the sort of thing I should be looking out for later this summer and into the autumn, if I do have populi breeding in this patch?

Guy

padfield wrote:Hi CC. I moved house last November and one of my missions this summer has been to try and find poplar admiral in my new local patch. The butterfly flies at low density in the region as a whole and I see typically one or two a year, generally by chance. The first stage of the mission was obviously to find some suitable local aspen, which eventually I did - suitable in that it is growing along a beautiful ride where already woodland browns and white admirals are abounding (and where I expect purple emperors to fly). What would really help me would be knowing what sort of leaf damage to look for, for populi. A little earlier in the year the only interesting damage to the aspen was being done by these little sawflies:



Do you have any photos showing the sort of thing I should be looking out for later this summer and into the autumn, if I do have populi breeding in this patch?

Guy

Yes, despite its large size, direct observation is rare. My observations are usually a fleeting glimpse high up in the Poplars and Aspens. They allow them to grow very high in parts of France and elsewhere, much higher than here in the UK. You might try attracting adults in known areas where they occur with baits... over ripe Bananas may be productive particularly during hot, long dry periods without rain. I do have my own pictures of the earlier stages, including captive pairings up in my loft and in this respect, just like its smaller relative the White Admiral, the newly hatched larvae prepare silk leaf extensions beyond the edges of their foodplants leaves where they rest, sometimes appearing to be resting in mid-air without support so effective is that silk extension. The little larva leaving it only when feeding. Remember, at that time at the end of a flight season, there are more Poplar Admirals in their habitat than at any other time... only most are ova and little larvae..

The silk leaf extension is very distinctive and your best chances of success would be to look for these just after the main flight season in the area you know where it occurs. It may be difficult and time consuming before you find your first one, but, when you do, before removing it for rearing, take a picture of it and the locality of the tree, where and what height on the tree ~ make a mental note of all these things and the next one you find should be that much easier with that first experience behind you. Like so many things in life, it's sometimes simply a question of getting your eye in.

Be careful if rearing them, I lost ca. 20 larvae in their hibernacula when i put out a potted Aspen sapling mid-winter during rain so that they could benefit from natural rainwater as they would in the wild. A female House Sparrow destroyed most of them... the little tubes ( hibernacula ) where the larvae were hibernating torn away from their twigs, now empty and hanging by silken threads. One of my most disappointing butterfly breeding experiences. I have obtained captive pairings but, it's even more difficult than captive pairing of Apatura species and that's saying something.

There are several species of mainland European butterflies that I have never seen flying in the wild. However, I've bred fine specimens from the earlier stages found in the wild. One of these is another closely related member of the White Admiral family.... Neptis rivularis, one of the aptly named Gliders.... I have seen them flying in my garden greenhouse.. not mainland Europe....

About thirty years ago, in company with several more vastly experienced butterfly enthusiasts than I was at that time, sadly all moved on meantime... our small party found ourselves in northern Italy near some of the lakes and small rivers below the hills there. Someone mentioned that Gliders had been seen there in previous years but, we were well beyond their flight season on this occasion. I remembered one of my Butterfly Books mentioned Meadowsweet as a larval foodplant. That information maybe erroneous. I looked for this plant in the area but, none for miles. What there was was some Spirea growing in rocky areas just like the stuff ( Spiraea x bumalda 'Anthony Waterer' again IIRC ) I had in my garden back home. The first Spirea plant I looked at in a rocky lay by had two of the similar structures produced by the White and Poplar Admiral larvae on the leaves. I found a few more, about six in all and a couple of ova, just like those of the White Admiral. Better still, a few miles further and deeper into the wooded hills, in a stream growing rather attractively, some large white blossomed Astilbe plants, again, just like those back home in my garden.... I risked very wet feet and on the leaves of some of these plants actually growing in the streams were the unmistakeable ova of this butterfly.... not for nothing is it known as rivularis.... maybe... I took those home and put them on growing "Anthony Waterer".... they overwintered on the plant just like the other 'Admiral' larve do in little tubes about 1cm long constructed with silk and a carefully 'cut' piece of dead foodplant leaf.... The hibernaculum.

So, anytime over the next month or two may produce what you are looking for on the Aspens. Possibly Poplars too... Start searching now and good liuck .... we all could do with some of that at times..
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Thank you -that is very useful information. The place where I used to see them, near my old house, is 40 mins cycle ride away and much longer by dog, so I shall focus my efforts on my new patch. I have got into the habit of visiting it at some point every day, or as near as possible every day, as it is close enough for a lunchtime dog walk. Interestingly, my other relatively local 'regular' site is at 2000m. The species seems to hilltop, like swallowtails. A possible reason in this instance is that where the foodplant grows, low down on the north side of a steep mountain ridge, there is no sun until the afternoon - so I think the butterflies might fly up to the top of the ridge and disport themselves there before the sun reaches their breeding areas. Just speculation - but it is very strange to see a poplar admiral up with the clouded apollos and Erebia butterflies!

I also saw rivularis in north Italy, a couple of years ago. Unlike you, I got there in the flight season and was delighted to see the adults in the wild. They were usually in the vicinity of locally thick clumps of this Spiraea plant:



As the picture suggests, this was some way above the valley floor, where the river ran, but I did see them at lower levels too.

Guy

Glad to be of help. I did have a look through for some pictures of my very early stages of L.populi for you but they will be up in my loft and in the heat of the past few days, that will be like an oven.

I did find some other 6 x 4 old prints which show that some of the Neotropical larvae which deploy a similar silk leaf extension like European Admirals. The European species do not do that in the spring, they soon move to rest on twigs or leaves in a more usual way as they feed and grow. Even my favourite Preponini deploy and use this process right up until their penultimate instar ~ then, they are bigger than a fully grown A.iris larva in that earlier instar. They look most odd suspended in mid-air away from the main leaf. which are very large, sometimes up to 30cm long. I can only guess that this reduces the chances of exploring pedatory ants finding them or maybe also drains rainwater quickly when the heavens open up in their Neotropical Forests. Larvae could drown on a big leaf... Maybe a bit of both.

Keep in mind these are all digital images of old 6 x 4 prints so images have suffered a tad in the process.

This is Prepona demophon doing just that on one of my plants :~





.... and they move to the plant proper once in their final instar. Then the protective device they deploy resembles precisely a snake's head! It's very effective and I discovered this defensive ploy when I accidentally jogged the bush they were on. They both hunched up their heads and front segments and looked uncannily like a snake's head mooching through the trees as some snakes do when searching for prey. The twin 'horns' on their heads at an angle looking like the fangs of a reptile.... uncanny! That may just put off a bird who would otherwise make short work of such a tasty meal. I got my camera hoping to get a picture of the Snake's Head pose but, despite deliberately jarring their plant, they never did it again so I did not get the shot ...



I also came across some prints of the largest member of the Apaturinae I have bred in my back garden for several generations. Sasakia funebris. My stock came from a remote part of mainland China at a time when a non-Oriental face would not ne welcome. But, I had a resourceful Oriental connection ... one of my bred females had a winspan at maximum spread of nearly six inches! The colouration mimics a poisonous Swallowtail species and maybe that is an effective deterrant in their native habitats in China.

Here are pictures of the magnificent larvae, pupae and freshly emerged adult. Another Celtis sinensis ( Ulmacae ~ Elms) feeder like other Apaturinae of the world many of which I've bred. I've also bred others on good old English and Wych Elm grown from seeds years ago, now lsmall trees in my field as are a few Celtis, both Occidental and Oriental Celtis species.







Here's a picture of some Apatura serarum, A.here and other Apatura species their names escape me at the moment. There was a time when I could remember all this stuff ~ must find my notes...



Finally, earlier I mentioned an ambition to breed some Agrias species... far away my favourites of all the world's butterflies. I have longstanding invites to go out to Peru and Brasil where contacts has them on their land. Here's a picture of what they look like. Trouble is, there are bandits and other miscreants lurking there who wouldn't hesitate .... scarey or what... .. so " Don't worry John ~ we will have armed escourts...." So far, I've bottled out ....



P.S.

Your picture of the Neptis foodplant looks like Astilbe species like those I found larvae and ova on all those years ago.

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This is Prepona demophon doing just that on one of my plants :~

Quite unusual looking, thanks for sharing, not seen a caterpillar like that, maybe lobster moth, but its not exactly like this

Finally, earlier I mentioned an ambition to breed some Agrias species... far away my favourites of all the world's butterflies. I have longstanding invites to go out to Peru and Brasil where contacts has them on their land. Here's a picture of what they look like. Trouble is, there are bandits and other miscreants lurking there who wouldn't hesitate .... scarey or what... .. so " Don't worry John ~ we will have armed escourts...." So far, I've bottled out ....

I happen to like those species alot too. I'd like to visit Peru one day myself too, but I don;t know if it would be anytime in the next few years. You were saying about Peru, I had oppourtunity once, about 5 years ago (before I had a camera, unfourtunitly) I got about 20 Small Owl Butterflies (Caligo Memnom) and I had a banana plant, it was not a big plant and they really ate through it, can see how thse butterflies can be pest of banana plantations in South America. I gave the pupae to a butterfly farm and did manage to see the adults, which I liked alot. They can fly well, even with a chunk of their wings missing.

After reading this thread, I am thinking of breeding more myself, so far all I have is about 60 Large Whites, one Yellow Barred Brindle Moth pupae and one Orange Tip pupae.


Have you or anyone else had the chance of breeding Acraea species? I am thinking I would like to either breed one of these or Purple-shot Copper , but as of yet, I am not sure.

After reading this thread, I am thinking of breeding more myself

Aren't you a bit young yet Dave?


CC,
I am fascinated by your stories.
Now you have (sadly) a bit more time on your hands, as well as getting "Out and About" a little more, perhaps your exploits would make a good read for a more general public?
Good luck in your "retirement".
I hope our paths may cross sometime.