Black Flies sucking haemolyph on the burnets

[traplican]

I have posted a reply to the topic Species\Large White early stages. In this topic is discussed among other things also small insect passengers on the butterflies. I have observed and snapped to photos the Black Flies (Simuliidae) sucking haemolyph on the burnets:
Black Fly sucking on the Z. minos, Black Fly sucking on the Z. minos, Black Flies sucking on the Z. minos, Black Fly flying to the Z. minos, Black Fly flying to the Z. loti, Black Fly flying to the mating Zygaenae loti

I have scan photos from other trips but haven´t found similar attacks of the Simuliidae to the butterflies or burnets elsewhere yet.

[Padfield]

You have some really interesting photos, Traplican! I enjoyed watching your butterfly videos too, on YouTube. Like you, I'm lucky enough to have (relatively) local nausithous and teleius (and arion and rebeli, though alcon has eluded me). I'm impressed you managed to get upperside shots of male nausithous. I still haven't achieved this. And I haven't yet got good upperside pictures of teleius, though that species does rest with the upperside showing more often.

Perhaps that will be one of my missions for 2010...

Guy

[traplican]

I have shot tons of shots and then selected the most interesting for the slideshows on youtube.

All this year butterflies were snapped in spacing less than 7 km from my house except the Large Walls and the Dryads (24 km) and the Large Ringlet (the Pieniny mountains, Slovakia). Maculinea alcon and M. rebeli probably don't occur near me through their footplant is mising here. Maybe there are some chances for M. arion but I'm not sure.

Large Copper is expanding since the middle of 20th century and it's explainded by mass usage of the nitrogen fertilizers and countryside ruderalisation, both causing expansion of its footplants.

M. teleius is more scarce than M. nausithous and both were found by me at the shoulder growths: here M. nausithous (M. teleius was possibly missed), here both M. teleius and M. nausithous (and also Lycaena dispar and Cyaniris semiargus), here both M. nausithous and (a few individuals of) M. teleius.

M. nausithous was found also on the meadows: here (this and this are another places of the same locality), here - close to this growths of Sanguisorba officinalis in extensively managed fruit gardens was found one worn M. teleius (and on another place of the same locality High Brown Frit) and here more M. nausithous.

On July 12th 2009 I found lots of M. teleius on this meadows (In this Spring this meadow took me by large dense growth of the Official Burnet):

there are some shots of them:
.

But on August 16th the same meadow looked so:

It was cut to the margins exclude one place which is hard to reach partially due the wetting, partially due the prone terrain and partially due the dense rambling growth of lathyrus.
On the cut part of the meadow there were no butterflies, on the omitted one:
- Short-tailed Blue
- Queen of Spain Fritillary
- Purple-edged Copper
- Large Skipper
- Dusky Large Blue
- Weaver's Fritillary
- Silver-washed Fritillary
- maybe one worn High Brown
- Jersey Tiger (at the margin grow near the stream)

Most of the Scarce Large Blue gathering was probably destroyed - and this is why is so local and scarce. This is the 2nd cut of the meadows.

I have found one SLB only on the nearby derelict football pitch .

P.S.: I saw a Peacock flying through my garden today.

[Padfield]

It's heart-breaking when the habitat of these threatened butterflies is destroyed. Aren't the species protected? Do the authorities know they fly there? On an international scale these are very rare butterflies.

It's great to see the pictures, though. One colony of teleius I was shown this year is in a meadow right next to a housing agglomeration. It has a very vulnerable feel about it, but I think it is safe because the authorities know about it. My other colonies are on nature reserves or unthreatened land. On the other hand, nausithous does fly in some unlikely places, sometimes next to agricultural land and not always protected.

On July 12th 2009 I found lots of M. nausithous on this meadows (In this Spring this meadow took me by large dense growth of the Official Burnet):

there are some shots of them:
.

Surely you meant 'teleius'...

Guy

[traplican]

Surely you meant 'teleius'...

Yes, it is so and I have already corrected it.

[traplican]

I have sent a report about this locality to the Czech Entomological Institute but first report about occurence was sent shortly after June 16th. The meadow has three parts separated by brooklets with bank protection stands. The upper part was cut when I visited it on June 16th and I had reported that remained two parts aren't cut due the hard accessibility. Subsequent cutting of the meadow was reported by me, too. But preparing conservationist schedule of management will probably take a long time.

I shall send a report to the Regional Office Zlín, Environmental section, too.

[Padfield]

This is my best teleius and nausithous site:



Here the meadow is cut once a year, for hay presumably. I don't know the details because this site is a day trip, not just a local bike ride, and so I don't go that often. But I have seen this same meadow after scything.



This is the same site, looking in the other direction. You can see mostly wetland, which is not cut, and both species are seen there, but the female scarce large blue in the picture is on greater burnet on dry land, where the grass and herbs are cut.

Curiously, the site is a well-known public beauty spot, where people go for picnics and boat rides. I took my parents there one year for a walk in the mountains and was amazed to find dusky large blues! Soon afterwards I found scarce large blues. Very exciting!

Guy

[traplican]

Here is an interesting link to a summary of Monitoring Butterflies and Moths Protected under the European Community's Habitat Directive.

[Lee Hurrell]

Guy,

That shot of teleius (?) with the panorama behind it is breathtaking!

Cheers

Lee

[Padfield]

Thanks Lee - yes, it is a breathtaking place!

If the question mark in your post concerned the spelling, it's quite common on the continent to use i instead of j in many names. It's also quite logical, as i and j represent the same letter in Latin, but I don't know what the official rules are for biological use. Another one that gets this treatment is the genus Plebejus, which is often spellt Plebeius. On my own website I use j in both names, following normal British usage.

The common name for the butterfly is scarce large blue.

Guy

[Lee Hurrell]

Thanks Guy - it wasn't for the spelling. I didn't re-read the posts above, wasn't sure of the butterfly myself and didn't look the latin name up!

One of my students is Romanian and he uses a j in his name which is pronounced i too.

Cheers

Lee

[traplican]

There is a problem that conditions of agroenvironmental donations dictate two mowings in year in term inappropriate for endangered insects - excluding some localities in the White Carpathians where it has given birth to extinction of C. myrmidone on the Czech side of the border. These agri-environmental schemes (AES) were corrected only for the White Carpathian meadows, elsewhere is double mowing required continuosly.

Additionally it causes unification of the management: Most grassy surfaces are mown approx. in the same term (and thoroughly, checking officers don't allow no negligence). Sensitive species of insects have no place for the survival - excluding areas which management isn´t donated from the environment found of the European Union, like these extensive orchards on the opposite slope:

Owners of these orchards probably don´t draw any donations and their management is fit to their feasibilities (time and finantial). Each owner mows in different term (some of them only in years rich on the fruit yield).

[Matsukaze]

There is a problem that conditions of agroenvironmental donations dictate two mowings in year in term inappropriate for endangered insects - excluding some localities in the White Carpathians where it has given birth to extinction of C. myrmidone on the Czech side of the border. These agri-environmental schemes (AES) were corrected only for the White Carpathian meadows, elsewhere is double mowing required continuosly.

Additionally it causes unification of the management: Most grassy surfaces are mown approx. in the same term (and thoroughly, checking officers don't allow no negligence. Sensitive species of insects have no place for the survival - excluding areas which management isn´t donated from the environment found of the European Union, like these extensive orchards on the opposite slope:

Sadly something like the loss of Colias myrmidone was always going to happen when agricultural practice is being standardised - this is a major weakness of the agri-environment schemes. If hedgerows, for example, are being managed to an official height and width right across the country, you will lose species that are not suited by the policy right across the country - you need consistent management on a site, but diversity in management across an area.

I had no idea that Maculinea lived in orchards, and as my wife wants to move south and live somewhere with an orchard one day...

[Matsukaze]

I have found one SLB only on the nearby derelict football pitch .

I can't quite match that, but one local abandoned football pitch had a colony of marbled whites and ringlets in the six-yard box.

[Pete Eeles]

And all the Nymphalids doing the hard work in midfield.

I bet those Satyrids get a higher wage too - goal hoggers

Cheers,

- Pete

[traplican]

I had no idea that Maculinea lived in orchards, and as my wife wants to move south and live somewhere with an orchard one day...

I have found one worn Maculinea teleius in a orchard (or orchard/meadow). Thi is the butterfly:

... and this is the place of the find:

The Maculinea teleius was snapped slightly bellow. The village in this valley isn´t Traplice but Jankovice. There is a nice countryside there but this valey isn´t ideal place for housing: It is too closed, badly ventilated and there is bad air, mainly during the winter inversions.

I have snapped most of this year butterflies in these places. Upper is cow pasture (regrettably intensively periodically browsed on large surfaces and mowed in the late summer) and bellow are narrow vertical bars of orchards, meadows and sheep pastures:

This is an enclave in the woods of the Chřiby hills. The bluish mountains on the horisont in the picture above are the White Carpathians.

I have bought a house with a garden (about 780 square metres) in Traplice but not me but water voles decide what will grow in the garden.