www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi there, I'm really sorry if this is in the wrong area but I'm new here and right now I'm cracking up a bit over this.

To start from the beginning: When our boiler broke down we had to move everything from the boiler room into my music room (a lot of junk). It now seems that there was something living in it, which has hatched into a beautiful small tortoiseshell courtesy of the central heating (the room the boiler is in is fairly cool). Of course it knows what it wants and it's trying to fly out the windows, which can't open. I realise that if I did manage to get it out of the room and to another window it probably wouldn't survive outside anyway. What can I do?

Hi Alix

The Small Tortoiseshell would have been hibernating in the room and has probably woken up during the move. Your best bet would be to place him/her in a similar room where it won't be disturbed until the warmer weather arrives in the spring.
Maybe it could go back in the boiler room when all is fixed. In the mean time if it won't settle place something soft over the windows to prevent the butterfly from damaging itself. Darkening the room it is in may calm it down.

If this advice is incorrect please could others on this forum suggest an alternative approach.

Happy New Year

This topic get raised here pretty often.
You have disturbed a hibernating adult butterfly (i.e. it hasn't just hatched).
It requires a dry and cold environment to carry on it's hibernation.
ideal would be the rafters of a garden shed, or tucked away in a cool garage.
I just found one myself wrapped in the folds of some old camouflage material I had in the garage. A good location as it would be pretty mouse proof in there.
Some people advocate letting it feed on a small amount of honey disolved in water to replace the energy it has expended trying to get out of your windows.
Good luck, and let us know if it survives the winter. It ought to emerge in March, but a warm day in January can have STs flitting across snow!
Cheers

Hey there, thanks for all the help. We were under the impression that the butterfly hadn't survived but yesterday we discovered it alive and well but for some pretty cut up wings - it can no longer fly; I'm not sure what happened to them. We left out some maple syrup diluted with water in the absence of any honey last night and it has gotten it's right wing stuck to the saucer. The only thing we can think to do is put some water over it but that has obvious drawbacks. What can I do with this wing?

Hi Alix,

I would very carefully try and remove the wing from the liquid to allow it to dry out.

Then place it somewhere cool and dry and keep your fingers crossed.

Let us know....

Cheers

Lee

Your boiler room might be too warm. Your new friend will not survive the winter if it uses up too much of its resources or gets worn down (wear and tear is one-way only in butterflies, as they have no real capacity for growth and repair). Once clean and dry, consider putting it in a box in the fridge to ensure it doesn't waste any more of its limited life before the spring!

Guy

PS - the inability to fly might not be due to the wings - ST can manage with very damaged wings. It might be simply too cool to fly.