The Brimstone, the vetch and the ants

20 Friday May 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, wildflowers

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ants, ants nectaring on EFNs, Brimstone, Common vetch, EFNs, extrafloral nectaries, Grass vetchling, nectar sources on plants, Vetches, Vicia species

Two for the price of one today: a lovely female Brimstone butterfly, which I was really happy to catch feeding on Common vetch.

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But, lurking beneath the flower, you may be able to spot a small creature. It’s an ant and, if you’ve ever looked closely at the flowers of any of the vetch family (Common, Bush, Tufted, and the vetchlings), you may have noticed they all prove attractive to ants.

220520 vetch and ants (2)

I’ve only recently discovered the reason for this: these plants all have extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), tiny glands on the stems and other areas of a plant, where nectar is secreted. The vetches aren’t the only plants to have these EFNs – according to a report on the University of Florida website (and there are many other scientific papers online, if this subject intrigues you), EFNs have been found in over 2000 plant species. Scientists don’t seem completely sure why plants ‘feed’ ants in this way, though it may be a means of rewarding ant species for their protection against the plant-munching larvae of other insect species.

First female

01 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, British butterflies, female Brimstone, spring butterflies

This pale lime beauty was my sixteenth Brimstone of the year (I saw my first on 27 February) but she was the first female, and the first to stay still long enough for a few photos. Male Brimstones usually emerge first from their winter hibernation (as adults) and can be seen flying purposefully up and down hedgerows, footpath edges and woodland rides, searching for females, which emerge a little later than their male suitors.

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B is for Brimstone

07 Tuesday Dec 2021

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, Brimstone caterpillars, Brimstone eggs, British butterflies, butterfly

Of course, my end-of-year countdown has to include butterflies. Today it’s the Brimstone – there may be others.

211207 brimstone

I was thrilled this year to discover more about the life cycle of this exquisite butterfly. In May, after watching a female laying on the leaves of Buckthorn saplings, I found my first Brimstone eggs and, after that, knowing what Buckthorn looked like, found many more and, of course, lots of lovely caterpillars in various stages of development. I’ve yet to find a chrysalis though – maybe next year.

Baby Brimstones

21 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, Brimstone caterpillars, Brimstone larvae, British butterflies, butterfly reproduction

We’ve watched Brimstone courtship (Butterfly courtship, 24 May 2021) and we’ve seen Brimstone eggs (4 May 2021), now let’s have a look at what hatched out of those eggs, the Brimstone babies … well, we might want to call them caterpillars or, more scientifically correct, larvae, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration of that title.

According to Peter Eeles’s Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, the Brimstone butterfly progresses through five stages, called instars, taking around 25 days from the day it hatches from its egg to the time it moults into its final instar. Six days after that, it pupates. By returning to Buckthorn trees where I’ve previously seen eggs, I’ve managed to find most of these stages, including, on Saturday, a final instar.

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Eeles writes that, as early instars, the larvae tend ‘to rest alongside a rib on the leaf underside’ (shown in my first two photos) but from the third instar, ‘the larva now rests on the leaf upperside’ (above). In its final instar the larva has a typical resting pose, where it almost hangs off the leaf (below left), and it ‘exudes an amber liquid from the tips of the fine hairs that cover its body … This liquid may be distasteful to birds and therefore act as a deterrent’. The tiny orange globules can be seen in the photo below right. Now to find a pupa …

Brimstone eggs

04 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, Brimstone eggs, British butterflies, butterfly eggs

This was exciting – or should that be eggs-citing?!

210504 brimstone eggs (1)

I was watching this female Brimstone, first sitting on a patch of brambles, then flying, seemingly haphazardly, through and around bushes along a woodland ride. I thought those bushes were Blackthorn but it turns out they were probably Buckthorn.

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Then I realised the butterfly was egg-laying. In his Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, Peter Eeles describes the process:

Females are particularly choosy about the plants on which they lay their eggs – even on sites with many buckthorns present, only a very small proportion are used by females, who typically lay on plants that are isolated, sheltered and growing in sunny areas, such as at the edge of a woodland ride.

The eggs start off pale green, as shown here, but soon turn yellow and then grey, as the little caterpillar develops. This is the first time I’ve seen Brimstone eggs and I’m fairly sure I’ll be able to find them again so I’m hoping to keep an eye on their progress.

A five-Brimstone day!

17 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, British butterflies, butterfly, Grangemoor Park

Though yesterday’s weren’t my first butterfly sightings of the year (I’ve seen two different species fly rapidly past in recent weeks but haven’t managed photos), they were simply splendid. A walk around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park produced five (!) Brimstones and, though most were patrolling their chosen territories at speed, I waited patiently for one to stop for a rest and managed to get close enough to get some good images. I can’t tell you how truly wonderful it feels to be sharing my air space with butterflies again. They are such magical creatures!

210317 brimstone

86/366 Dandelions and Brimstones

26 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, British butterflies, British wildflowers, dandelion, Gonepteryx rhamni, Grangemoor Park

Here’s why it should be an offence to cut, spray or otherwise destroy blooming wildflowers – in this case, Dandelions, in particular.

200326 brimstone (1)

During yesterday’s daily exercise walk around Grangemoor Park I saw at least five Brimstone butterflies. These were all males, newly emerged from hibernation and already flying frantically back and forth along their chosen path-sides and hedgerows, seeking out females to mate with.

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As there aren’t yet many wildflowers in bloom at Grangemoor, when it came time to refuel for their next patrol flight, every single one of these Brimstones stopped and supped on Dandelion nectar. In fact, once I twigged to what they were doing, I took to checking every Dandelion I saw, just in case it held a butterfly. So, please, PLEASE, leave your Dandelions for the insects to feed on.

200326 brimstone (3)

207/365 Butterflying at Lower Woods

26 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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Brimstone, British butterflies, butterflying, Gatekeeper, Gloucestershire woodland, Lower Woods Nature Reserve, Purple hairstreak, Silver-washed fritillary, Small copper, woodland trenches

On the hottest July day on record, yesterday, three mad gents and a Kiwi woman went butterflying in the noon day sun!

190726 Lower Woods (1)

Our destination was the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s Lower Woods Nature Reserve, which, according to their website, is ‘one of the largest ancient woodlands in the south-west of England’. I can believe it!

190726 Lower Woods (2)

We walked most of the Horton Great Trench, one of the long grassy roads that have been in existence since Medieval times, as well as detouring in through the woods on one of the many tracks, and it was beautiful – extremely hot, but beautiful! Towering old trees edged the ancient trackway, with clearings widening out to wildflower meadows in many places along the way.

190726 silver-washed frit

The trench was perfect for butterflies. I have never seen so many Silver-washed fritillaries before, and there was also an abundance of Peacocks, flashing their brilliant colours on the bramble flowers. We spotted several Purple hairstreaks up high in the ancient oaks and then had the delight of watching one come down to the grass to drink from the overnight dew – fabulous!

190726 purple hairstreak 190726 small copper

Our list for the site came to 17 species: Silver-washed fritillary, Purple hairstreak, Peacock, Red admiral, Comma, Large and Small and Marbled whites, Brimstone, Small skipper, Common blue and Brown argus, Speckled wood, Meadow brown, Ringlet and Gatekeeper, and two gorgeous Small coppers.

190726 gatekeeper 190726 brimstone

We didn’t actually find our target species, the White admiral, at Lower Woods but a detour to Slade Wood on the way home produced one individual, bringing our top-spotter car-driver his 50th butterfly species of the year. Congratulations, Gareth!

140/365 The battle of the Brimstones

20 Monday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly courtship, male butterflies contesting a female

This female Brimstone butterfly is minding her own business, having a drink, and has no idea she is about to be tackled from behind by two male Brimstones.

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After some mid-air tussling, she lands on a leaf and seems receptive to mating but which male will get to do the honours?

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The males engage in an aerial battle, while she waits with closed wings.

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The dominant male lands next to the female and seems to try to force her wings apart.

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She opens her wings and you can almost see the glint in his eye!

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But, before he has time to mount the female, the second male returns to try his luck once more. The female closes her wings and the male tries again to force them open.

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Now both males are holding her wings down but they continue to battle over who is dominant.

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More male tussling follows, at which point the female gets fed up with waiting and flies off, the two males in hot pursuit.

190520 brimstones (8)

The Brimstone flyers

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Brimstone, Brimstone butterfly, Brimstone moth, British butterflies, British moths, Gonepteryx rhamni, Opisthograptis luteolata

Recording the biodiversity around us can sometimes be a tricky business. Take, for example, the Magpie: there’s a bird called Magpie (Pica pica) and a moth (Abraxas grossulariata) and even a fungus (Coprinopsis picacea). The same is true of the Grayling: there are both a butterfly (Hipparchia semele) and a fish (Thymallus thymallus) of that name. Then there are the Brimstones: in this case, it’s even more confusing as both are lepidoptera – one’s a butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) and one’s a moth (Opisthograptis luteolata). And by sheer coincidence, I saw both Brimstones yesterday.

170726 Brimstone butterfly

I spotted the butterfly drinking from a Buddleja bush while I was out walking and the moth came to visit me here at home. I had left my windows open until around 10pm and this little moth came into my kitchen. I tried putting it out but it flew straight back in again and is still sitting on my kitchen bench, despite the window again being open. Not that I’m complaining, as it’s a beautiful little creature.

170726 Brimstone moth