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Tag Archives: butterflies

A Marbled white surprise

24 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Marbled white, Melanargia galathea

Considering the Marbled white butterfly (Melanargia galathea) thrives in tall grasses, growing in calcareous unimproved grasslands, in woodland clearings and rides, in disused quarries and roadside verges, I always expect to find them in my part of south Wales. But they are rare here, my very occasional sightings consisting of rapid fly-bys and distant record-only photos like the one below.

210724 marbled white (1)

So, getting close views of this beauty during my trip to Slade Woods last week was a lovely surprise, not from within the woodland itself, but rather at the edge of a farmland footpath on my way back to the train.

210724 marbled white (2)

Though it may seem difficult to believe when you look at its colouring, the Marbled white butterfly is a member of the ‘brown’ group of butterflies that also includes those that are recognisably brown (Speckled wood, Meadow brown, Ringlet, etc).

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363/366 Lucky devil

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterflying, Small tortoiseshell

I’ve often said that the Small copper is my favourite butterfly, and that’s still true, but the butterfly in my spotlight for 2020 is the Small tortoiseshell. And the good news is that this year I’ve seen more Small tortoiseshells, both the butterflies and their larvae, than in previous years. I hope that means they’re enjoying some good luck, and their numbers are bouncing back everywhere, not just in my locality. I’ve blogged about these beautiful butterflies a few times now: the most recent post was The devil’s butterfly?, in April 2020.

201228 small tortoiseshell

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261/366 Searching the scabious, 2

17 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British butterflies, British hoverflies, British insects, butterflies, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverflies, insects on scabious

One of the side benefits of searching the scabious for rare bees (see yesterday’s piece, Searching the scabious, 1) is that my search also revealed how many other insects were enjoying the essential late summer-early autumn food supply provided by the beautiful wildflower, Devil’s-bit scabious. Amongst them were these five butterflies and a moth: Large white, Red admiral, Small copper, Small tortoiseshell, Small white and a Silver Y.

200917 butterfly large white
200917 butterfly red admiral
200917 butterfly small copper
200917 butterfly small tortoiseshell
200917 butterfly small white
200917 moth silver y

And also these five hoverflies: Eristalis intricarius, Helophilus trivittatus, Sericomyia silentis, Volucella pellucens and Volucella zonaria.

200917 hoverfly eristalis intricarius
200917 hoverfly helophilus trivittatus
200917 hoverfly sericomyia silentis
200917 hoverfly volucella pellucens
200917 hoverfly volucella zonaria

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254/366 Seven!

10 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Small copper

I was in seventh heaven yesterday because I found seven Small coppers, my favourite butterflies, at Cosmeston, the most I’ve ever seen in one place on one day. Here they are, the little beauties.

200910 small copper (1)200910 small copper (2)200910 small copper (3)200910 small copper (4)200910 small copper (5)200910 small copper (6)200910 small copper (7)

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184/366 Eggs-citing!

02 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly egg, Comma, Comma butterfly, Comma egg, Polygonia c-album

Though I set off on yesterday’s walk clad in a rain jacket, the first day of July brightened up and turned into a day full of butterflies, with sightings of my first Gatekeepers of the year, a couple of second-brood Holly blues and more than 20 second-brood Small whites, as well as seven other species. But the highlight for me was watching two Commas egg-laying on nettles, and then taking a look at their tiny eggs, which I’d not seen previously.

200702 commas egglaying (1)

The butterflies were fluttering around, checking out nettle plants growing alongside the footpath I was walking and, when they found a plant to their liking, they would alight briefly on a leaf, lay a single egg, then flutter off again.

At less than 1mm tall, these eggs are tiny, and I would never have spotted them unless I’d seen them being laid. They’re pale green in colour, with 10 or 11 white ribs running vertically up the sides.

Comma egg one
Comma egg one
Comma egg two
Comma egg two

According to Peter Eeles’s Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, each female Comma will lay about 250 eggs, usually on the upper side of a leaf, in a sheltered, sunny position. The eggs will gradually change colour to yellow and, in two or three weeks, to grey, before the little caterpillars hatch. Eggs-citing!

200702 commas egglaying (5)

Comma showing the distinctive marking that gave it its name

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177/366 A Small heath and a Painted lady

25 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Painted Lady, Small heath

As well as the Great crested grebes I wrote about yesterday (and many other birds, of course), I also found a little treasure on Monday’s Cardiff Bay walk, a Small heath butterfly. These are common butterflies in many parts of Britain but, for some unknown reason, they are now rare in my part of south Wales. In almost five years of looking, this is the first I’ve found, and Monday’s find is only the third confirmed local record in ten years. Sadly, I only managed a couple of not-very-good photos so I’ll need to try to re-find it.

200625 small heath

Yesterday’s walk, in the meadows next to a local woodland, also produced a treasure. As well as many other butterflies (Meadow browns and Ringlets, Large and Small skippers, a couple each of Commas and Red admirals, a Speckled wood and a few flyby white species), I saw my first Painted lady of 2020. I love both the top and side markings of this beautiful creature.

200625 painted lady (1)200625 painted lady (2)

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263/365 No parking

20 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Comma, Comma butterfly

It seems Commas don’t know their road code: no stopping on double yellow lines 24/7 if no signage. Or maybe this Comma thought the sparkling yellow paint was a flower. Luckily, this was on a quiet country lane with little traffic so the butterfly was in no danger. And it did look rather pretty, highlighted by the bright sunshine.

190920 commA (1)

190920 comma (2)
190920 comma (3)

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250/365 Black and white

07 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Cabbage white, Large white

190907 large white (1)

I know the Large white butterfly is the bane of gardeners who like to grow their own cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli but you can’t deny how lovely it is – or, rather, she is: the two spots and a dash on the upper forewings mean this is a female. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Large white with such black markings before – she must be newly hatched, which means she may be from a third brood. She was simply perfect!

190907 large white (2)

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240/365 Brown is beautiful

28 Wednesday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Devil's-bit scabious, Meadow Brown

I am sometimes guilty of overlooking the ordinary but this photo, which I am very pleased with and now have as the desktop image on my laptop, reminds me of how truly lovely is the ‘ordinary’ Meadow brown butterfly. I tend to overlook it in favour of more colourful or unusual species, yet it is a butterfly that continues to grace the local meadows even now, when many of the other butterflies have gone for the year. I am rebuked by its beauty!

190828 meadow brown

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236/365 Of the Wall

24 Saturday Aug 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Wall, Wall brown, Wall butterfly

The Wall butterfly (Lasiommata megera) used to be named Wall brown (and you do still hear some people call it that), one of the trio of browns along with the Meadow brown and what was the Hedge brown but has also been renamed, the Gatekeeper. Unfortunately, the Wall is not faring as well as its brown friends – though they are both thriving and plentiful, the Wall is seen much less frequently and in more limited locations than it used to be.

190824 Wall butterfly (1)

This Wall is only the fourth I’ve ever seen so I was delighted to spot it last week during a meander through the wildflower meadows at Arlington Reservoir and Nature Reserve in East Sussex.

190824 Wall butterfly (2)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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