• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: Holly blue

A hatching

07 Tuesday Jun 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly egg, Holly blue, Holly blue egg, Holly blue larva

Remember A Holly blue and her egg, my post on 24 May? Well, the egg has now hatched and I’ve had my first glimpses of the larva, so incredibly tiny that, with my poor eyesight, I had to take some macro photographs and look at those to be sure of what I was seeing – spot the hairy larva in the photo on the right below.

220607 holly blue egg and larva

These images were taken one day apart, so the larva can have been no more than 24 hours old at this stage. In his essential publication Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies, author Peter Eeles writes: ‘The larva starts to feed by burying its head deep into the bud on which the egg was laid’. This is the first of four stages the larva goes through before it pupates, so I’ll be checking back regularly to try to monitor its progress.

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Holly blue and her egg

24 Tuesday May 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly egg, Holly blue, Holly blue egg

This Holly blue butterfly was egg-laying as I watched so I was able to get photos of one of her amazing eggs, in this case laid on the flower buds of Dogwood.

220524 holly blue
220524 holly blue egg

Like this:

Like Loading...

First Holly blue

28 Monday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

blue butterfly, British butterflies, butterfly, Celastrina argiolus, Holly blue

I’ve skipped a few butterfly firsts but all the species I see will get their turn over time. Today, I am simply too excited at seeing my first Holly blue of the year to choose anything else, as there’s just something extraordinary about a butterfly this colour.

220328 holly blue

Like this:

Like Loading...

Second generation

04 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, second generation butterflies

The second generation of Holly blue butterflies has now hatched and the males can be seen whizzing rapidly along the hedgerows and woodland ride edges in search of a mate. Fortunately, this one paused for a short time so I was able to get a few photos. For more information on their two annual broods and the switch from Holly to Ivy as their larval food plants, see my earlier post Holly blues, the second generation, August 2018.

210804 holly blue

Like this:

Like Loading...

The blues are back

21 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

blue butterflies, British butterflies, Holly blue, Spring colour

There’s something quite startling about a tiny blue creature flying through your field of vision – it’s certainly eyecatching. I saw my first Holly blue of the year during Sunday’s meander but that one didn’t linger for a photograph. Yesterday, in a location where I didn’t see any last year, they were like buses – I saw four in total, including these two that floated in together.

210421 holly blue

Like this:

Like Loading...

102/366 Holly blue

11 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly

Another new butterfly species for the year, the Holly blue!

200411 holly blue (1)

This individual is actually the second one I’ve seen – the first was up and over the bushes and trees too quickly for me to grab a photo but this little lovely was flying slowly from spot to spot along a grassy slope so I was able to enjoy its beauty and get a couple of images. There’s just something very special about blue butterflies and the Holly blue is usually the first of the year to emerge.

200411 holly blue (2)

Like this:

Like Loading...

204/365 The summer Holly blues

23 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve, summer butterflies

The Holly blue is one of several British butterflies that goes through more than one life cycle per year (you can read more about them here), and the second generation of these stunning little butterflies is now on the wing in my local reserves and wild places.

190723 summer holly blue (1)190723 summer holly blue (4)

I saw my first of the summer brood on 14 July at Grangemoor Park, and this perfect little female was feeding on bramble flowers when I visited Lavernock Nature Reserve on Saturday, 20 July. Look out for them on ivy bushes, as that’s where the second generation females lay their eggs.

190723 summer holly blue (2)190723 summer holly blue (3)

Like this:

Like Loading...

105/365 Number 10

15 Monday Apr 2019

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

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve

I walked almost every path, track and trail at Lavernock Nature Reserve today hoping that, in spite of the strong cold southerly wind blowing in off the sea, I might find some butterflies in the more sheltered spots … and I did – four Speckled woods, a fine male Orange-tip, and the one butterfly I had hoped most to see, my first Holly blue and my tenth butterfly species for 2019. And what a beauty it was!

190415 holly blue

Like this:

Like Loading...

Holly blues, the second generation

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Celastrina argiolus, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly

I blogged about the Holly blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) back in May but I’ve since read some really interesting info about this lovely little butterfly and have some new photos to share as well.

180822 Holly blue (2)

My information comes from the book I’m currently reading, which I highly recommend – it’s Wonderland: A year of Britain’s wildlife day by day by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss. The entry from 13 August is about the Holly blue and answered a query I had about why I’ve recently been seeing so many Holly blues on Ivy plants rather than on Holly.

180822 Holly blue female

It turns out the Holly blue has two generations per year: as their name suggests, the females from the first generation lay their eggs on Holly plants and that’s what the first generation of caterpillars munch on. Then, once those caterpillars have pupated, they emerge as butterflies from around mid July, and the females from that second generation lay their eggs on Ivy, as that’s what the second generation caterpillars eat.

180822 Holly blue (1)

I’ve also been wondering why I seem to be seeing so many more Holly blues this year and Wonderland has the answer to that too:

These fluctuations [in population], over a cycle of five or six years or so, are caused by a small parasitic wasp called Listrodomus, which injects the caterpillars with a long sting-like ovipositor. The Listrodomus grub lives inside the caterpillar, but keeps it alive long enough to allow it to pupate, emerging later from the chrysalis. As wasp populations increase, they reduce the Holly blues. Fewer butterflies mean fewer opportunities for the wasps and so, in turn, wasp numbers fall too. This allows the butterflies to build up again, and that’s why over a span of several years our sightings of Holly blues go up and down.

180822 Holly blue (3)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Holly blues

20 Sunday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

blue butterfly, British butterflies, butterflies, Holly blue, Holly blue butterfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve

180520 Holly blue (2)

With clear blue skies and temps in the mid 20s, it was hot work chasing the Holly blue butterflies (Celastrina argiolus) around Lavernock last Monday. I think I saw five but they move so quickly along the scrub and up and over the trees that it was hard to be sure. Those fast fliers are mostly the males, I think, constantly sniffing for the female pheromones.

180520 Holly blue (1)

I know there were at least two Holly blues, as I managed to get a male and female together in one photo, and then was lucky enough to catch the female laying an egg on a Dogwood plant. Once she’d departed I carefully examined the plant but couldn’t find the egg. I think she must have tucked it well in amongst the flower buds, which I didn’t pry apart in case I damaged the newly laid egg. But I remember where it was so will try and go back in a week or so to check for a caterpillar.

180520 Holly blue (3)180520 Holly blue (5)

Holly blues are the first of Britain’s blue-coloured butterflies to emerge each year, which is one way to distinguish them from the many other blue butterflies. Another is their flight pattern – the other blues usually fly close to the ground. And the Holly blues are the only ones with small black dots on the undersides of their wings though, unless you see one perched, you’ll need to be quick to spot those dots ’cause these little beauties are speedy.

180520 Holly blue (4)

Like this:

Like Loading...

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.

View Full Profile →

Follow earthstar on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • Tufted ducklings August 13, 2022
  • Second lucky day August 12, 2022
  • Old bird, new camera August 11, 2022
  • Finally, Brown argus August 10, 2022
  • Feather: Green woodpecker August 9, 2022

From the archives

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Click on the category

'Dedicated Naturalist' Project 365DaysWildin2019 amphibian animals autumn birds coastal fauna flowers fungi geology insects ladybird leaves lichen mammal molluscs nature nature photography parks plants reptiles seaside seasons spiders spring trees walks weather wildflowers winter

Fellow Earth Stars!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • earthstar
    • Join 568 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • earthstar
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d bloggers like this: