Cheeky little flitters

10 Friday Jun 2022

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British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Large skipper butterfly, Skippers

The skippers are here! I spotted my first Large skipper of the year on Wednesday 1 June but that butterfly flitted quickly past a couple of times before disappearing, seemingly by magic, and it wasn’t until last Friday, a hot sunny day, that more skippers appeared. On that day’s walk I saw six in total, in four different locations, and the cheeky little flitters even posed obligingly for photographs.

220610 large skipper (1)

Of course, they weren’t actually posing for me. Male Large skippers like to find themselves a perch from which to survey their domain and keep a look out for any passing females. Even after flitting up to scare other males off their patch or to follow females in the hopes of mating, they will still return to their chosen perch. So, if you’re having trouble getting a good look at these glorious golden butterflies or taking their photographs, it can be a good idea to just stand still and watch a while until you work out their perching spot.

220610 large skipper (2)

A future butterfly

06 Tuesday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, butterfly egg, Large skipper, Large skipper egg

Golden Large skippers have been flitting through the tall grasses of my local meadows for about a month now and soon, too soon, they will disappear for another year.

210706 large skipper

But, if they manage to escape the cutting blades of mowers and survive through whatever weather the winter throws at us this year, then the larvae that emerge from their miniscule eggs, like the one below, will guarantee we see these handsome creatures again next year.

210706 large skipper egg

Small, small, large

10 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Small heath, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The adjectives small and large are, of course, relative: of the three butterflies featured in today’s post, the large (skipper) is actually the smallest, but it’s larger than the Small skipper to which the adjective in its name refers. So, having explained that, let’s take a look at these three latest beauties to grace my (reasonably) local airways.

210610 small heath

I wrote (reasonably) local because these first two butterflies were seen on my journeys up the Welsh Valleys to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR. The Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) (above) is now only occasionally seen in my coastal area – I found one in Cardiff Bay last summer but that was, sadly, a rarity.

210610 small pearl-bordered fritillary

The Small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), of which I saw seven on Tuesday’s trip to Aberbargoed, is a bright orange beauty that thrives in the National Nature Reserve’s wet grassland environment, though, even there, the numbers are usually quite low. Sadly, the British population of this butterfly is suffering a long-term decline, and the changing climate isn’t helping matters.

210610 large skipper

I found my first Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) in the same local field where I spotted my first last year, and I’ve only seen one so far but, hopefully, they’ll soon be adorning the grassy fields in better numbers.

164/366 ‘Flowers that fly’

12 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterfly, Comma, Green-veined white, Large skipper, Meadow Brown, Speckled wood

‘… flowers that fly and all but sing’
~ from ‘Blue-butterfly Day’, a poem by Robert Frost

These are some of the ‘flowers’ that have been flying around me this week, causing my heart to sing.

Comma, one of three seen on Tuesday’s walk

Green-veined white

Large skipper, a butterfly with attitude

Meadow brown, from a count of 54 in a single meadow

Speckled wood

147/366 Disappearing in plain sight

26 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper

I have a new favourite field, only discovered in recent months while I’ve been exploring new, less crowded, local footpaths for my exercise walks, and it’s exciting discovering, as the season progresses, what is living in this field. As I emerged from woodland into the field yesterday, a little burst of orange flashed across in front of my feet, and I knew immediately this was my first Large skipper of the year.

200526 large skipper (1)

Despite their bright colouring, I find skippers are very good at disappearing in plain sight, so I took a couple of steps back, got my camera ready and waited. Less than 60 seconds had passed before the skipper bounced up from the long grass where it had been resting and flitted down on to the path again.

200526 large skipper (2)

A second male then entered the territory of the first and they spiralled up into the air briefly, before separating and returning to their own patches, spat over.

200526 large skipper (3)

I lingered a while to watch both butterflies, flying, perching, feeding, before I continued my walk. And to my delight, I found yet another male further along the track, so I assume ‘my’ field is home to a small but healthy colony of Large skippers. I’m already looking forward to seeing them again when next I walk that way.

189/365 ‘A confetti of scent scales’

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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androconial scales, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly anatomy, butterfly courtship, Large skipper, pheromones, sex brands, Silver-washed fritillary, Small skipper

The observant among you may have noticed silvery looking lines on the veins of the Silver-washed fritillary in yesterday’s post – those are its sex brands. In these particular frits, the males have four such brands, two on each top upper wing. The brands contain androconial scales, special scented scales that are used during courtship to attract females. As the Woodland Trust website explains, Silver-washed fritillary ‘courtship is an aerobatic spectacular: the female flies in a straight line while the male loops the loop around her, before showering her in a confetti of scent scales’.

190708 silver-washed fritillary

Silver-washed fritillaries are not the only butterflies to have sex brands: they can also be found, for example, in Large and Small skippers (below left and right, respectively). The Learn about Butterflies website (which has a much more detailed explanation for those who are interested in the nitty gritty of butterfly anatomy) explains, the dark diagonal marks on the skippers’ wings

are composed of hundreds of androconial scales. These disseminate pheromones that can be detected by females during courtship. As the male ages the strength of his pheromones diminishes, thus by analysing the strength of the pheromones a female can assess the age and virility of a potential mate.

The more I find out about butterflies, the more fascinated I become.

151/365 Leptastic

31 Friday May 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, British moths, Brown argus, butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Grangemoor Park, Large skipper, Latticed heath, Mother Shipton, moths

I’ve had a lucky week with my Lepidoptera sightings – that’s moths and butterflies, for those who didn’t know – and the week’s not over yet. As well as the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth on Monday and the Burnet Companions on Tuesday, yesterday I found my first (three) Large Skipper butterflies for the year at Cosmeston.

190531 large skipper (1) 190531 large skipper (2)

And, today, my wander around Grangemoor Park was something of a Lep-fest, with the first (five) Mother Shipton moths I’ve seen in 2019.

190531 mother shipton (1) 190531 mother shipton (2)

And I spotted a nice Latticed Heath moth trying to hide in the grass.

190531 latticed heath

And, then, just as I was about to head for home, I noticed something small flitting about along a side path, went to investigate and found two Brown Argus butterflies, which I have seen already this year but not in Wales. You can see why I named this blog ‘leptastic’!

190531 brown argus (1) 190531 brown argus (2)

Here’s lookin’ at you back, Skippy!

19 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Large skipper, Lycaena dispar

180719 large skipper (1)

I know I’ve already posted a lot of Large skipper (Lycaena dispar) butterfly photos over the past couple of months but I just can’t help myself.

180719 large skipper (2) 180719 large skipper (4)

They are so adorable, especially the males when they’re posing.

180719 large skipper (3) 180719 large skipper (5)

Of course, I do know they’re not actually posing – it’s more likely that they’re holding a territory and are trying to look intimidating to scare me off.

180719 large skipper (6) 180719 large skipper (7)

Or perhaps they’re just as curious about me as I am about them?

180719 large skipper (8) 180719 large skipper (9)

Well, here’s lookin’ at you back, Skippy!

Aberbargoed Grasslands revisited

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, British moths, Burnet companion, butterflies, Common purple & gold, Large skipper, moths, Riband wave, Ringlet, Silver Y, Small heath, Small skipper

On Wednesday I made my second visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands National Nature Reserve with my friend Sharon. Last time we dipped on seeing the Marsh fritillaries because it was too overcast; this time, we dipped again because the recent spell of hot dry weather has meant their season has finished for the year. Still, we have now walked most of the paths around the reserve so we’ll know exactly where to look next year. And, though we missed out the fritillaries, there were still plenty of other butterflies and moths to charm and delight us.

Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)

Small skipper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Large skipper (Lycaena dispar)

Burnet companion (Euclidia glyphica)

Common purple & gold (Pyraustra purpuralis)

Riband wave (Idaea aversata)

Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Leptastic!

25 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, British butterflies, British moths, butterflies, Common blue, Large skipper, Meadow Brown, moths, Pyrausta purpuralis, Ringlet, Six-spot burnet, Small skipper, Small white, Speckled wood

Day 25 of #30DaysWild was hot – the hottest day of the year so far in Wales! I’m not a huge fan of the heat or the burning sun – one of the reasons I moved to Britain was to escape them, but the climate is a’changing. The only good thing about sunshine is that it brings out the Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths, though even they looked a bit frantic, as if the heat was making them crazy. Still, on my Penarth – Lavernock – Cosmeston – Penarth circuit, I did manage to see my first Small skipper for the year and a host of other fantastic Leps as well.