05 Tuesday Jul 2022
Posted in insects
What’s not to love about a butterfly whose colour is described as chocolate … except that you can’t eat it.
Its rich brown colour enables the Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) to warm itself more quickly than light-coloured butterflies, which means it can be seen bobbing its way through the long grass even on overcast days.
The Ringlet is named for the marks on its underwings, the circles of white, black and caramel, which can vary considerably in size and shape.
12 Wednesday Aug 2020
Tags
battered butterflies, bird-pecked butterflies, British butterflies, Brown argus, Comma, Essex skipper, Gatekeeper, Painted Lady, Peacock, Ringlet, Small copper
Though second-brood butterflies are still looking pristine, many of the others are now well past their best, as life is tough for such fragile creatures. Some butterflies are so battered that I’m amazed they’re able to fly at all, yet this Gatekeeper and Ringlet were still moving from plant to plant.
Birds looking for an easy snack often attack butterflies and it’s easy to see the tell-tale signs of bird pecks on butterflies’ wings, like those on these: a Ringlet, Comma, Small copper and Peacock, and another Gatekeeper.
Is it the blazing sun that has caused this Essex skipper’s orange to fade so dramatically or has it lost most of its wing scales?
I’m 99% sure this is the same Brown argus, seen first on 1 August and again on 10 August. It already had some bird pecks when I first saw it but, nine days later, it was looking rather faded and more than a little ragged around the edges.
This Painted lady is looking battered, bird-pecked, faded and jaded, perhaps the affects of a long migration journey, or simply a tough life well survived.
17 Friday Jul 2020
I am constantly reminded of how transitory life can be for the smaller creatures that share our planet. Take, for instance, the Ringlet butterfly. The adults usually emerge in the second half of June and only a few survive into August. In their few short weeks of life they experience a frantic rush to reproduce …
… a time full of danger from pecking birds, of collisions with damaging foliage …
… before death takes them – unless, like this rather ragged creature, they are caught in a spider’s web, die prematurely but, in so doing, give life to another creature.
16 Tuesday Jun 2020
Yesterday was a day of two firsts, my first sightings of (several) Ringlet butterflies for this year (and at two different locations), and my first gorgeous Small skipper as well. Here they are …
07 Wednesday Aug 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
British wildflowers, Dingy footman, Gatekeeper, Hemp agrimony, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Six-spot burnet, Speckled wood, Willow beauty moth
I’ve been spending a lot of time over the past couple of weeks staring at Hemp agrimony flowers. I’ve not yet found what I’ve been searching for – you’ll be the first to know when/if I do – but, in the meantime, here are just a few of the lovely creatures I’ve spotted nectaring on these pretty flowers: a Dingy footman moth, a Six-spot burnet moth and a Gatekeeper, a Painted lady, a Red admiral, a Ringlet, a Speckled wood and what might be a Willow beauty moth, but the jury’s still out on that one.
06 Friday Jul 2018
Tags
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)
25 Monday Jun 2018
Tags
#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.
Six-spot burnet moth
Common blue
Large skipper
Meadow brown
Pyrausta purpuralis moth
Ringlet
Small skipper
Small white
Speckled wood
18 Monday Jun 2018
Tags
#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, British butterfly, Common blue, Large skipper, Lavernock Nature Reserve, Ringlet, Ringlet butterfly, Small white
Today, on day 18 of #30DaysWild, I walked along the coastal path to Lavernock Nature Reserve, intending to do some sea-watching – and I did – I watched the sea for over an hour. I saw a couple of gulls and a lot of waves and a couple of large container ships heading up and down the channel. Of course, that was not what I was hoping to see. Over the past few days, there have been reports of large numbers of Manx shearwaters flying back and forth, as well as the occasional Storm petrel, Arctic skua, Gannets, Guillemots, Fulmars, etc. Today there were none – well, maybe 2 or 3 birds a long long long way out – but none that I could see with my bins.
Luckily for me, though, I bumped into Alan, a fellow birder, who’s also a fan of butterflies and dragonflies – many of us birders are – and he very kindly showed me a Ringlet butterfly he’d just spotted. It was the first I’d seen in 2018 and, once I’d finished staring at the sea, I wandered around Lavernock and found another – or, possibly, the same one – plus a few other butterflies. So, I may not have bagged a new bird for my year list but I did bag a new butterfly (metaphorically speaking, of course).
The supporting cast consisted of Large skippers, Common blues and a Small white.
12 Wednesday Jul 2017
Tags
British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Comma, Common blue, Gatekeeper, Large skipper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Six-spot burnet, Small skipper, Small white, Speckled wood
It’s Monday. I’ve had a meeting about a forthcoming fungi presentation, followed by a busy morning on the computer and feel I need a blast of fresh air so decide to do one of my local walk circuits, taking in one side of Cardiff Bay and Penarth Marina. And I’m so glad I do ’cause the air is alive with butterflies and moths. They are common enough species but I am amazed and delighted to see such a variety and so many in just a 2-hour walk.
There are Comma (Polygonia c-album), Common blue (Polyommatus icarus), Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus), Large skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus), Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina), Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus), Six-spot burnet (Zygaena filipendulae), Small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), Small white (Pieris rapae), and Speckled wood (Pararge aegeri). This is my idea of heaven!
22 Thursday Jun 2017
Tags
Aphantopus hyperantus, British butterflies, butterflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Maniola jurtina, Meadow Brown, Ringlet
I saw my first Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) and Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) butterflies of the year at Cosmeston last week. And now there seem to be hundreds of Meadow Browns everywhere, though not so many Ringlets. Such pretty little things.
earthstar 
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