butterflies uk

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND.

Research data. Ronnie Carleton. (C) 2006[Hit Counter]

BUTTERFLY LIST 2006.

CHEQUERED SKIPPER. CHEQUERED SKIPPER

LULWORTH SKIPPER. LULWORTH SKIPPER

ESSEX SKIPPER. ESSEX SKIPPER

SMALL SKIPPER. SMALL SKIPPER

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER. SILVER SMALL SKIPPER

LARGE SKIPPER. LARGE SKIPPER

GRIZZLED SKIPPER. GRIZZLED SKIPPER

DINGY SKIPPER. DINGY SKIPPER

SWALLOWTAIL. SWALLOWTAIL

WOOD WHITE. WOOD WHITE

CLOUDED YELLOW. CLOUDED YELLOW

BRIMSTONE. BRIMSTONE

LARGE WHITE. LARGE WHITE

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SMALL WHITE. SMALL WHITE

GREEN VEINED WHITE. GREEN VEINED WHITE

ORANGE TIP. ORANGE TIP

GREEN HAIRSTREAK. GREEN HAIRSTREAK

BROWN HAIRSTREAK. BROWN HAIRSTREAK

PURPLE HAIRSTREAK. PURPLE HAIRSTREAK

WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK. WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK

BLACK HAIRSTREAK. BLACK HAIRSTREAK

LARGE COPPER. LARGE COPPER

SMALL COPPER. SMALL COPPER

SMALL BLUE. SMALL BLUE

SILVER STUDDED BLUE. SILVER STUDDED BLUE

SCOTCH BROWN ARGUS. SCOTCH BROWN ARGUS

SCOTCH ARGUS. SCOTCH ARGUS

BROWN ARGUS. BROWN ARGUS

COMMON BLUE. COMMON BLUE

CHALKHILL BLUE. CHALKHILL BLUE

ADONIS BLUE. ADONIS BLUE

HOLLY BLUE. HOLLY BLUE

LARGE BLUE.* LARGE BLUE

DUKE OF BURGUNDY. DUKE OF BURGUNDY

WHITE ADMIRAL. WHITE ADMIRAL

PURPLE EMPEROR. PURPLE EMPEROR

PAINTED LADY. PAINTED LADY

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SMALL TORTOISESHELL. SMALL TORTOISESHELL

LARGE TORTOISESHELL. LARGE TORTOISESHELL

RED ADMIRAL. RED ADMIRAL

PEACOCK. PEACOCK

COMMA. COMMA

SMALL PEARL BORDERED FRITILLARY. THE FRITILLARY

PEARL BORDERED FRITILLARY. THE FRITILLARY

HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY. FOR ALL FRITILLARY SPECIES CLICK ON ' THE FRITILLARY

DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.

SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY.

SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY.

MARSH FRITILLARY.

MARSH FRITILLARY.

GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.

HEALTH FRITILLARY.*

SPECKED WOOD. SPECKLED WOOD

WALL. WALL BUTTERFLY

MOUNTAIN RINGLET. MOUNTAIN RINGLET

GATEKEEPER. GATEKEEPER

MARBLED WHITE. MARBLED WHITE

GRAYLING. GRAYLING

MEADOW BROWN. MEADOW BROWN

RINGLET. RINGLET

SMALL HEATH. SMALL HEATH BUTTERFLY

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LARGE HEATH. LARGE HEATH BUTTERFLY

BUTTERFLY BIOLOGY. Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:27

THE STRUCTURE AND PARTS OF A BUTTERFLY.

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The mouth parts of butterfly are modified from the biting type of some other insects because they are used for sucking purposes. Mandibles are lost almost and the maxillae changed into the sucking proboscis. 2 galeae are elongated and held together by hooks forming a tube that liquids can be drawn into. When not in use they are tucked away under the head like a spring. When a butterfly is going to feed it is uncoiled and used for probing into a flower head. When it comes to butterfly legs and fully formed it will have 9 segments that are jointed to one another, coxa (short hip), very short thigh joint (trochanter), a long thigh (femur), which is followed by a long shin (tibia) and a foot of five joints (tarsus) with at least the last one ending with 2 claws. Second and third pairs of legs are well developed .

Genital organs in butterflies are complex organs, the structure used in classification with portions of the 9th and 10th segments modified to form external parts of them in males. Some may be divided into structures by which a male clasps a female and of those that the male ejects sperm. The first of these is the claspers which are hinged to the sides of the 9th segment which is in the form of a ring around the body. Powerful muscles come into play here and there may also be signs of spine like structures on the inner surfaces. They are prehensile organs and well developed in Swallowtails. The claspers represent parts of a pair of limbs but now modified. Two testes are fused into a single median structure, the sperm duct runs down from them and emerges between the base of the claspers where it is enclosed in a sheath and ends in an ejaculatory organ. The last 2 segments, the 9 and 10th are fused together in the females forming a tube with the anus at the end and an opening of the ovipositor which the eggs are laid below the 9th segment. From the oviduct leading forwards and divides, running to a pair of ovaries with each having 4 tubes along which eggs develop. The sperm of the male is not placed into the opening of the oviduct but in the vagina situated ventrally on the 8th segment. From it runs a tube which ends in a sac and it is here where the sperm is stored. This in turn is connected to the oviduct by a another narrow tube along which the sperm passes a few at a time so that fertile female eggs can be deposited for a long period after a single copulation.

2 pairs of wings belong to the 2nd and 3rd thoracic segments and are made up of an upper

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and lower membrane. When a butterfly emerges the two membranes are pulled together with strands that are connecting them and soon meet then fuse except along the course of a number of ribs which support them. There are hollow and called 'veins' but they are not in fact veins in the true sense. The terms used for field ID of wings and describing both sets of wings with the part nearest the thorax called the 'base', the front edge the 'costa' and its extremity is the 'apex'. The posterior edge is the 'inner margin' which on the hind wings runs parallel with the body and ends with the 'tornus' with the edge farthest from the body, connecting the apex and tornus is the 'outer margin', sometimes convex and even at times look semi-circular. Where it meets, the tornus where it meets the inner margin is known to some as the 'anal angle 'because it is at that end of the butterflies body.

OTHER BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN SOME SPECIES LISTED.

MONARCH.

Has a bad smell and taste and hard to injure if handled with care. Colours are for protection rather than for concealment with a slow flight when on the wing. Cells on the wings are closed and the scent producing organs show also two moveable pencils of hair at the end of the body and on the hind-wings of the male. Sac like pouches filled with androconia are often found in the male. Antennae are weakly clubbed. Eggs of this species are conical and ridged.

SPECKLED WOOD, WALL, MOUNTAIN RINGLET, SCOTCH ARGUS, MARBLED WHITE, GRAYLING, MEADOW BROWN,

SMALL AND LARGE HEATH.

All these species are inconspicuous with wings that show eye-like spots and they have a very jerky and rapid flight. It should be noted that one or more of the nervures on the forewings are dilated at the base. The cell is always closed and in the males androconia is present in the males showing as long bands on the forewings. Eggs from the above are melon shaped and grooved, a few showing a flattened top. Caterpillars feed on grasses and they are spindle shaped covered in short hairs.

FRITILLARY'S.

Yellowish or reddish brown butterflies with black markings and many UK species are spotted or washed with silver on the underside of the wings, mainly the hind wings. Precoastal nervure always present with the club of the antennae flat, eyes naked and wings showing no projections. Androconia are arranged in longitudinal lines on the forewings. Caterpillars are spiny. Species list in index.

RED ADMIRAL, PAINTED LADY, SMALL TORTOISESHELL, LARGE TORTOISESHELL, PEACOCK, CAMBERWELL BEAUTY, COMMA.

Reddish brown in colour with angled wings and the cell in the front pair is closed. Precoastal nervure is absent in VANESSA. Antennae have pear shaped clubs and the eyes are hairy. Caterpillars are spined.

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PURPLE EMPEROR.

A single species in the UK which is a large dark butterfly with an iridescent gloss in the males. Powerful flight and can be seen around the tops of trees. There is no angle to the wings and the cell is open in both pairs. There is a precoastal nervure. Antennae have thick clubs and palpi scaled, not hairy. Caterpillar is spineless with tubercles on the head.

WHITE ADMIRAL.

1 species in the UK that has rounded wings with the cell on the front pair closed by a faint cross-nervure. Cells in the hind wings are open and there is a precoastal nervure. Club of the antennae is elongated and thickened, palpi hairy. Caterpillars have branched spines.

DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

Not a large butterfly but well coloured, fast flight but not lasting long getting from A to B. Fore wings have around 11 nervures or 10.Cell is narrow which is closed by a faint cross nervure. Antennae have long clubs.

THE BLUES.

Most are blue coloured, either in both sexes or just in the male. Cell of hind wings is sometimes open. Caterpillars have a honey gland in all the species found in the UK and Ireland.

THE COPPERS.

Are in most cases a bright metallic copper colour, fore wings are triangular and the cells closed.

HAIRSTREAKS.

Upper parts are a sombre colour, undersides of wings is a well marked line or a row of small dots. Fore wings are broad with hind wings having 'tails' except in a few forms like the Green Hairstreak. Cell in both wings is closed with a weak cross nervures with scent glands of the males are concentrated in a patch of nervures 6 and 7. Some caterpillars have a honey gland. Five species in the UK.

SWALLOWTAIL.

Large butterfly and does not use any uric acid pigments. Knob on the antenna is curved at times. Is a tailed species. Caterpillar has a bad smell. Prothoracic legs fully formed in males and females.

THE WHITES.

Yellow and white coloured. There is no transverse nervure in the fore wings, the inner margin of the hind wings is not upturned. Knob of the antenna is straight and the prothoracic legs are fully formed in males and females. Caterpillars are worm like without

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spines.

THE YELLOWS.

Yellow or orange in colour and there are no flavones. Almost absent precoastal nervure.

WOOD WHITE.

Pigment of uric acid found and flavones with small cell on both wings. There is a precoastal nervure.

THE SKIPPERS.

All are darting species with a fast flight. Dull in colour with the nervures arising directly from the cells. Shape of the head is wider than the thorax with large protruding eyes. Prothoracic legs functional in both males and females. Caterpillars taper at both ends and build a tent of living leaves. In the Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper the antenna ends in a point with the male scent glands enclosed in a fold of the costa of the fore wings.

BRIMSTONE.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

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This species is found in parts of Ireland and parts of the UK though scarce in North Wales and parts of Scotland. It is a nomadic butterfly and could turn up in odd areas of the UK if there is Buckthorn growing. Has a long lifespan and I have observed them from Feb through to Dec over many years but this again depended on the weather conditions more so the winter ones.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

For some it could get confused with the Clouded Yellow. CLICK HERE. CLOUDED YELLOW

There are two main peaks, the first in the warm days of early spring and the second in mid-summer. This species likes heat and will be seen flying in the main heat of a day but I have found that by mid afternoon they tend to start to roost around 4.0pm onwards. They roost beneath leaves of growing shrubs and are never far away from all purple flower types that are rich in nectar like teasel, purple loosestrife, buddleia and all thistles that flower. When they first emerge they stay in the breeding area for around 12 days and some will winter in some woods if there has been a good purple flower food supply. I have found them hibernating in ivy clumps, holly trees, bramble patches and in old farm buildings or keeper's feeding huts in the woods. Those that tend to hibernate more are the last hatched batch and they can sometimes be seen flying as late as mid October if the weather is still warm. Males come out of hibernation first and start patrolling along hedgerows and wood edges that have sunny glades or full sunlight on them. When a female is found there is always a courtship display and once mated the females seek out one of the two species of buckthorn in which to lay their eggs.

EGGS.

These I found at all heights in buckthorn but most on the top crown that is open to sunlight. One egg is laid at a time on the undersides of the tips of leaves but sometimes will lay them on a stem very close to unopened leaves. Within 10 to 12 days they hatch out and the young caterpillars start feeding on the new leaf shoots. Older caterpillars eat whole leaves. There is a large loss of new caterpillars and many older ones find themselves the food of warblers that have just arrived but a good number are also killed by wasps. The tachinid flies tend to use them to lay eggs in. Any caterpillars that are left leave the food plant to pupate. A chrysalis hatches out in 12 days.

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CHEQUERED SKIPPER.

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND HOME INDEX PAGE.

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:29

FLIGHT. June and July in single brood.

HABITAT. Light woodland areas.

Now found only in Scotland and vanished from many English sites around 1975. There was once 5 colonies , four of which had been in the East Midlands nature reserves. Rapid dashing flight and also zigzagging a few inches above the ground.

Can be mistaken at times for the Duke Of Burgundy but this skippers wings are more angular and there are no spots along its forewings. DUKE OF BURGUNDY

It may well be that the past , English Chequered Skipper and the one found in Scotland are different races.

Depending on weather conditions it will emerge as one generation around late May and flies into late August. The colonies vary in number from a few hundred to a few dozen. Considered rare in many areas of Scotland and mainly in the NW areas. Males will establish a territory and defend it from a sun lit site. Will buzz any other intruders coming

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by.

Like all blue coloured flowers like bluebells, bugle and harebells. Eggs in Scotland are laid on purple moor grass, sometimes broom. The purple moor grass tussock is chosen with great care by egg laying females. Caterpillars of this species are very slow growing and to be full grown it will take 100 days. Goes into hibernation in Oct till the next spring.

PAST ENGLISH BREEDING SITES.

Lincolnshire down to Oxford in the 19th century in a band of woodlands and limestone grasslands all of which were reported as wet sites. By 1950 this butterfly was restricted as a breeding species to Lincolnshire, Rockingham Forest, Brigstock, Northamptonshire and Rutland. There has been no reported sightings in England since 1975.

SCOTLAND.

This species was unknown in Scotland until 1942 and first reported at Fort William but a woman who lived in the area found this butterfly in 1939. As it stands today there may well be more colonies to be discovered elsewhere in NW Scotland and I would suggest possible in the Lough Ness area and east.

CLOUDED YELLOW.


This species is rare to Ireland and the UK and is a migrant butterfly. It cannot survive here in the UK or Ireland due to the damp and cold winters. Mostly found in the south but a few

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make it as far north as Scotland and Co. Antrim and there are years when there could be a 'flush' of these migrants coming from Southern Europe and North Africa. The UK get more Clouded Yellow butterflies each year than does Holland, Sweden and Norway. The first migrants reach our coasts from the second week in May through to June though a very few may arrive as early as late March depending on the UK winter and the wind direction from the south. Thousands may be seen at sea heading for the UK and Ireland and looking like a yellow haze over the water. Cornwall is a good observation point watching for these arrivals from May onwards. Dorset and Devon get more numbers than anywhere else in the UK and once they arrive they start to spread outwards across the whole country. They tend to like fields of clover and the chalk Downs. There is no year that I know of since I was a boy that clouded yellows have not been recorded.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

Females lay their eggs in clover fields with the bottle shaped eggs laid on the top of the leaves. At first they are white then change to orange in colour. Hatching out is 8 days and the caterpillar feeds on the host plant and is full grown in five weeks. Chrysalis state lasts 3 weeks but many die, including the caterpillar of this species if the weather turns cold and wet. The first batch of chrysalis emerge in August and seen flying soon afterwards. The second batch fly in September. Can sometimes be confused with adult Brimstone butterflies in flight and there is a pale coloured form of clouded yellow that also turns up, females only. In Autumn there is the reverse migration south though a very few may try and hibernate through a south UK winter. The migration route seems to be S.S.W from the UK and then across the Channel.

A small number of Pale Clouded Yellows tend to turn up on the S and SE coast of the UK and remain in the coastal areas. This species is a resident of C. and SE Europe and a migrant.

PALE CLOUDED YELLOW.

DINGY SKIPPER.


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This is the only skipper found in Ireland.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

In Ireland I have found them only in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Wicklow and treated as a rare species here. Elsewhere in England many of the known colonies have vanished in the past recent years due to new agricultural improvement. In Scotland I know only of three small locations but I suggest that there may well be more yet to be discovered in 2006. In flight the ID is difficult because the wings are just a grey blur and sometimes mistaken for a day flying moth. ID when at rest may at times be also difficult because it looks like a Grizzled Skipper. GRIZZLED SKIPPER

This species has more brown on the wings which can be variegated when fresh as well as an oily sheen for the first few days as an adult. As they get older they lose scales from their wings and become drab and pale. The habitat it likes best in spring from April and May onwards, is areas where bird's foot trefoil, horseshoe vetch is found. When they are discovered basking in sunlight they look like a moth. In late afternoon both sexes roost in tall vegetation with their heads upwards and back to the sun set. The peak for flight is the 1st week in June and some may be double brooded the second and much smaller brood in August. A few struggle into the second week of July. A colony may be no more than 50 adults in a good year. The flight is fast.

EGGS. These are easy to find on well known sites green coloured at first then after six days turning an orange colour. Eggs are laid singly but there may be three or more close by on new and fresh leaflets. After 2 weeks the eggs hatch and the small caterpillar spins silk around two vetch leaves that forms a small tent. In the tent it lives and the larger the caterpillar becomes a new larger tend has to be constructed. The colour of the caterpillar is a grey green with a black shiny head. By mid August the caterpillar is fully grown and makes a much larger tent in which it lives for 8 months before it becomes an adult. There is no chrysalis until the following April and in May it emerges as an adult butterfly.


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DINGY SKIPPER.

ESSEX SKIPPER.


It should be noted that this southern skipper was discovered in Germany in 1808 and was missed here in the UK and taken at that time as a Small Skipper. By 1880 naturalists in England began to realize that they were a different species. Today, the problem of ID between the Essex Skipper and the Small Skipper. The Essex shows glossy black underneath the antennae while the undersides of the Small skipper antennae show a dull orange brown colour. Such ID I suggest is carried out in the evening before the sun sets where this butterfly will be roosting in groups though sometimes can be done during the day. The Essex has also more pointed wings than the Small Skipper and with males the black sex marks in the middle of the forewings. In the Small Skipper they show bolder and at an angle.

FLIGHT. End of May to 1st week in August.

HABITAT. Grassy banks and meadows in SE England. The food plant is a number of grasses, Cock's Foot, Creeping Soft Grass, Timothy, Tor Grass, and Wood Soft Brome. Will not use Yorkshire Fog that Small Skippers seem to love. It likes well drained and tall grasslands and not as thick that Small Skippers like. Chalk and Sandy soils. Found as far north as The Wash but may well have spread and been mistaken as a Small Skipper. Found also is Sussex and Hampshire and is spreading due to wild grasses along motorways and trunk roads. The possibility of spread in hay being transported by road is another way it could be spreading. Eggs that are still in hibernation can be found in some hay loads

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months later. In transporting such hay with eggs , scattering of eggs along the way is more common than you think and therefore establishing new colonies.

EGGS. Has a thick and flattened shell which is inserted into a sheath in the grasses. The caterpillar remains in the shell for up to 8 months and over-winters. Eggs are laid in strings of 4 to 5 and when first laid are yellow. The caterpillar nibbles its way out of the shell and starts to feed on young grass blades. It will spin 2 grass blades around itself making a 'tube'. Best to look for such tubes in late June and note the 'V' shape damage on grass blades. The caterpillar of this species has a yellow head with 3 brown lines while the caterpillar of the Small Skipper has a pale green head. Essex Skipper chrysalises lasts around 3 weeks.

SEE SMALL SKIPPER. SMALL SKIPPER

GRIZZLED SKIPPER.


Not found in Ireland or Scotland and is now rare in the southern Yorkshire. Cotswolds and Chilterns southwards in large sunny woods, chalk and limestone Downs. Dorset has around 200 + colonies in 2005.

HABITAT AND HABITS. Very lush bushy areas on the edges of limestone and chalk wood-lands. Also on railway track edges where there are wild strawberries. A small butterfly that at first glance looks black and white with some rare aberrant male forms having more white on the forewings than normal. The best time to see males is on a hot sunny spring day while they are basking. The males are always alert at this time watching out for other males and if spotted fighting tends to take place. Very aeronautics in flight when two males meet. In flight they are a grey blur. Has a list of old and local names such as 'Our Marsh fritillary'. 'Dandridge's Dark fritillary,' Spotted Skipper' and 'The Grizzle'.

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All the adults live in self contained colonies which are about 100+ in the more larger ones known. Males like the bases of sunlit hills and sheltered hollows, on tracks and paths where they can be seen twitching as the bask in sunlight.

THE EGGS. Bun shaped and laid singly almost always on wild strawberries, creeping cinquefoil, tomentil, agrimony,and the suckers of black-berry (Bramble). Egg will hatch in 10 days the caterpillar living at first under a covering of silk. From here it will move out to nibble on a fresh leaf close to its shelter. As it gets larger it makes new shelters to fit its body over two months. Soon after that it descends to the ground where it makes a net of silk where the chrysalis is formed.

LARGE SKIPPER.


Common in England and Wales and found in all rough coarse grasses. Getting to the border areas of Scotland it begins to get rare. Not found in Ireland. This is another of the 'golden skippers' It has mottled rather than clear wings which helps in its ID. Old faded Silver Spotted Skippers are also mistaken for Large Skippers.

SEE ID OF SILVER SMALL SKIPPER

HABITS.

There is only one generation of this skipper each year which lasts all summer and if the spring is warm then they will emerge in May reaching a peak in June. Very few numbers will survive into August or September. If you find any this late they look very battered and worn. Found also in many gardens states that there is a colony close by out in a field or grass verge. Such will have around 12+ adults but numbers are much higher in areas of cleared but managed wood lands that have been left wild. It likes tall grassland and sunshine and will be seen on 'patrol' in their own area. Such patrols start around 10.00am to noon and the flight is slow while this is being done and just above the ground. This is mainly to locate a female but the end detection is by scent only. From noon to around 4.00am this is the time for perching on a stem but in sunlight. Open sunny woods are a

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good place to look. The males will sit like this wings apart in the sun but will challenge any passing insect if it gets too close. Males will fight with one another and at times it can be violent. A female flying by will induce a courtship flight by the male.

EGGS. After mating the females rests and basks in sunlight but will take time out to lay eggs under suitable tussock surfaces. Most of the eggs are laid on Cock's Foot but I have also found eggs in Purple Moor Grass on acid soils. I suspect that eggs may also be laid in Tor Grass and False Brome. Eggs are easy to find once you suspect they have been laid and they are large as well as exposed. The caterpillar hatches out in 2 weeks, then warps a leaf blade together and held in place with silk cords. Caterpillars live inside the tubes but feed from time to time on the blade of grass. After a 4th skin shedding the caterpillar goes into hibernation until the spring. In May it can be found, ugly to look at and has a blue green body and black head. 2 more moults take place before forming a chrysalis and lasts 3 weeks before it emerges as an adult butterfly.

LARGE WHITE.


The largest white butterfly in the UK that tend to infest all gardens and areas where there are Brassica crops growing. Caterpillars are destructive eating plants down to a stalk and leaving a smell on the plants or what is left of them, a smell of mustard oil. Not a butterfly many like though in its own standing a beautiful butterfly. Also a migrant butterfly.

HABITS AND HABITATS.

There can be up to 3 generations each year and adults may be seen from as early as February through to November depending on the weather. Mainly the first brood emerges around the 2nd week of April and remains on the wing till mid June in some areas. The springtime butterfly adults have grey on the wing tips rather than black. Numbers are large in the second brood which are seen flying from July onwards. A 3rd brood may follow in some areas in the Autumn. Great numbers emerge in Northern Europe, a few million, and fly southwards to breed in central Europe though out own population stay in the UK and Ireland. A few of these may well migrate to the Continent and I have no doubt at all that we too get some immigrants from elsewhere. The UK species tend to fly north in spring and there is I suggest not a cabbage patch that will not contain adults and caterpillars. These butterflies can cross hundreds of miles of open sea during migration and if the wind is in the right direction for them travel, at 10 mph. I have seen a raft of them settle on a smooth sea near Tory Island in Donegal and fly off as the boat approached them with no bother to their flight. A main band of immigrants reach the UK in high summer coming from the NE as they fly SW and S. and can look in the distance like blowing snow if there are great numbers and up to 6 million on a front. Once the immigrants reach here they disperse and then seen later in one's and two's in all flowery habitats, including

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hedgerows and meadows. The females detect cabbage type plants via their antennae first then land on a plant and test the plant surface for sinigrin which is the mustard oil they prefer. 40 to 150 eggs are then laid on plants and site of choice. Once the eggs are laid she leaves a chemical marker on the eggs to keep away other females who want to use the same plant.

EGGS.

The eggs stand in small erect groups which are a pale yellow in colour at first but soon turn orange. Each egg contain mustard oil which is thought to keep away caterpillar eating animals and birds. Eggs are also laid on Nasturtiums. All the eggs will hatch within 10 days and the caterpillars will remain in a band until their forth skin is shed. Great clusters of such caterpillars produce mustard oil/gas which is a burning irritant in low doses and a very lethal nerve poison if it is concentrated. Care, I suggest should be taken with small children who are close by contaminated plants as there could well be a problem with their eyes if they get any of the oil on their face. Some flies and a few wasps however will lay their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars and their grubs feed on the body from inside out. A small wasp, APANTELES GLOMERATUS . can lay up to 60 eggs inside the single body of a caterpillar.

Vast numbers of caterpillars may be killed off if there is a plentiful supply or population of this wasp. Later all the caterpillars will wander off to pupate and use any shelter or cover they can find to do so. The chrysalises is speckled in colour, easy to find but still contain mustard oils as a form of protection.

NOTES. Some populations of Large Whites may from time to time be infected with a virus which kills off large numbers as it has done in the past. It first turned up in immigrants in 1955

LULWORTH SKIPPER.


The smallest and darkest of all the skippers and found only in the very south of England on The Downs and cliff tops with around 90 to a 100 breeding sites known at the moment. This skipper is late in the season to emerge. Around May or early June is when they will be observed in flight. The wings of the males are dun-coloured, tinged with olive brown while the much smaller female has golden marks on each forewing.

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HABITAT. Grass meadows and banks which are damp the food plant being Brome Grass. Also on sheltered tussock grass known as 'tor grass'. The female backs down as grass stem and lays her eggs in sheaths which hatch in 3 weeks and the grubs hibernate almost at once, spinning a cocoon around itself and the remains of the egg. In spring the small caterpillar bores out and feeds on young grass shoots. The lifespan of adults is 10 days.

AREAS FOUND. Dorset and Devon.

NOTES. I found that this skipper likes grasses that are no higher than 60cm and only such grasses as well as Marjoram that are growing in very sheltered areas along the coast of the 2 areas listed above. Does not like land that is grazed by farm animals and will be seen on cliffs where tor grass grows even on ledges. This species is not a migrant so therefore its spread to other possible breeding sites on the coast is limited. The North Downs of the Kent Coast is ideal habitat but so far no Lulworth Skippers. It seems to prefer chalk and limestone soils and may be found also on railway track edges that contain this type of ballast like parts of the rail track that runs from Exeter to Exmouth. It was here in 1960 while in the Royal Marines I discovered by accident a very small colony near Lympstone. Between Weymouth and Swanage have a good number of colonies and a large site east of Lulworth Cove which is a MOD firing range. Around 400,000 adults emerge each spring on Bindon Hill. In all there could well be over 1 million of these skippers emerging each spring in these areas. Another group of colonies next the Purbeck coast but 2 miles inland at the Purbeck Hills.

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER.


The Silver Spotted Skipper is a limestone species but very rare and only found on the South Downs. It is a late butterfly and around the first two weeks of August unless the summer has been a hot one and it then may emerge in late July. At the moment there are 50+ colonies and 10 of these are reported as large. There is also one colony on an old rail track in Somerset but the main areas are the Chilterns with 7 colonies in Hampshire, 8 in the North Downs of Surrey. There is also 2 colonies in East Sussex, 1 very small colony reported in Kent, Dorset and Wilshire.

This species in the past was also known as the 'Pearl Skipper' or the 'August Skipper'. It was and is confused at times with the Large Skipper. There does seem to be real problems

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with ID.

ID. In the males each forewing has a black sex bar made up of scent glands but there are no sex bands in females. The females are darker in colour but there is a noted colour variant that has its undersides a much deeper green in adults.

HABITS. Will not fly over worked farmlands and one of the main reasons why it does not be seen more in other parts of the UK. Also needs areas that have been grazed by rabbits. It is reported it took around 15 years for this butterfly to cross the Meon Valley to form a colony, the distance no more than 2 miles. Adults will live only for up to six days and do not fly at all on very cloudy or wet days. Air temperature also plays a part because if it drops below20'C (69'F) they don't move. They love basking in hot sunlight on paths and scree. The flight is very rapid and they can dart forwards, backwards or sideways at a good speed. Food plants for adults seemed to be stemless thistles, knapweed, yellow daisy family, felwort.

EGGS. Laid in Sheep's Fescue and are white and easy to find once you know where to look. Up to 10 eggs in each tuft is not uncommon though better found in early autumn as the eggs tend to drop off and go into hibernation after that. The caterpillar is an ugly brown-green maggot and feeds from the nest at new shoots and leaf tips. If alarmed the caterpillar darts back into its nest and lies flat. Once fully grown the caterpillar then leaves the nest and moves into denser cover of a tussock where it will pupate. Spins a cocoon at ground level and lives as a chrysalis for around 2 weeks.

SEE LARGE SKIPPER. LARGE SKIPPER

SMALL SKIPPER.


Four of the Skipper's found in the UK are much smaller than this species and why it was called that is beyond me because it is not 'small'. Both the Large Skipper were also known in the past as the 'Spotless Hog' and the 'Cloudless Hog'. July is the best month to observe this species but it is not found in Ireland. It will start to emerge around the 2nd week of June and seen in flight to the 3rd week of August. There is only one generation each year.

HABITAT. Anywhere that Yorkshire Fog grows, a grass, where the females will lay their eggs in a sheath down in the stems. Yorkshire Fog is found in all types of soil and this

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species likes much taller and denser grasses than the Essex Skipper. It also like woodland glades and sunny woodland rides. A common summer butterfly in the south of England.

EGGS. The female flies slowly and she is easy to spot when she is seeking out an area of grass in which to lay her eggs. The egg laying area must be tall grasses that are also sheltered where 3 to 5 eggs are laid in each sheath. The eggs at first are white then turning primrose yellow later and much rounder than that of the eggs of the Essex Skipper. Hatching will take place in August, the caterpillar eating its way through the egg than spins a silk cocoon around itself while still inside the grass sheath. It will stay like this until April the next year then starts to feed on young grass shoots. By June it descends to the bottom of the grass clump and spins a tent of leaves in which the chrysalis is formed which lasts around 2 weeks. The head of the chrysalis has a blunt point and greenish in colour.

SEE ESSEX SKIPPER. ESSEX SKIPPER

SWALLOWTAIL.


Found only in the Norfolk Broads area of England and is a sub-species P. m.britannicus this is a very rare butterfly of the UK. Once found in the Fenlands of England and sightings made in Kent to Dorset. This is a much smaller species as to the size of the swallowtails in S. Europe. The markings on the wings on the UK species are much darker also and live in self contained colonies. Milk Parsley is the breeding plant of choice.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

Often seen skimming over open water in the Broads and is not a migrant here in the UK though it is used to long flights. Found mainly between the rivers, Ant, Thurne, and Bure and the Broads. Adults feed in the morning and late afternoon feeding on the nectar from red campion, and other waterside flowers. Adult males spend the rest of their time during the day on patrol around reedbeds and waterside tall plants in search of females. The females fly up from cover to the males and mating takes place which could last for ours if

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you count the display flights they both do. The eggs then are laid in pre-selected and always where there are milk parsley plants. After about 9 days+ the eggs hatch.

EGGS. Yellow green in colour when first laid then in six days + turn a dark brown colour. When they hatch out the caterpillar nibble at the upper surface of leaves and look like small bird droppings as a form of protection. This is no help when it comes to spiders and up to 70% of the caterpillars are killed before their first skin change. Later as they grow they are no longer spider food but become the food of small birds that are busy feeding their own young. At least two thirds of the remaining population is killed off mainly by reed buntings, sedge warblers and at times, bearded tits. The larger caterpillar is well marked and does not blend in well with its choice of habitat.

We do from time to time get 'visitors' of continental ' swallowtails coming across the Channel and more so if there is a South warm wind blowing for a number of days. Reports from Kent, Dorset and South Hampshire as well as on the Isle of Wright. This has been reported as the sub-species P. m gorganus. It is doubtful if there would be any reports of this visitor in cold summers.

WOOD WHITE.


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My study of the Wood White Butterfly in Ireland, mainly in Co. Down and Antrim as well as a small colony in South Donegal from 1976 to 1990 give me a good insight into its natural history therefore I was surprised when I came over here to England of how rare they are. This is a small butterfly and rare as whites go in England. On the decline in some Welsh woods where it was once common and slowly increasing in other areas it is well worth a two year study here in England starting this year as 2006 research is needed badly of colony numbers.

HABITS AND HABITATS.

Wood whites have and live in self contained colonies but don't be surprised if you find the odd male well away from the breeding areas as this is a common factor in some areas. There may well be as little as 12 adults in a colony and in a few areas the most common spring butterfly. It likes ancient woodlands, does not do well at all in conifer woods and the first adults can be seen around the 18th of May if the weather is not cold and wet. The peak I found for this species in Ireland was the 2nd week in June but from then on its all downhill with few if any making it into July. However in the south of England if it has been a long hot summer there may well be a second brood which emerge in August, around the 16th to 18th. This late brood will show males with much smaller wings but darker wingtips. Males in spring will start flying 3 feet above the ground, patrolling woodland rides and firebreaks and are attracted to any small white object that may look like a female. Female wood-whites are seen less often because they do not fly as much as the males do. If spotted the females will be feeding on bugle, ragged robin or tall birds foot trefoils though I have found them on other spring flowers as well. The males feed little on nectar and can be found more often taking in much needed minerals from muddy edges of puddles and pools when the weather is hot and dry. I have at times discovered over 10 males at such puddles which were also easy to approach. The lifespan of the adult is 2 to 3 weeks then die of old age but not before they attempt breeding.

EGGS.

Females will lay between 25 and 35 eggs which are laid singly on plants like yellow meadow vetching, bitter vetch, tufted vetch, marsh and greater birds -foot trefoils. A female seems to be careful of what plant species she chooses to lay her eggs and also in partly shaded areas. The egg is bottle shaped and can be found in June which hatch in 10 to 20 days but many will have already been lost to predators and a very tiny parasitic wasp, Trichogrammna. When hatched out the caterpillars start feeding at the shoot tip and work there way down

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it. It is this time also that small birds are looking for food for their young so many caterpillars end up in the stomach of a nestling somewhere. Such caterpillars at the later stage are green coloured with a yellow stripe along the sides. The chrysalis is hard to find but if you do find one you will see the veins and edges are pink coloured against an almost see through background.

NOTES.

Because coppicing of woods has declined so has the habitat for this species so for management areas of woodland there needs to be good rotation planning in some areas. It likes scrubby re-growth in sheltered areas and because some of this type of management has been carried out in some woods there are in 2005 around 95 wood-white colonies in England and Wales. The species I studied in Ireland was L. s. juvernica that showed a green tinge to the under-wings and I have even found them in old overgrown quarry sites as well as along limestone areas that contain hazel bushes and new re-growth areas.




Ronnie Carleton 2006 (c) 01/12/2006 08:35

Ronnie Carleton.

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Ronnie Carleton 2006. (c)




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Ronnie Carleton (c) 2006

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