Butterfly Islands: April 2020

Wednesday 15 April 2020

Garden Orange Tips.

Butterfly sightings in the garden have been disappointing so far, with only several Small White and a passing Holly Blue.However, I have a impressive honesty plant in flower at the moment and I was hoping that this would attract the Orange Tip.So at the weekend I was pleased to see a male flying around the garden.Unfortunately he was in a hurry and with other things on his mind he quickly passed on.Two more visits of male Orange Tip's that day had the same result, so I feared that my flowering plant would not be a success.

I did not need to worry as today a female Orange Tip took great interest in the flowers and laid eggs among the blooms.

Thursday 2 April 2020

A Small White on the Rocks.

It looks as though the 2020 season will be confined to garden sightings due of course, to the Coronavirus pandemic.The recent weather has been disappointing with a cold north-easterly wind, although it has remained dry with some sunshine.However much warmer conditions are promised for the forthcoming weekend and next week so I am hopeful that the butterflies will be out and about.

The last few days have produced just one Peacock and one Comma in my back garden but today in the front garden I saw my first Small White of the year.Although no big deal, it was good to see a new emergent as it flitted around over our garden stones looking for some warmth in the overcast conditions.

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The Adonis Blue

The Large Tortoiseshell

It seems the general view on the status of the Large Tortoiseshell in Britain is that it is now extinct as a breeding butterfly.
It is a butterfly of woodland edges and hedgerows that abound in willows,elms,and poplars.These trees are used by the adult to lay its eggs and this single brood appears in July and August.The emerging butterfly then hibernates over the winter in log piles and hollow trees until the next spring.
On the Isle of Wight sightings are more often than not made from early March to April.Have these butterflies overwintered on the Island or have they come from the continent where it is common?
Any sightings made in July/August pose the same question.Another explanation could be that captive-bred releases are responsible.Only the discovery of eggs and caterpillars will probably answer these questions.

I can now report that evidence has been found of breeding just along the coast at Portland in Dorset (June 2020) and again at the same location in the summer of 2021.

The Glanville Fritillary

This elegant butterfly is mainly confined to the crumbling undercliffs and chalk downs of the Isle of Wight.It is also found on the Channel Islands and at one or two isolated colonies on the British mainland.In Britain the Glanville Fritillary is at the extreme north-western edge of its range.On the continent it is readily found in flowery habitats.
Around the southern shores of the Isle of Wight the cliffs constantly erode causing them to slip away and provide perfect conditions for new growths of the butterflies laval host plant,Ribwort Plantain.
The eggs are laid to the underside of the leaves of this plant and normally hatch after about three weeks.The resulting caterpillars live together in communal webs spun over the plantain.In the autumn they hibernate and recommence feeding in the spring,eventually dispersing to prepare for pupation.
The adult butterfly is on the wing from May to the end of June with the female being larger than the male.They will feed on,amongst other things, Birds-foot Trefoil and Thrift.

The Wall Brown

On the Isle of Wight in particular,the Wall Brown is a butterfly of field edges,coastal cliffs and dunes,and rabbit-grazed downland.
The male is territorial and spends much of the time patrolling and basking on the ground.
The female,which lacks the males conspicuous dark sex brand across the forewings,is larger.The undersides of both sexes are beautifully cryptic when at rest.
The Wall Brown generally produces two broods a year,the first from late April until late June and the second from mid-July to mid-September.