Butterfly Islands: What is that Skipper?

Monday, 22 May 2023

What is that Skipper?

A butterfly encountered on numerous occasions during my wanders along the tracks around our holiday base were skippers. All attracted to the roadside flowering plants and the garden flowers. There are records of three species of skipper on Rhodes,however the one I was hoping to see was the Laventine Skipper Thymelicus hyrax, which is restricted to a few eastern Aegean Islands, although there are a couple of regions in mainland Greece where they can be found.The other two species on Rhodes are the Lulworth Skipper Thymelicus acteon and T. sylvestris the Small Skipper.

All are difficult to identify,at least for me, so I thought it wise to consult an expert on my return home. The result was not what I had hoped for and the Levantine Skipper was not among the photographs I had taken. Still,I had managed to photograph the remaining two species and they can be seen below,duly captioned.

Lulworth Skipper

Small Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth or Small Skipper

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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.

Monday, 22 May 2023

What is that Skipper?

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