News Items

Congratulations to Katrina Watson, overall winner in the 2021 UK Butterflies Annual Photography Competition! With a wonderful 'in context' photo of Common and Adonis Blues, Katrina wins a copy of Butterflies by Martin Warren. Click here to see all of the winning entries.

From the publisher: Jones's Icones contains finely delineated paintings of more than 760 species of Lepidoptera, many of which it described for the first time, marking a critical moment in the study of natural history. With Iconotypes Jones's seminal work is published for the first time, accompanied by expert commentary and contextual essays, and featuring annotated maps showing the location of each species. Click here to read the review.

The UK Butterflies Outstanding Contribution Award for 2021 has been awarded to Will Langdon, who has almost single-handedly proven that the Large Tortoiseshell is breeding on our shores once again, after several decades of absence. While the origin of these finds is hotly disputed, Will's tenacity and persistence is in no doubt. His work has encouraged many enthusiasts to look out for the Large Tortoiseshell on Portland in particular, thereby ensuring that this scarce butterfly is no longer overlooked and that its true status is better understood.

The UK Butterflies 2021 Photography Competition is now open for entries! In keeping with the online nature of the UK Butterflies website, the competition itself will be conducted entirely over the web. The competition closes on November 30th and the winning photos will be announced in early December. Click here for information on how to enter.

From the publisher: The clear skull markings on the thorax of the large and impressive Death's Head Hawk-moth are truly fascinating, often perceived as a threat or leading to superstitious and mythological beliefs. This moth has evolved to deceive its main predators, especially birds and bats, and to rob bees of their honey without getting stung, again by deceiving them of its true nature, with acoustic, visual and chemical signals in play. It is able to do this because of the obvious, but usually overlooked, fact that other animals live in a different sensory world to us. Click here to read the review.

From the publisher: Packed with information and photographs, Butterflies of Cornwall will be the go-to book on the state and status of butterflies from Bude to Land's End. The book maps the ebb and flow of butterfly populations in Cornwall, including national rarities, such as the Marsh Fritillary, Silver-studded Blue, Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Heath Fritillary, whose strongholds we must safeguard. This book will appeal to butterfly enthusiasts of all ages and experience, and to anyone who lives in or visits Cornwall. Click here to read the review by Will Langdon.

Another example of confirmed breeding of the Large Tortoiseshell was uncovered on 8th June 2021. A full report of this event can be found here.

From the publisher: Britain's Insects is an innovative, up-to-date, carefully designed and beautifully illustrated field guide to Britain and Ireland's twenty-five insect orders, concentrating on popular groups and species that can be identified in the field. Featuring superb photographs of live insects, the guide covers the key aspects of identification and provides information on status, distribution, seasonality, habitat, food plants and behaviour. Click here to read the review by Guy Padfield.

From the publisher: Butterflies have always enchanted us with their beauty and fragility but where have they all gone? This is a modern history, the story of the changing fortunes of butterflies in Lincolnshire over the years, recounted with affection by two life-long enthusiasts with a compulsive passion for these most endearing of insects. Click here to read the review by Guy Padfield.

From the publisher: Filmed over nine summers, this Identification Guide describes ALL the resident species of Butterflies on mainland Britain. A few regular migrant species which breed here are also included. A short film on each species is accessed from a simple menu which is split into family groups. Each species is represented by a 'chapter' making it easy to jump from one to another. Click here to read the review.

From the publisher: This new addition to the British Wildlife Collection is a unique take on butterfly behaviour and ecology, written by the former Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation, Martin Warren. It explores the secret lives of our British species (also drawing on comparative examples from continental Europe), revealing how they have become adapted to survive in such a highly competitive natural world. Insightful, inspiring and a joy to read, Butterflies is the culmination of a lifetime of careful research into what makes these beautiful insects tick and how and why we must conserve them. Click here to read the review.

Vince Massimo's latest study on the immature stages of the Clouded Yellow is now available here.