Pete Eeles

[David M]

I want to "do this properly" and there are several gaps to close that will take a season (or two) to sort out.

You seem to have covered so much in the last two or three years, Pete. Which are the species you haven't yet covered satisfactorily?

[Pete Eeles]

I want to "do this properly" and there are several gaps to close that will take a season (or two) to sort out.

You seem to have covered so much in the last two or three years, Pete. Which are the species you haven't yet covered satisfactorily?

Cryptic Wood White, Heath Fritillary, Mountain Ringlet, Painted Lady (!), Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Wood White.

Most of these are "simply" planning and effort. However, Mountain Ringlet and Painted Lady will, I think, be the most problematic since they're unpredictable. I know from personal experience just how challenging the former is, and the latter depends on the 2018 migration year. Also, this isn't just about sourcing images - it's about personal observations and photos that we often forget to take (at least I do!) of nectar sources, larval food plants and habitat.

Cheers,

- Pete

[bugboy]

I want to "do this properly" and there are several gaps to close that will take a season (or two) to sort out.

You seem to have covered so much in the last two or three years, Pete. Which are the species you haven't yet covered satisfactorily?

Cryptic Wood White, Heath Fritillary, Mountain Ringlet, Painted Lady (!), Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Wood White....


- Pete

Alphabetical order, that's what I like to see, a man with a plan!

[Pete Eeles]

Alphabetical order, that's what I like to see, a man with a plan!

And spreadsheets galore

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

Cryptic Wood White, Heath Fritillary, Mountain Ringlet, Painted Lady (!), Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Wood White.

Thanks, Pete. I was surprised to see Painted Lady in your list but upon reflection can see why. I guess you're right about Mountain Ringlet being the trickiest to document though. Good luck with that one!

[Butterflysaurus rex]

I would love to see these amazing early stages published in a reference book Pete. Your photography is first class and gives such a fascinating insight into the life cycle of our resident butterflies. If it ever happens I'll be one of the first in line to purchase a copy. It's wonderful to see this here but I've always loved leafing through beautifully illustrated reference books.

[Katrina]

The Red Admiral pupa photo is beautiful, I must look out for those in the future!

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks David / James / Katrina - and apologies for not acknowledging your replies sooner!

My PD is getting rather dusty but, as ever, there's always a lot going on behind the scenes (mainly writing a book!). Anyway, I managed to get to Pamber Forest today and found 6 Purple Hairstreak ova on a favoured tree, 2 of which were predated / parasitised. Some photos below. Now is probably the best time to look for PH ova since they'll still be relatively-white; with the passage of time, if they're not lost, they can become quite discoloured with all of the debris that flies through the air during a windy spell! If you know of a colony, then just look on branches of an oak at the edge of the woodland, that is south-facing, and that has plump oak buds.

Predated / parasitised

Cheers,

- Pete

[Wurzel]

Fantastic shots Pete - even better when viewed enlarged In the 'parasitised' shot is the small object to the right of shot next to the egg the parasite/pradator - it looks vaguely like a bee/wasp or am I seeing things?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks Wurzel!

I'm not sure what that critter to the right of the egg is. It was crawling around, and didn't emerge from the egg. Nature is just brilliant - always so much to learn!

Cheers,

- Pete

[bugboy]

Thanks Wurzel!

I'm not sure what that critter to the right of the egg is. It was crawling around, and didn't emerge from the egg. Nature is just brilliant - always so much to learn!

Cheers,

- Pete

Could be a Psyllid Bug, they're normally found lurking and creeping around in nooks and crannies

[trevor]

It was the Purple Hairstreak that allowed many of us the rare opportunity
of close up views and photo's of what is normally a very elusive Butterfly.
Finding them basking at ground level was one of the real highlights of 2017.

All the best,
Trevor.

[David M]

Beautiful, detailed, close-up images there, Pete. There is so much stunning and intricate design in that part of nature that we can't properly see with the naked eye. Pictures like yours really bring it to life.

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks Paul, Trevor, David - and apols for not thanking you sooner!

Isle of WIght

I made the most of today's sunshine by visiting various chines on the Isle of Wight looking for Glanville Fritillary larval webs since the larvae are now out of hibernation. I'm pleased to say that I found well over 50 webs (when I stopped counting) which equates to approximately 5000 larvae! I hope this bodes well for a good year on the island. Most larvae are still in their hibernating 5th instar, but some are now in the penultimate 6th instar. I also bumped into Andy Butler (Butterfly Recorder to the Isle of Wight) and Patrick Wood (BC staff) who were surveying the larval webs and had a good natter!

A shot to provide some context

5th instar larvae

5th instar larvae with a 6th instar - easily distinguished based on the size of the head

6th instar larva (mostly!) having built a new dense web

Cheers,

- Pete

[Wurzel]

Fantastic Pete the prospects look good for the Glanville Frits, thos red heads really are distinctive
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[David M]

Wow! I didn't realise they made themselves so visible! There's no attempt at camouflage with these larvae...I suspect the black and red colours along with the sharp spines make a powerful statement of their own.

[Andrew555]

Very interesting Pete, I hope as you say this will be a good year for them.

Cheers

[Pete Eeles]

Life Cycles of British and Irish Butterflies

I've not posted in my personal diary for some time, but thought I finally had something worth sharing! I spent a couple of hours today with Peter Creed (at NatureBureau, who publish under "Pisces Publications" and produced The Butterflies of Sussex) finalising the cover of my book - due out in October 2019. I know that sounds an age away, but it will come around soon enough! The timing is simply down to the time it takes to write the species descriptions (approximately one per week) and I'm about half way through.

Mulling things over with Pete Creed

I'm pleased to say that I now have photos of every stage and every larval instar of all 59 species that the book will cover. Unsurprisingly, getting to this point has taken a huge amount of time and effort, involving a significant amount of travel and captive rearing to support this effort. I thought I'd share a few photos here to give an indication of what to expect but would like to thank everyone from UKB (and further afield) that has been so supportive over the last year. A special thanks goes to Mark Colvin and Vince Massimo who have reviewed every species description as it's been written. It's difficult to state the highlights thus far, but here are a few images selected at random since it's difficult to know what to post! Requests welcome

Small Blue

Northern Brown Argus - you can see the white dot!

Essex Skipper

Chalk Hill Blue

Large Blue - final instar

Capturing the Large Blue life cycle was a challenge for obvious reasons, but thanks to the support of Dave Simcox and Sarah Meredith, we managed to get everything needed for the book So - watch this space, as they say!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Wurzel]

That looks like an utterly awesome read a real magnum opus I've already put it on my Christmas List 2019 Huge congratulations on getting this far and so close to the end

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[bugboy]

You are the next Frohawk!