PhilBWright

[David M]

That footage is excellent, Phil. No errors at all that I can identify.

I particularly like that individual on the mint flowers near the end. A beautifully marked specimen.

[PhilBJohnson]

Ovipositing Brimstone April 1st 2025 near Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Caterpillar hideout, appeared to get approval
https://youtu.be/4XqcXHViSg0
#BirdNet that allowed butterflies to crawl out with wings closed

Rhamnus frangula (Not an Alder or a Blackthorn)

The point here was, as measured last year, a "Rhamnus calcareous" ("cal care ous" ,limestone loving male bush without berries) which apparently stayed dormant approximately one week longer, compared with a "Rhamnus frangula", which received Brimstone eggs on April 1st (pm) and I had at least 17 eggs by April 2nd, none that I could find on Rhamnus calcareous (or cathartica).

[PhilBJohnson]

April 8th 2025. Brimstone butterfly oviposited. Wild observation (Forestry England)

Brimstone butterfly oviposited, mid afternoon (temperature about 15ºC, on Damp Woodland Rhamnus frangula, Lincolnshire Limewoods, Forestry England.
My Advice:
Just for clarification, I was a Land Surveyor. personally, I have not planted or sown this species on Forestry England and or Forestry Commission property. Always seek the correct official relationships, if you would like to be part of that activity for more Brimstone butterflies.
The less widely recognised larval food plant "Rhamus frangula" was thought to rarely come back from coppice, so with other reasonings, where these butterflies were locally very common, might have been scarce.

https://youtu.be/g06nNY7wJtQ

[PhilBJohnson]

Easter Egg Discovery- Garden butterflies

Orange-tip oviposited, Cuckoo Flower, Good Friday April 18th 2025

iPhone.
Surveying early April, Orange-tip (OT) eggs on Garlic mustard (Garlic M)
For a good chance of surveying an orange egg, like Jack by a hedge, look out for the Garlic M plants that were in afternoon sun and slightly more forward than other bolting Garlic M plants. Those plants might be slightly taller and already developing seedpods, below the top flower.
If in a garden, keeping the Garlic M plants hydrated, watering those plants and giving them a rich compost to feed on, might attract more butterflies. It was thought that at least, nearly always, there was no need to protect or interfere with the earliest immature stages of the Orange-tip, as they had quite a high natural survival rate, until about instar three. It was thought that the later larval instars became more frequently predated, being larger meals, for birds also.
If protecting later immature stages of OT on your own property, remember that an OT might be a pupa for about 10 months to emerge next Spring and can speed through larval instar stages.
Biennial Garlic M seed collected in July and dry stored, sown the following February, might be tasty for a summer generation of wandering white butterfly, final instar larvae, however Garlic M will nearly always not flower bolt, unless the biennial plant has overwintered and formed a longer tap root. If you are lucky enough to have Garlic M in your wildlife garden, plugging in overwintered seedlings in March, was a nice time to prepare them in a place to flower bolt, to suit a life cycle of an Orange-tip, in late April or May..
Green-veined white might also find your plants for oviposit in part shade.

Economic Models & Figures, "butterfly licence" and only about 60 UK native species, according to BC
"To be clear, with the UK human population growing as it is, year on year and someone's insistence that it needs to do that for National economic growth and short term political gain, locally managed personal protection of immature stages of UK Garden butterflies outdoors and believing in butterfly flight freedoms, that was good for local human wellbeing and if there were rumours of wars, lepidopterists should not be blamed for food price increases or food shortages, because of the life cycles of butterflies" #CropProtections

[Benjamin]

Some excellent tips there Phil! Great stuff.

[PhilBJohnson]

Sunday April 27th 2025, Lincoln,Lincolnshire, 22ºC high, 20 ºC at 5:15pm

For myself, today I noted a significant change in ovipositing Brimstone behaviour, on "Thorny Buckthorn", about five oviposits in a row on a larval food plant growing in full shade. This was assumed to be temperature assisted (21ºC). Last oviposits in direct sunlight noted as late as 5:10pm (20ºC)

Brimstone egg oviposited on "Rhamnus calcarious" (Thorny Buckthorn).

Noted Orange-tip had emerged from pupa. Hardwood Elder, with honeysuckle growing through it. April 27th 2025

For Flight freedoms,