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Pauline wrote:As I continued to check the blues I came across this one. I initially thought a very worn Holly Blue as some of my shots seem to show her upperside as a faded blue, but in others it looks brown. Any ideas? I am not much good with wing shape etc.

It can't be a satyrid, Pauline, as it has 6 legs, and it's body is very much lycaenid-looking.

I think your first instinct was correct regarding Holly Blue. I've seen them 'washed-out' on the undersides before though I admit I've never seen such a tatty example as yours.

David M wrote:

Pauline wrote:As I continued to check the blues I came across this one. I initially thought a very worn Holly Blue as some of my shots seem to show her upperside as a faded blue, but in others it looks brown. Any ideas? I am not much good with wing shape etc.

It can't be a satyrid, Pauline, as it has 6 legs, and it's body is very much lycaenid-looking.

I think your first instinct was correct regarding Holly Blue. I've seen them 'washed-out' on the undersides before though I admit I've never seen such a tatty example as yours.

Gut instincts are invariably correct Pauline! I'm with David on this, a very tattered Holly Blue

Thank you for your PM Martin - I have replied.

Thank you too David and Buggy. Holly Blue was my first thought but it was so worn it could have been anything.

With the rain tipping down again it is time for another update on my rearing activities. I had a single Common Blue egg which has recently hatched and it has been totally fascinating watching it - with a hand lens mostly as it is TINY! I have been trying to take photos every day to record its growth and development but the limits of both my camera and my photography abilities have been stretched to their limit by this one. Nevertheless, I shall record what I have been able to achieve so far:

21 August - egg hatched, larva just to the right (these leaves are tiny ones and I'm only mentioning this to provide some context as to the size of the larva:
1 day old:
3 days old (taken indoors in poor light as the weather was dreadful):
4 days old - note the typical feeding damage to the leaf:
6 days old - getting a bit bigger now and easier to see/photograph:

First birthday - one week old

They're great pictures Pauline, much better than anything I could get with my equipment. I must admit though that I can't for the life of me see the cat in the first pic

Brilliant photos Pauline but I agree that I also can't see the cat in the first shot - no matter how hard I look

Brillient shots Pauline and the cat in the first one is crazy tiny

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Fascinating photos of the various caterpillars, Pauline. You are far more adventurous than I've ever been.

Dave

Great images, Pauline. I look forward to further instalments.

Thank you Buggy and Mike, but well, what can I say except ..... 'you should have gone to Specsavers' Seriously, as Wurzel said, it is 'crazy tiny' - well done for spotting it Wurzel - and even now is only a couple of mm long. I was going to take a photo of that leaf beside a coin to demonstrate the size as the leaf was only about 3 mm.

Thank you too Dave - I appreciate your interest.

Thank you also David. I shall continue to monitor and take photos. I am not sure whether it will develop fast enough for this year and may over-winter as a larva. (It may not even survive). Whatever happens, I shall report on the outcome of all the immatures next year. A couple more posts to go after this one and then that's it as I turn my attention to other priorities.

I am not finding much at all out there in the short time provided by gaps in the rain. I did find some more eggs - similar to the one's on Sorrel but this time on a Pine/Spruce/Fir (whatever it is). I guess there are a lot of insects that lay eggs like this but I will try to find out what they are:
A couple of cats and a nice Shield bug:
A few butterflies were spotted including a tattered SWF, a Meadow Brown which landed on my camera, Small Whites and numerous Speckled Wood which I couldn't get close to on account of them perching too high up. I also noticed another horrible spider which had a tiny body but legs that extended about 5cm in each direction

Hi! Pauline, I'm catching up on your Cat's Great photos, I was at Southport yesterday and I saw this rather large Caterpillar , I tried to get a good shot ( it'll be in my diary soon) but the weather was very over cast and although I changed my camera to suit the weather it's still not too clear. So I think I'd better stick to Butterflies Goldie

Pauline wrote:Thank you Buggy and Mike, but well, what can I say except ..... 'you should have gone to Specsavers'

as another poor glasses wearer, I can see a few possibilities. Is either of these (ringed) the cat? I've really no idea!
Mike

Thank you Goldie - I appreciate that. As for your cat - I haven't got a clue, but I'm sure someone will have

Hi Mike - and Buggy and Mike. I have been a bit unfair as this cat was REALLY tiny when it emerged and the colours don't help as it really blends in. I have tried to mark it and sometimes if you 'click' on the photo it gets a bit bigger. My camera (ie Me ) couldn't do any better I'm afraid

Oh - it's huge - I was looking for something much smaller

Hi Pauline, thanks for that, I can clearly see your Common Blue cat now , it's almost the same colour as the background which is why I missed it....Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I don't know what your Geomatrid cat eating the Sallow is but the hairy one with the punky look is a Vapourer moth, your Shieldbug nymph looks like a Bronze Shieldbug Troilus luridus (they are rather partial the feeding on caterpillars so keep an eye out for one of them sneeking in with one of your charges!) I use this website for identifying any True Bugs I find, it's very comprehensive but easy to use: http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/gallery.html

Your spider is actually a Harvestman called Dicranopalpus ramosus. That way of resting with all its legs sticking out sideways is diagnostic I believe.

Pauline wrote:
To that end I went on a little foraging trip recently with Andy Brown (who sometimes posts and was kind enough to let me borrow a moth trap) and this was the result - if I have got any ID's incorrect please feel free to shout:



Don't know [Green Caterpillar]

This is a Herald larva, and boy do they wriggle.

Well I wouldn't go so far as 'huge' Mike but I can see how the background colours concealed it. The next lot may well present a similar problem as they are EXACTLY the same colour as their leaves!

Thank you for the ID's Buggy and also that website. It looks incredibly useful and may save me from asking for many basic ID's.

Thank you too Martin - if I had looked up your Christmas Carol moths I would have known that. I did look up Shark but I didn't find it a very inspiring moth (or cat) and I didn't go further. I shall email early next week.

I was in two minds whether to post this lot given my failure last year but a couple of folk have encouraged me. My worry is that I don't know what I did wrong last year. I lost 2 fairly large SC cats and from photos that I sent Pete he suspected that they had become 'diseased'. I don't know how, what caused it, what I should/shouldn't have done differently so I was wary to embark on this again. However, I was pleased to be able to save a couple of Small Copper eggs from the trampling by the cows. I knew that if they hatched I would have some difficulty finding enough suitable food until they pupated/overwintered. As a result of a suggestion from Mike (Max) I sought out a local wholesaler of herbs and purchased enough Sorrel to feed an army of cats In fact, this led to a different set of problems Well Paul, I don't think these are as good as your Holly Blue larva but here goes - apart from a couple at the end they were all taken indoors because of the torrential rain.

I noticed one egg had hatched and the other larva was trying to eat its way out so I grabbed the camera and tried to get some shots:
Just as I thought it was about to emerge it would withdraw back inside the safety and protection of the shell. At last it decided to make a bid for freedom:
Now the problem I referred to earlier, the problem with the Sorrel - I had provided so much of it for the little cats that once they disappeared into it I couldn't find them again for 4 days Note the typical feeding damage which helped me to detect their whereabouts:
This next shot is when they were 5 days old. I think it is even harder to spot them now than when they had just emerged as they are a lot more mobile and exactly the same colour as their food plant - which I suppose shouldn't be all that surprising. I am having to rely more and more on the feeding damage to guide me now in this jungle of Sorrel:
These are the latest shots - another birthday 1 week old! I am sure that these will over-winter as larva given the weather conditions (if they survive!) I know William had some amazing success with them last year so if you have any hints or tips William to get them thru the winter I would be very grateful.
I believe this one has just shed his skin - missed it!
Final post coming shortly.

Lovely shots of the Small Copper larvae Pauline glad you found some Sorrel for them

Hi! Pauline, if I went looking for Cats I don't think I'd find them unless they were Huge and your shots are always good much better than mine when it comes to some thing so small Goldie

Thank you Mike and Goldie - your comments have been a great source of encouragement.

I like to look back over the season – to review what I have learned, what I should do differently next time, and make comparisons with previous seasons.

When I look back at this season I think the thing that I shall remember about it most was the wind – 2012 was the season of the rain when I got soaked almost every day and my camera almost lived under my t-shirt, but 2015 is the year I struggled most to get photos because of the wind; struggled, in fact, many days just to keep the subject in the frame. It was therefore no great surprise (but still disappointing) when I looked back at my photos to find a great many of them blurred and out of focus. I find it is far easier to be objective, less emotive, about my photos when some time has elapsed since they were taken and I am a little bit removed from the whole exciting and enjoyable experience of finding, watching and photographing these insects. It is clear to me that my photography skills need to be further enhanced and refined. I need to expand my technical knowledge and find ways to deal with external factors (such as the weather). I still need to react quicker to get the shots I want but on this point I believe I am hampered a little by my camera.

The second negative factor for me in 2015 has been the very few sightings I have had of Purple Emperors . I would have thought that the leg work I put in across a number of sites would have led to more success, and in comparison to previous years I certainly would have expected to have seen more. I can only conclude that numbers this year must be down on previous years but I am sure there will be some expert opinion expressed on this issue at some point.

The highlight of the season for me has to be seeing those magnificent Monarch butterflies at Brighton – it is something I shall always remember and great to have shared the experience with other enthusiasts. I appreciate that there is some concern regarding their provenance - but there was a sighting of one coming in from the sea. Apart from my trip to Brighton I have stayed quite local this season and have not gone out of my way to chase after various species. Nevertheless, I still managed to see and photograph 47 species.

My interest in rearing has grown, mostly because of my fascination regarding the various transitions. It was therefore a pleasure to rear earlier in the season my DGF, WA, SWF, Comma and Small Tort. I find the process educational and exciting and there is such a sense of satisfaction when a successful outcome is achieved. More lately I am rearing Common Blue, Small Copper and 100 Large Whites (although I didn’t realise there were that many when I put them in a cage to save my rabbit food which they were decimating). I now find Bright-line Brown Eye moth larvae are decimating my tomatoes! at least I think that's what they are. One of the larva which is now clearing up the remains of the Blackcurrent - what little there was left after the 11 Commas (sorry Andy):
On the subject of moths I have recently become totally hooked and I am now in the process of purchasing the ‘on loan’ moth trap. I never expected that my interest would grow in that direction. From being impressed by the larger moths and their larva, such as the Emperor moth and the Puss moth (both of which I have also reared) I have now also been known to photograph the odd micro moth.

My interest in the immature stages has continued to grow and I believe this interest has its roots in the Hairstreaks that I reared last year. I have spent a little time monitoring DoB eggs and their larva in the wild and was fortunate enough to find a Ringlet larva and Small Skipper larva whilst doing this. I have watched a number of species egg-laying in the wild including SSS, Small Copper, Common Blue, Silver-studded Blue, SWF, Small Blue and many more.

For now, for me, the season has drawn to a close but I would like to think I have increased my knowledge and improved my skills. If neither of those things are true then at least I have had a smashing time, had some great experiences with some great people in some fantastic places. I really can’t ask for more than that. I shall leave with a few reminders of my season:

I shall miss this website and contact with others over the winter but it is time to turn my attention to other priorities, not least house and garden maintenance, including animal accommodation. I shall leave you with a couple of shots of Heidi enjoying freshly picked plums and an envious April. See you soon guys.

Excellent review of your year, Pauline. I DO hope you won't be completely absent from this forum over the winter months.