William

[William]

Thanks Wurzel, it was great fun breeding the butterflies and the possible ab. Alba was a lovely suprise .

[William]

May (Part 4)

As May wore on, the butterfly season, having started late began to get going. I went on regular walks on my patch, trying to find new butterflies in new spots. It was on one such walk - searching for Orange Tips in a small piece of woodland, that I had a fantastic suprise.
I stopped for a while, leaning on a fence post when I saw a butterfly move past very quickly, skimming over the buttercups and sorrel heads in the nearby field. The powder blue uppersides made its identity even more obvious than its hasty searching flight - a male Common Blue.
Common Blues have always been somewhat difficult to track down in my neck of the woods. The system of Agriculture with intensive grazing - often at the wrong times of year can mean that as soon as they get established at a spot, they get disturbed and pushed out, only to turn up at a different spot the next year. They tend to be particularly hard to find in the first brood, and as such I was overjoyed to chance upon five or six of these little beauties - my first of the year.
It was midday at the time of my discovery, and consequently they weren't sticking around for photos, still, not defeated, I vowed to return in the evening, hoping for better photographic opportunities.
I was not disappointed, and over the next few days, I took several walks to photograph these little beauties, paying particular attention to some of the stunning females.

Common Blue - Female

Common Blue - Female

Common Blue - Male

Common Blue - Male

At the same spot in 2012, I also saw this male Common Blue. At the time I wondered if it was an aberration, being ghostly pale in its underside colour (its upperside was perfectly normal), at first I thought it was battered, but seeing the fresh white borders, I do wonder if it was in fact very fresh, and unusually pale.

Common Blue - Male - Possible Aberration

[Pauline]

I am enjoying your diary and your photos are refreshingly different - the CB male, second from last, well, I can see that as a framed print on my wall. It's lovely.

[William]

Thanks for your kind comments Pauline it was great to get to know the butterflies' habits - that photo was taken at about 8:30 whilst he was still warming up.

[Butterflysaurus rex]

I'm loving the distance shots William, they're very atmospheric ~ making me reminisce about all of those warm spring and summer days gone by.

[William]

Thanks B'Saurus - the distant male upperside is one of my favourite shots and I just have to look at it for the wildflowers, the warmth and the little blue pin-pricks all to come flooding back to me - wonderful!

[Paul Harfield]

Hi William

I also very much like your distance shots of the Common Blue and the Orange Tip Something a little different to the norm Great

[William]

Thanks Jack - your kind comments are much appreaciated .

[William]

June (Part 1)

After an enjoyable, but realtively cool May, I was looking forward to getting into the meat of the Butterfly season when June came around, the heat that finally arrived towards the end of the month was welcome indeed, hinting at the possibilites of July and August to come.

Throughout the month I monitored the growth of the Orange Tip larvae on my garlic mustard, and was delighted to watch their progress as they moved from ovum right through to pupation.

Orange Tip Ovum - About to Hatch

Orange Tip - Young Larva

Orange Tip - Young Larva

Orange Tip - Young Larva

Orange Tip - Final Instar Larva

Orange Tip Larva - Pupating

Orange Tip Pupa

Orange Tips were not the only Immature stages I ended up 'supervising', when, towards the end of the month I found my first ovipositing Small Tortoiseshell and followed her larvae through June and July.

Small Tortoiseshell Ova

Small Tortoiseshell Larvae

On top of this, I spotted an egg laying female Speckled wood and was able to find the subsequent 'bundles of joy' in a small patch of long grass.

Speckled Wood Ovum

[David M]

Great images again, William.

[William]

Thanks David

[Nick Broomer]

I agree with David. Great photos William.

All the best, Nick.

[Wurzel]

Great stuff William The difference between the instars of the OT suprised me, they could almost be two different species they're so different Looking forward to the Specklies development shots if you have them

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Vince Massimo]

Amazing images William

The Orange-tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood eggs are particularly impressive, however the pre-pupation Orange-tip larva is worth a special mention! I have had to quickly brush-up on my caterpillar and butterfly development and anatomy, but, under the skin, it seems to show structures associated with the development of the wings in the second and third thoracic segments.

I still have to do some further research as to what they are called and how they develop, but they are exactly where they are supposed to be and I have never seen these structures showing up so clearly at this stage.

PM to follow.

Vince

EDIT: See this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly#Wing_development and scroll down to "Wing Development"

[Pete Eeles]

Just superb, William - the image that Vince has highlighted is something I've never seen before, so many thanks for that! Keep up the good work!

Cheers,

- Pete

[William]

Thank you guys for all your comments - sadly, Wurzel I don't have any more speckled wood shots - the larvae fell victim to the family lawn - mower - much to my dismay!

Thank you Pete and Vince for your fascinating words , I had no idea what those structures were, and that article made for interesting reading. If it's any help, I think that picture was taken 4 or 5 hours before pupation.

[William]

June (Part 2)

As the month warmed up, things really got going after the year's slow start. June is always a busy month, and so sadly I didn't get out to see too many butterflies. Nevertheless I caught up with Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries for the first time in a while. Sadly they were very active, and difficult to photograph, but nevertheless a joy to watch - around 20 in all, skimming over the ragged robin and sedges.

Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary

The spot I looked for them is a delightful location on the Mendips, and we were lucky enough to watch several Downy Emerald Dragonflies zooming over a peaty pool close to the butterflies. Later in the year, Black Darters and Emerald Damselflies can be found at this site. Nearby, a short drive away I also found my first Bee Orchids (as well as some of the rare variant - var. Trolli, otherwise known as 'Wasp Orchid').

Bee Orchid

Throughout the month, numbers of Small Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood built up - resulting in the ova pictured in my last entry.

Small Tortoiseshells Courting

Speckled Wood

I was also delighted to find my first Small Copper of the year - a beautiful butterfly that posed happily for me, perching on Sorrel seed heads in a buttercup filled meadow which I had all to myself - wonderful.

Small Copper

Small Copper

[Nick Broomer]

Lovely photos William. But that picture of a Speckled Wood is just beautiful, typifies a walk down a woodland ride in early summer. Shade, sun and,.......up flies a Specked Wood...........need i say more.

All the best, Nick.

[William]

Thank you very much Nick - it has definitely grown on me over the winter months, it brings back the warmth and dappled shade . If I'm honest it was a bit of a fluke, I was going for a photo of it perched and then it took of as I took the shutter!

[David M]

I was going for a photo of it perched and then it took of as I took the shutter!

That's the unintended reason for many of the best images.