www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Posted: **Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:54 am**

Yep, you're right Nick.

Barbados is small, flat and geographically-isolated. I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a destination solely for butterfly-spotting. Chuck in a bit of cricket, some scuba-diving, a modicum of lazing on the beach and an awful lot of drinking rum and it works out just great though

What little information there is on Bajan lepidoptera mainly focuses on the larger showy species like Orions, Mimics, Monarchs and various Swallowtails - and most of the images if you google are the ones on their stamps.

However, what I saw were mainly the smaller species - skippers, blues and hairstreaks - the larger species were flying through so quickly that they weren't easy to photograph.

A final batch...

: Dark Longtail (Urbanus obscurus)

: Hanno Blue (Hemiargus hanno)

: Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)

: Silver-banded Hairstreak (Chlorostrymon simaethis)

: Tropical Buckeye (Junonia genoveva)

Posted: **Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:16 am**

Anyone for spiders?

Generally I'm OK with the eight-legged freaks providing they
a) are not bigger than a hand span
b) are not of the jumping and/or spitting variety
c) do not feature the word widow in their common name
which unfortunately rules out about 95% of the species in Florida

: Crab-like Spiny Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis)

: Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes) - male and female

: Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) - with egg sac

: Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata)

: Venusta Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta)

: Whitebanded Fishing Spider (Dolomedes albineus)

Posted: **Mon Mar 23, 2015 6:03 pm**

A lovely day in Notts. yesterday

- which granted me the chance to see the fourth species in my garden so far this year...

February 9th - Small Tortoiseshell
March 6th - Brimstone, Red Admiral
March 22nd - Comma

: Comma - Polygonia c-album - Flintham, Notts. - 22nd March, 2015

Posted: **Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:24 pm**

Lots of quantity but no real variety in my garden at the moment. The only new butterfly species to add to the four above is...

April 6th - Peacock

: Peacock - Inachis io - Flintham, Notts. - 10th April, 2015

Still waiting for the first Orange Tips and Holly Blues to show up. Some other critters are stirring though...

: Drone-fly - Eristalis tenax - Flintham, Notts. - 13th March, 2015

: Harlequin Ladybird - Harmonia axyridis - Flintham, Notts. - 10th February, 2014

: Hairy-footed Flower Bee - Anthophora plumipes - Flintham, Notts. - 22nd March, 2015

: Large Bee-fly - Bombylius major - Flintham, Notts. - 9th April, 2015

cheers

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 12:31 am**

Well... no sooner had I posted that last entry when I saw my next garden species...

April 15th - Orange Tip

I'd popped out into the garden to liberate the latest batch of Small Tortoiseshells that have been over-wintering in my potting shed/garage and are now seeking their freedom (a bonanza of 15 individuals today!), when I saw a lovely fresh male Orange Tip flutter slowly by the window as if to make a liar of me and my previous post. He didn't want to stop for a photo - so instead here's a few shots I've taken this year of native UK plants in my garden (though I confess that half of these are ones I've brought in, as opposed to being naturally occurring.)

: Marsh-Marigold (Caltha palustris)

: Wood Violet (Viola odorata)

: Willow catkins (Salix sp.)

: Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

Posted: **Thu Apr 16, 2015 6:47 pm**

Love the flower photos Celery, sorry the Orange Tip didn't settle for you but at least you saw one

Goldie

Posted: **Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:55 pm**

Thanks Goldie

...still waiting for those Orange Tips to settle but at least I found something else sheltering in the geranium foliage today...

April 21st - Small White

: Small White - Pieris rapae - Flintham, Notts. - 21st April, 2015

A bit later than everywhere else perhaps, but hey-ho I ain't complainin'

Posted: **Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:16 pm**

First 'Blue' in the garden today...

: Noodle - Russian Blue

Actually, it was...

April 24th - Holly Blue

...but I didn't get a picture of it so you'll have to make do with my Russian Blue instead.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:34 pm**

Spent a nice couple of hours walking at Charnwood Lodge Nature Reserve, near Coalville, Leics. yesterday (Sunday 26th April). Intermittent cloud, but the sunny moments brought out a profusion of Green Hairstreaks amongst the bilberries.

Some lovely individuals with well-marked brown-edged, spotted 'streaks' on both fore and hind-wing undersides - and others with an even bolder line of white spots on just the hind-wing underside.

: well-marked on both wings

: bold white-spotted 'streak' on the underside hind wing

: Billberry flowers

: super close-up of a super furry animal

cheers

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 2:52 pm**

Great Hair Streak photos celery, I've yet to photograph them this year, hope fully I will soon, love the close up shot Goldie

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:19 pm**

HI Celery,

Beautiful Green Hairstreaks, I was hoping to see some today, alas none, but I did find some Pearl
Bordered Fritillaries, so I came home happy.

Best wishes,
TREVOR.

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:59 pm**

Hi Celery,

Great Green Hairstreak photos. It seems that they are out everywhere except Warwickshire so far, mind you it seemed that way last year as well.

Cheers,

Neil

Posted: **Mon Apr 27, 2015 8:40 pm**

Nice images, Celery. I must catch up on this species very soon (particularly given that it's practically on my doorstep).

Posted: **Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:28 pm**

Bit of time on my hands at the moment so here's a pictorial 2016 round-up.

Starting with Hesperiidae:

Baracoa Skipper Polites baracoa

Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages

Dorantes Longtail Urbanus dorantes

Fiery Skipper Hylephila phyleus

Posted: **Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:36 pm**

Hammock Skipper Polygonus leo

Horace's Duskywing Erynnis horatius

Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus

Least Skipper Ancyloxypha numitor

Posted: **Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:46 pm**

Long-tailed Skipper Urbanus proteus

Lulworth Skipper Thymelicus acteon

Mallow Skipper Carcharodus alceae

Monk Skipper Asbolis capucinus

Posted: **Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:32 pm**

Mangrove Skipper Phocides pigmalion

Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus armoricanus

Ocola Skipper Panoquina ocola

Red-underwing Skipper Spialia sertorius

Posted: **Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:43 pm**

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris

Southern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia otho)

Three-spotted Skipper (Cymaenes tripunctus)

Tropical Checkered-skipper (Pyrgus oileus)

...and one final one... what I'm told is a Safflower Skipper Pyrgus carthami... but I ain't no Pyrgus expert so it might be something different - feel free to chip in if you reckon I've labelled it wrong...