Deciduous woodland, which types of butterflies prefer which types of tree leaves to lay their eggs

[toadie]

Hoping this is OK to write a post, hoping I have posted this in the right place, just have a question about woodland butterflies and their habitat, general butterfly knowledge. Wondering which type of butterfly prefer which type of deciduous tree leaves to leave their eggs? Any observations or
thoughts most welcome. Thank you, from a butterfly beginner Toadie

[Padfield]

Hi Toadie. There's no short answer to this. Each species has its own preferred foodplants - sometimes very specific. You will find a complete list of foodplants here: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/foodplants.php. Alternatively, you will find details in each butterfly's species description. Note that many woodland butterflies do not use trees as foodplant. Fritillaries frequently use violets and browns use various grasses.

It is important to bear in mind that it is not only the host species that counts but also the condition of the leaves, the aspect, conditions of light and shade, proximity of water and availability of nectar sources, to name just a few things! A female purple emperor will check out every sallow in a ride, diving into many but selecting only a select few to lay on.

Guy

[bugboy]

I would also add hibernation to what Guy says. Hairstreaks for example: 4 out of our five species feed on deciduous trees and they all hibernate as an egg, so leaves are ignored for ovipositing for obvious reasons. If you ever get the chance to watch a female butterfly looking to lay (even a common species) you'll soon realise just how fussy they can be about where they leave their eggs and as Guy says there are innumerable factors in her decision making, plenty of which we can only guess at.

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Toadie - and welcome to UKB!

You might find this of interest: https://butterfly-conservation.org/file ... dtypes.pdf

Cheers,

- Pete

[toadie]

Hi Toadie. There's no short answer to this. Each species has its own preferred foodplants - sometimes very specific. You will find a complete list of foodplants here: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/foodplants.php. Alternatively, you will find details in each butterfly's species description. Note that many woodland butterflies do not use trees as foodplant. Fritillaries frequently use violets and browns use various grasses.

It is important to bear in mind that it is not only the host species that counts but also the condition of the leaves, the aspect, conditions of light and shade, proximity of water and availability of nectar sources, to name just a few things! A female purple emperor will check out every sallow in a ride, diving into many but selecting only a select few to lay on.

Guy

Hi Padfield/Guy,

Thank you for the detailed reply on woodland butterflies and their habitat. The information table about foodplants, primary and secondary, is perfect and really helpful in trying to learn more foodplants by sight before the spring/summer begins. Will look for a copy of The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland.

Toadie

[toadie]

I would also add hibernation to what Guy says. Hairstreaks for example: 4 out of our five species feed on deciduous trees and they all hibernate as an egg, so leaves are ignored for ovipositing for obvious reasons. If you ever get the chance to watch a female butterfly looking to lay (even a common species) you'll soon realise just how fussy they can be about where they leave their eggs and as Guy says there are innumerable factors in her decision making, plenty of which we can only guess at.

Hi bugboy,

Thank you for writing and sharing your knowledge. Interesting to learn about the types of Hairstreak butterflies, and how they hibernate as an egg. Following on just found a photo online of a Brown Hairstreak egg on a Buckthorn tree branch in winter. Beginning to realise learning more about butterflies is just as much about recognising foodplants, and host plants as it is about seeing a mature butterfly fluttering about on a summers day. Yes an observant eye will be out for female butterfly behaviour and their mysterious ways.

Toadie

[toadie]

Hi Toadie - and welcome to UKB!

You might find this of interest: https://butterfly-conservation.org/file ... dtypes.pdf

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Pete,

Thank you for the welcome, and the link to the above, just what I was searching for, descriptions of habitats and the table cross referencing woodland type with butterfly type , superb.

Toadie

[David M]

Many thanks for that link from me too, Pete. It is most instructive and very educational.

[Cotswold Cockney]

From my observations, some species, maybe many, occasionally use alternative foodplants well removed and unrelated to their well known recorded ones. For instance, I observed Holly Blues ovipositing on Virginia Creeper. The ova were left on the plant near the growing tips. Then during a mid-winter search, discovering a White-Letter Hairstreak Ovum on Blackthorn, whilst searching for ova on these shrubs of the species you'd expect to find on them. The Black and Brown.

Keep 'em peeled when out and about. There is still much to learn.

Yes, my observations of laying females, even in my own garden or little Nature Reserve, show they are indeed very discerning where to lay their ova. Why did that female Small Copper lay on a small, tatty and stunted Sheep's Sorrel with barely a living leaf on it when much more succulent plants were less than two meters away.

Like finding ova of the Purple Emperor on the underside of a tatty narrow leaved willow when fine examples of Broad-Leaved Sallow are only a few metres away. Possibly easily explained when observing a heavily gravid female Purple Emperor when alighting on a leaf to lay, the weight of the egg laden insect pulls the skinny leaf down and in the few seconds haste the insect needs to lay before quickly making a getaway, in the haste the ovum ends up on the underside of the leaf! Seen that happen more than once.

[Cotswold Cockney]

I emerged from hibernation a few weeks ago and visited my own personal small Nature Reserve purchased thirty years ago and managed with wildlife and plants in mind ever since.

On arrival delighted to flush a couple Hares who quickly legged it away and soon out of sight. When I first got it, it was mainly grassland with some mature Oaks and Elms in the hedgerow borders. Then I saw Hairstreaks high over the Elms and Oaks but never got near enough to identify White Letter Hairstreaks. The Puprlpe Hairstreaks were much more cooperative and frequnetly come down to ground level and are easily identified. Back then, I had not realised a single lone Oak could support a colony of Purple Hairstreaks. I thought it was a butterfly of the larger woods and forests. As a schoolboy in the 1950s, I was able to find the early stages of the White Letter Hairstreaks in many parts of Gloucestershire and they did indeed live on single larger Wych Elms even in the middle of a large field. Sadly all such Elms long since gone. Now I know Purple Hairstreaks do that..

Over the years the range of wildlife seen in my "reserve" has been a delight to observe. Probably the best single observation being a GosHawk plunging into a dense Wild Rose and Blackthorn ( Sloe ) thicket just before dark in the late summer evening to reveal an explosion of small roosting birds and the |Hawk emerging at speed chasing one it had singled out. Amazing sight.

Anyway back on track. There is a range of Butterfly species there still although the grassland is much overgrown. Last winter, I employed and agricultural contractor to bulldoze the masses of thorny Scrub which had covered more than half the grassy area. This winter, with those bulldozed shrubs fully dried out, I set about burning them. Boy did they burn! That's better. The grassland species should benefit and recover with a larger area of grassland available. Nature can repair quickly if allowed to do so. Over the years, I have easily found Purple Hairstreak Ova ( eggs ) tucked into the winter leaf buds where they will hatch in the warmer spring temperatures. Despite frequent searches of the Oaks' winter buds there, I have yet to locate a single Purple Hairstreak Ovum on any of the Oaks in my field. That changed this late winter when I found them even low down on buds at eye level. Glad about that.

Some of my Elm "Suckers" are approaching maturity and could support White Letter Hairstreaks if there are any about still locally. I have seen them flying and found their eggs relatively easily in other parts of the county. I hope to see a return. I have even seen a female White Letter in the City Centre of Gloucester and this and other evidence indicates that they do move about possibly in search of better habitats to populate. Most butterflies do this as I have observed many species well removed from their usual habitat intent on seeking pasture anew.. Good for them.

Those Blackthorn thickets are large enough to support Brown and Black Hairstreaks but despite always on the look out, never seen one there. According to one butterfly breeder I've known for years, both those Blackthorn species are easy to introduce to suitable habitat. Very tempting. By the way, when searching Blackthorns elsewhere in winter for ova of the two Hairstreaks known to use this foodplant, I also found the unmistakable ovum of the White-Letter ... on Blackthorn. From that single ovum I raised a fine female specimen whose larva fed up on the white flowers initially and then moved to the leaves when they appeared. Closely related species not found in the UK on the European Mainland also feed on Blackthorn.

So, there are a few other Butterflies which feed on the Trees as larvae. These include Comma, Brimstones and the Purple Emperor. I have found the early stages of the latter species on Salix ( Broad leaved Sallows ) on Sallow Trees as large as any Forest Oaks in an Hampshire wood. Woodland maintenance usually means Sallows are cut down before they can reach that level of maturity. The number of Moth species larvae which feed on the trees of the forest is in the hundreds. Often Butterfly Tree foodplants are not allowed to reach mature tree status due to woodland management practices.

With the above in mind, if you know where to look, it is possible to see Purple Emperors in the UK on any day of the year. Try some winter searches. When you get your "eye in" you'll be surprised what you can find if you are patient.