Many/most of us are currently reliant on our gardens for our enjoyment of wildlife and, with the spell of warm sunny weather we have experienced recently, butterflies may well have added an element of delight. Here are a few from my Ashby de la Zouch garden that you might well have seen in your own garden, or whilst out on your 'exercise walk'.
The first is the Small Tortoiseshell - a very common butterfly. These early ones will be from last year's autumn brood and will have hibernated over winter, often in sheds, garages, etc.
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| Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - Ashby de la Zouch garden on 23rd March, 2020 |
The next one is the Comma with its distinctively shaped wings. This is also a butterfly which has two broods, with the late brood hibernating and emerging in spring.
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| Comma (Polygonum c-album) - Ashby de la Zouch garden on 25th March, 2020 |
Yet another hibernating butterfly is the Peacock. Unlike the previous two species, which have two broods a year, the Peacock has a single brood.
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| Peacock (Aglais io) - Ashby de la Zouch garden on 25th March, 2020 |
The next butterfly is the Small White. This will be a freshly emerged butterfly at this time of year. They tend to emerge shortly before the similar Large Whites. Both species have second broods later in the year. The easiest way to tell Small from Large (apart from the size, which is not always obvious) is by the marking on the forewings. The Small White has a greyish 'powdery' tip to the forewing, and pale inboard spots, whereas the Large White has bold black ends to the forewing, and very black spots.
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| Small White (Pieris rapae) - Ashby de la Zouch garden on 10th April, 2020 |
The Holly Blue is a delightful little butterfly and is on the wing now with a first brood. This species will lay eggs on Holly or Ivy. We have much Ivy in the garden, but I understand that Holly is preferred. It is difficult to tell the sex of the illustrated individual as the wings are, as is usual when at rest, tightly closed. However, if the upper side of the fore wings was visible, a dark edge to the tip of the fore wing would identify it as a female. I suspect that this is a male as I can see no such hint of a dark edge.
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| Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) - Ashby de la Zouch Garden on 11th April, 2020 |
Orange-tips are now appearing in the garden and, although I've had a few sightings, I've only managed 'record shots' of one, so I am endebted to Brian Hammond for providing a beautiful shot of one in his garden. This, with the orange tips to the fore wing, is a male - the female is white where the male is orange. Orange-tip caterpillars feed on Garlic Mustard - no you can't go and buy pots of it made by Colman's and put it in the garden to attract the butterflies! It's a plant, and Brian has provided a photo of the plant too - thank you Brian.
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| Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) - on Bluebell in Blackfordby garden |
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| Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) |
The other butterfly that I should mention here, which I have seen several times already, but not been able to photograph recently, is the Brimstone. They tend to flit through the garden without stopping. The males are easily recognised as they are bright yellow, but the females are very pale and nearly white, and are most easily recognised by the distinctive wing shape when at rest. Here's one from my garden last year:-
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| Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) - Ashby de la Zouch garden on 3rd September, 2019 |
I'll end by urging you to keep records of butterflies seen and send them in to the appropriate body - please see the 'Wildlife Recording' tab below the header to this blog.
Take great care, stay safe, and please let us know of your local wildlife sightings or any items that you'd like identified.
Best wishes - - - Richard Pegler
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