tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60043241283766578912024-03-14T01:14:28.037-07:00Will's ButterfliesWill Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-10832934409974845382021-01-02T12:04:00.008-08:002021-01-02T12:49:16.088-08:00Moth Highlights 2020<p>2020. To use a mothing analogy, you travelled a long way to
get to a great site for a really rare moth that you’d been looking forward to
seeing for ages. The traps went on at dusk, full of anticipation, and then
March came in, the rain started, the MV bulb got wet and exploded. Somehow
despite the bulb being out Hornets still descended en masse and ate all the
moths you had caught, and then set about you, and after you’d extricated
yourself from all that mess, it turned out you had the wrong grid reference and
had been trapping in the wrong place anyway, plus the consolation rarity you
thought you’d caught needed gen det anyway, and you didn’t retain it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite all that, 2020 was a really enjoyable moth year for
me, and in spite of lockdowns and travel restrictions, I managed to catch up
with an exciting variety of new moths. The mothing year basically started when
I returned to ancestral Somerset for the first lockdown in March. As the season got
going, I was unable to get out and do the usual spring butterfly stuff, and so
I turned to micros in the local lanes and woods. Highlights here were three
rather under-recorded Coleophoras – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">solitariella</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lithargyrinella</i> as larval cases,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metroites lutarea</i> as an adult, all
on Greater Stitchwort along the lanes near home. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1_2g91cVRuX5WdWmMqpdyjU3RYzK8x71nhLsoLTKNekOXJIyYGB3KWAdLqG60zwPC5aNOAf5JKjC1s7uXybDIxpVzUkmR4x_SFQ4VHqzQkYmm9xyuSVrjlF9kYz-thbFS6sAap9QaCY/s2048/site13.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1_2g91cVRuX5WdWmMqpdyjU3RYzK8x71nhLsoLTKNekOXJIyYGB3KWAdLqG60zwPC5aNOAf5JKjC1s7uXybDIxpVzUkmR4x_SFQ4VHqzQkYmm9xyuSVrjlF9kYz-thbFS6sAap9QaCY/w400-h266/site13.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stichwort-feeding Coleophora habitat in West Somerset</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXT8JCe7QiDwb1frSW7itOaiLaYMg33CHBpNKTcmzm3dueOASA0jLPRvDCII4UiQZYfE4SHRiM_HlutvPIQl8fA10YxyWTOQKfBfY6BUYHfu0AI5hWu0bl-rB5HYTF4Czip2V52cnHD8/s2000/Coleophora+solitariella+larva+-+Lower+Vexford+Hill+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1530" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXT8JCe7QiDwb1frSW7itOaiLaYMg33CHBpNKTcmzm3dueOASA0jLPRvDCII4UiQZYfE4SHRiM_HlutvPIQl8fA10YxyWTOQKfBfY6BUYHfu0AI5hWu0bl-rB5HYTF4Czip2V52cnHD8/w306-h400/Coleophora+solitariella+larva+-+Lower+Vexford+Hill+5.JPG" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coleophora solitariella larva</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiRXPycBvmTAT6WyhjbQoNin4Kb8bH4IzsE8T06n9hNAu7cIUQT-triiws87iyDeLLZGznOQdJKp36PnZ_rGhPZZzZlKOIkTmDHVEjoyMQsxOVUJfME0DoTGXxrk1rvjN3yrxXN2GCls/s2048/Metroites+lutarea+-+Nr+Preston+Farm.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2010" data-original-width="2048" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiRXPycBvmTAT6WyhjbQoNin4Kb8bH4IzsE8T06n9hNAu7cIUQT-triiws87iyDeLLZGznOQdJKp36PnZ_rGhPZZzZlKOIkTmDHVEjoyMQsxOVUJfME0DoTGXxrk1rvjN3yrxXN2GCls/w400-h393/Metroites+lutarea+-+Nr+Preston+Farm.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metrioties lutarea doing what it does best</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxatxXbDOBUMNczD9P-u4EqTKk36h4CGXW1jy2aOccwiswzoXI_QWO6k8JJT84PPio6H1ns8hfBPhGQME3HN9Smiomw-DSn_sIbMxTjILI0gdOVOkb-JgzRbcUzXU7rESTL2np_R16dE/s2000/Coleophora+lithargyrinella+larva+-+Willet+Area+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1495" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxatxXbDOBUMNczD9P-u4EqTKk36h4CGXW1jy2aOccwiswzoXI_QWO6k8JJT84PPio6H1ns8hfBPhGQME3HN9Smiomw-DSn_sIbMxTjILI0gdOVOkb-JgzRbcUzXU7rESTL2np_R16dE/w299-h400/Coleophora+lithargyrinella+larva+-+Willet+Area+2.JPG" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coleophora lithargyrinella case</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><br />I also spent a fair bit of time up at a nearby forestry
commission site, where there are some good stands of Broom clinging to the path
edges as the serried ranks of Sitka Spruce advance. I found a number of new
species for me feeding on this, including <i>Mirificarma
mulinella</i>, <i>Anarsia spartiella</i> and
<i>Agonopterix assimilella</i>. None of them
blockbuster rarities, but really satisfying to see some of the characteristic
species of this moth-rich shrub. As a bonus, while harassing it with a beating
tray in the vain hope of Streak larvae I dislodged a couple of <i>Epinotia fraternana</i> (presumably from the
nearby spruce plantation), the third record for Somerset. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5WsFViTjrE-o_9V1a4bY_gYaInD7jOOziTuOFcnqXFRuORNwR_mfwR4sBkBjuZkRyinDUTgbc6A4ReNQTrCi5VXRYLjQxbPzkvsjxTzxMaCGBEku0Qjk_z9Of_t7eJ5U2mi2f0J92ZY/s2048/Mirificarma+mulinella+larva+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1740" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5WsFViTjrE-o_9V1a4bY_gYaInD7jOOziTuOFcnqXFRuORNwR_mfwR4sBkBjuZkRyinDUTgbc6A4ReNQTrCi5VXRYLjQxbPzkvsjxTzxMaCGBEku0Qjk_z9Of_t7eJ5U2mi2f0J92ZY/w340-h400/Mirificarma+mulinella+larva+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mirificarma mulinella larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZfPV2tdM7WmBPA5wm0nsxHswr7ufd-IuNvth1oB8WXBoa6RLj2Nql5QFhUJMVKwWGUG8gnVoLhiTHQgEg-Vb1-Tnf_V6PRrHVciQazWII1w1HbyVacIVyQZJLCpa-PwTq1AOsGZK8p8/s2048/Epinotia+fraternana+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="2048" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZfPV2tdM7WmBPA5wm0nsxHswr7ufd-IuNvth1oB8WXBoa6RLj2Nql5QFhUJMVKwWGUG8gnVoLhiTHQgEg-Vb1-Tnf_V6PRrHVciQazWII1w1HbyVacIVyQZJLCpa-PwTq1AOsGZK8p8/w400-h276/Epinotia+fraternana+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Epinotia fraternana</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">As restrictions eased, it was finally time to enact plans
hatched over the winter to see a few new species, and my first proper trip out
was on a classic May morning to a site near Porlock to look for the
semi-legendary <i>Schiffermuellerina grandis</i>.
It must have one of the most extravagant binomials of any UK micro, but unlike
Brown House Moth (<i>Hofmannophila
pseudopretella</i>!), it feels totally appropriate, this Oecophorid is a
stunning mish-mash of yellow, silver and electric blue, and a bit of a rarity. For a while it was thought to only persist at a few sites in Somerset and Devon, but it's recently been re-discovered in the New Forest and the Wyre Forest. I was pleased to
find it flying in numbers in the morning sun (between 8:00 and 10:00), textbook
stuff. I saw just over 20 in the end, with little leks in sunny openings, and
the males dancing to and fro like giant shiny midges.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bgJno0rXped721X4nyEkWTuwakpGWZfgMcC-p_9xm0arWgr-9Tr9bAZnjXKzzBK4VDeGdijyQNnJaZW0exGOMjOYQzIrNIsyaBEXBQlXFeZvhsS7ZVjNxq2vr8itH2xUST_zAIkTDdY/s2048/Schiffermuellerina+grandis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="2048" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bgJno0rXped721X4nyEkWTuwakpGWZfgMcC-p_9xm0arWgr-9Tr9bAZnjXKzzBK4VDeGdijyQNnJaZW0exGOMjOYQzIrNIsyaBEXBQlXFeZvhsS7ZVjNxq2vr8itH2xUST_zAIkTDdY/w400-h291/Schiffermuellerina+grandis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mythic Schiffermuellerina grandis</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EEabwvx5m0uKhuyc_oxHXgPOh2UViP-mmOM6wrpWSxMkENCm37nhjALg396WN6lf-kE7xjyNqF4WB1HGudogkyX_3129857YfvmQDydHkiBlgngiPJJD-HeAJVgZpuhsDJUEjw-xYTc/s2048/site14.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EEabwvx5m0uKhuyc_oxHXgPOh2UViP-mmOM6wrpWSxMkENCm37nhjALg396WN6lf-kE7xjyNqF4WB1HGudogkyX_3129857YfvmQDydHkiBlgngiPJJD-HeAJVgZpuhsDJUEjw-xYTc/w266-h400/site14.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In a suitably mysterious setting too</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />Nearby, at Hurlstone Point on the same day, I came across a
large patch of Sheep’s Bit growing in one of the coastal combes, giving me the
chance to enact another winter plan. Having received Brian Hancock’s excellent
‘Pug Moths of North West Britain’ for Christmas last year, I was determined to
be a bit more serious about pugs, and so returned at the end of May to trap at
Hurlstone in the hope of Netted and Thyme Pugs, and perhaps Jasione in among
that Sheep’s Bit. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtlBOt6txcO6yyA-1wWx0NktlW65y135tavGOCDBYtBVhH88XkuoApqgm-DM9hA1xUi6ztKVcpQCfNdGacQp9n88PlsulYBGwpNZXtzTeVlSoswt889AKNpaoRJ-9yRNatDOWYh7YyYM/s2048/site15.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtlBOt6txcO6yyA-1wWx0NktlW65y135tavGOCDBYtBVhH88XkuoApqgm-DM9hA1xUi6ztKVcpQCfNdGacQp9n88PlsulYBGwpNZXtzTeVlSoswt889AKNpaoRJ-9yRNatDOWYh7YyYM/w400-h266/site15.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheep's Bit in what later turned out to be Jasione Pug country at Hurlstone Point</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">It was my first evening of proper field trapping, and an
ausipcious start - Nightjars churred over the heathland, the waves broke in
Porlock bay, and the fishermen murmured to each other on the shingle below. The
moths performed too – 2 each of Netted and Thyme Pugs, lots of Barrett’s
Marbled Coronet (and Marbled Coronet), Horse Chestnut, Galium Carpet, Grass
Emerald, and best of all 2 Jasione Pugs (inevitably not arriving at the trap
set among the Sheep’s Bit). These were the 2<sup>nd</sup> for VC5 (and the
first for over 100 years) of a moth that seems to be rather rarely-recorded
recently, as it seems quite shy about coming to light. I later found it in the
same area as a larva in August, the traditional way of recording it. A random
micro potted off the same trap as the pugs was also sent off for gen det with
Paul Wilkins, and came back as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Denisia
subaquilea</i> – a first for Somerset. This species seems to occur quite widely
on moorland up north, but is only previously known from Devon and Cornwall down
south, where it frequents the same maritime heath/coastal grassland as Jasione
Pug.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLld_K2ETR5gmdHDzsF5gRKfkmL-u-DAn-y8wRple1VQi013QB6sMbQALDYPRPXKhxWzUSNeLLO3KeepQHY8VoGpanIHdIFbVsmPQdp6ASFG4eLMzEdTV-1zEVHfiIFQNtaG0_EAipmMk/s2048/Netted+Pug+-+Hurlstone+Point.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1788" data-original-width="2048" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLld_K2ETR5gmdHDzsF5gRKfkmL-u-DAn-y8wRple1VQi013QB6sMbQALDYPRPXKhxWzUSNeLLO3KeepQHY8VoGpanIHdIFbVsmPQdp6ASFG4eLMzEdTV-1zEVHfiIFQNtaG0_EAipmMk/w400-h349/Netted+Pug+-+Hurlstone+Point.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Netted Pug</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5W5Zp2dSNGn9zcdyfGBcI3HOU3gmtouxCVuJ-bT3BcO2aMMyb4TeG584EHNKa2phfWIi9O3VQwYZvNy_tdlBzuMSBF0uh57Dfuj-EbnAA8IaLS21-WmWMNZIV8uv0BjaZ9essQWbo7n8/s2000/Jasione+Pug+-+Hurlstone+Point+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1720" data-original-width="2000" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5W5Zp2dSNGn9zcdyfGBcI3HOU3gmtouxCVuJ-bT3BcO2aMMyb4TeG584EHNKa2phfWIi9O3VQwYZvNy_tdlBzuMSBF0uh57Dfuj-EbnAA8IaLS21-WmWMNZIV8uv0BjaZ9essQWbo7n8/w400-h344/Jasione+Pug+-+Hurlstone+Point+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jasione Pug - Hurlstone Point</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe856PzivNMoeqwyx_b6muS-vRlgz1oIUghu-W21Hrtxe_Hf5W590DUWUzSV_LhkrZhl07T0mJDnwgGAKpmwM7jg5x6KGbYzdIaksQwUTuwTCpp4CmoLm1iqclOzFA4kml4kNPpoYHbg/s2048/Jasione+Pug+larva+-+Hurlstone+Point+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2048" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe856PzivNMoeqwyx_b6muS-vRlgz1oIUghu-W21Hrtxe_Hf5W590DUWUzSV_LhkrZhl07T0mJDnwgGAKpmwM7jg5x6KGbYzdIaksQwUTuwTCpp4CmoLm1iqclOzFA4kml4kNPpoYHbg/w400-h272/Jasione+Pug+larva+-+Hurlstone+Point+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jasione Pug larva - Hurlstone Point</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Pugs continued to be a feature of 2020, with a couple of
others to raise the pulse back in Oxfordshire when restrictions eased. A
wonderful session trapping at Aston Rowant in July yielded a whole host of
chalk grassland specialists, among which was a superb fresh Pimpinel Pug. Like
Jasione Pug, this is a rather shy one that doesn’t appear at light often, being
more easily recorded as a larva on Burnet Saxifrage in September (when I had
expected to be looking for it), and this was the first for Oxfordshire since
the 80s.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQWaQT0MByPz1rMlWJAYAm9N-21jLsOncI2IUnV-8xOyw_yVkfyqVz0oi9laitsHOJHJymD-9GLmxbqNhxc0lhulKH0ailc92f5kWVrlY5phQ7_arK3HYA0ibRm9hSL1pWL82cA63hgE/s2048/Pimpinel+Pug+-+Aston+Rowant+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1558" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQWaQT0MByPz1rMlWJAYAm9N-21jLsOncI2IUnV-8xOyw_yVkfyqVz0oi9laitsHOJHJymD-9GLmxbqNhxc0lhulKH0ailc92f5kWVrlY5phQ7_arK3HYA0ibRm9hSL1pWL82cA63hgE/w304-h400/Pimpinel+Pug+-+Aston+Rowant+3.JPG" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pimpinel Pug</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Aston Rowant also provided a nice pug larva too, in the form
of a Netted Pug hiding in a Bladder Campion seed head near the entrance to the
site, while I also managed to find Valerian Pug larvae at a number of sites
around Oxford (some of them with only small patches of the foodplant – seems to
be one to look out for wherever it occurs).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN2EnX9vnGHrdYyuzLqWHLAa00cHwJV4gGNJTxtphEbT9udrMrVLEUEyPfHT8xVf_lSGp9WxHwkcWdPCO0Rnx5YQzNKJ5qT6qAeASgzXIcnL0cstvoYOJL8HvSe6popfOT6lm0lWmzI0/s2048/Netted+Pug+larva+-+Aston+Rowant+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1641" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCN2EnX9vnGHrdYyuzLqWHLAa00cHwJV4gGNJTxtphEbT9udrMrVLEUEyPfHT8xVf_lSGp9WxHwkcWdPCO0Rnx5YQzNKJ5qT6qAeASgzXIcnL0cstvoYOJL8HvSe6popfOT6lm0lWmzI0/w320-h400/Netted+Pug+larva+-+Aston+Rowant+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Netted Pug larva lurking in a Bladder Campion seedhead at Aston Rowant</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMIcezFzfiYAgNjqeJIXeGy7lwtH4HSOKqyeI0qN1mlWe7LjWommA7jPdX0MtocAaluFxUeRk3Xc4SFnHPhdv3QUNe6IXynd-WNAjZKBRmwoVP85XnCTjE9dkHAAr1OYCf8QPKWVrB54/s2048/Valerian+Pug+Larva+-+Iffley+Meadows+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1128" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMIcezFzfiYAgNjqeJIXeGy7lwtH4HSOKqyeI0qN1mlWe7LjWommA7jPdX0MtocAaluFxUeRk3Xc4SFnHPhdv3QUNe6IXynd-WNAjZKBRmwoVP85XnCTjE9dkHAAr1OYCf8QPKWVrB54/w220-h400/Valerian+Pug+Larva+-+Iffley+Meadows+2.JPG" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valerian Pug larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Alongside the pugs, another group that featured heavily this
year was the plumes, again making good idle threats made in my round-up of 2019
highlights, to enact the teachings of another well-chosen Christmas gift, Colin
Hart’s Plume moths of Britain. Back in Somerset in the spring, I spent a lot
of time at the crumbling cliffs at Watchet, where I found two really nice
plumes. After failing to find anything other than one extremely dead and almost
unidentifiable larva, Goldenrod Plume proved to be common by day around all the
larger patches of its foodplant on the cliffs. This is a rather rare beast
(nationally scarce A) and absolutely stunning - some illustrations make it look
a bit lake a fancy Triangle Plume, but it’s something else entirely in the
flesh with its wonderful ermine trim. I also found a few Wood Sage Plume larvae
here, in their characteristic wilted shoots, the second for VC5. The plume book
wryly comments that larvae found at this stage are often parasitized, and indeed
it proved so.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa3okb8MfFE8lItDefQi8_D0fkK_MWFDFb8Ata-BSM6hr_qF1i1RWsmQtq70gnBL3voVuTDVVLT2iLUumhJKHa1oXCPcd1aptsbIw94EQMydthjBrAHneqcnknQ7TrPwHscJUQfCT1lc/s2048/Goldenrod+Plume.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="2048" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa3okb8MfFE8lItDefQi8_D0fkK_MWFDFb8Ata-BSM6hr_qF1i1RWsmQtq70gnBL3voVuTDVVLT2iLUumhJKHa1oXCPcd1aptsbIw94EQMydthjBrAHneqcnknQ7TrPwHscJUQfCT1lc/w400-h323/Goldenrod+Plume.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goldenrod Plume</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaErhFKNcSHMcvNSjh7Fr03YotzFeR_CilTQCcQpj_ehgXnDh1zwOzjBLbUOq9UhwkfMyWWUS86xi1sIQgtnjvTnuLbqznEtxleTZMiikSvNCFoEJGFZ_7QiQ5qTAmivk58k82VfTKonk/s2048/Wood+Sage+Plume+Larva.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1549" data-original-width="2048" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaErhFKNcSHMcvNSjh7Fr03YotzFeR_CilTQCcQpj_ehgXnDh1zwOzjBLbUOq9UhwkfMyWWUS86xi1sIQgtnjvTnuLbqznEtxleTZMiikSvNCFoEJGFZ_7QiQ5qTAmivk58k82VfTKonk/w400-h303/Wood+Sage+Plume+Larva.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood Sage Plume larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Another second plume for VC5 was the red-data book Horehound
Plume. Its foodplant, White Horehound, is itself a rather scarce thing, only known
from 4 areas of Somerset. I realised the moth had only been recorded from 3 of
these, and headed to the last, some rather parched limestone grassland near
Bridgwater. On arrival I was greeted by some good stands of the rather ghostly
foodplant, liberally scattered with high densities of both adult and larval
Horehound Plumes, resting on the leaves in the boiling afternoon sun.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6msvBTzFhNJMk2ynRNP2rjzBbCGRjSZ0VC4qZWdNygiI06UpV1CUkWRjR00EiVVnh6bT9NYrxmFKEKdK1wnJ83WKkqjaTbps462anvpUDhA_qmYv9XrA04Jjo7UeUOlbwm_fNX5pHMk/s2048/site16.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6msvBTzFhNJMk2ynRNP2rjzBbCGRjSZ0VC4qZWdNygiI06UpV1CUkWRjR00EiVVnh6bT9NYrxmFKEKdK1wnJ83WKkqjaTbps462anvpUDhA_qmYv9XrA04Jjo7UeUOlbwm_fNX5pHMk/w266-h400/site16.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Horehound in Horehound Plume country</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig-1v42eZWBRMEGg1tCK5ltCrx2WyrU78ZPwkIQKIq86YGwYN1ouHHw9YMNNaTFQ9yRBHZsywnTBQrDfTPXrDjA9YNTt8D22BP-9GBlVsCWJ_1FbLvCdxdTss3vgz4WCNihTApY17Gmc/s2048/Horehound+Plume+larva+-+Wall+Common+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig-1v42eZWBRMEGg1tCK5ltCrx2WyrU78ZPwkIQKIq86YGwYN1ouHHw9YMNNaTFQ9yRBHZsywnTBQrDfTPXrDjA9YNTt8D22BP-9GBlVsCWJ_1FbLvCdxdTss3vgz4WCNihTApY17Gmc/w400-h285/Horehound+Plume+larva+-+Wall+Common+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horehound Plume larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNcnGB32bMnW_aSrN-BWGIz09cDl_QsAOh5Qy_gIszpXosONa-7WEcP_AW_5I8vbTkJhfaTS5wYMdCqPXWi_lUM7IGCkSKU4Qk3vCTJtVgo0TmbiZOPKFBcGmIEXLZm1KsoZBXivWUcs/s2048/Horehound+Plume.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1360" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNcnGB32bMnW_aSrN-BWGIz09cDl_QsAOh5Qy_gIszpXosONa-7WEcP_AW_5I8vbTkJhfaTS5wYMdCqPXWi_lUM7IGCkSKU4Qk3vCTJtVgo0TmbiZOPKFBcGmIEXLZm1KsoZBXivWUcs/w265-h400/Horehound+Plume.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horehound Plume</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">After these, the plumes kept coming, and I recorded a total
of 15 species over the year. Another highlight was the diminutive Sundew Plume
in Devon and Somerset. As its name suggests, this remarkable moth turns the
tables on the insectivorous sundews, and the larva feeds on the leaves, licking
the secretions off the sticky hairs that normally act as a trap for invertebrates,
munching said hairs, and then setting about the leaf itself.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteyQxX3f0T6CR6pPXNFzoWwmwzXvJZy5SBrg7_d-dCfLRhADTo2hhsEV3XyiGyitIQSeFIj5jg1Noke5pV3_sMm3kehQXl7h_3lvPS9jJLtWFHQdFTIvuxM_-nPsLknVsLzWrDvgzTkE/s2048/Sundew+Plume+-+Woodbury+Common+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1861" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteyQxX3f0T6CR6pPXNFzoWwmwzXvJZy5SBrg7_d-dCfLRhADTo2hhsEV3XyiGyitIQSeFIj5jg1Noke5pV3_sMm3kehQXl7h_3lvPS9jJLtWFHQdFTIvuxM_-nPsLknVsLzWrDvgzTkE/w364-h400/Sundew+Plume+-+Woodbury+Common+2.JPG" width="364" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sundew Plume</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">While down in Somerset, I managed one other trip out
trapping, returning once more to the cliffs at Watchet. It was a cool night,
but delivered a nice variety of hoped-for limestone specialists, many of which
were new to me, including Pretty Chalk Carpet, Fern, and best of all more Thyme
Pugs (for my money one of the prettiest of the group – with those bluish tones),
the second Sand Dart for VC5, and Maple Prominent, a moth I had long failed to
see (despite living just on the edge of its weird little Somerset outpost). By
day the cliffs also provided further excitement – Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawks
seemed to have a good year, and I had nice views of females thundering around the
slumps and egg-laying on Devil’s Bit Scabious, while a nice little colony of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scythris picaepennis</i> also revealed
itself, the first for VC5.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJv56uBJGUILiD8X2nS7IaBxTMglNTJQ8w1d7cMpF_akEFFalgd3VKmgSpJUzn19pEgA74mYtvPZ1-YV86SbVOY2UwDqCFK6mcPxSGgpH8zqu6g4akLrnUVaLcv_TDuIpD9lv1E6bxmE/s2000/Thyme+Pug+-+Warren+bay.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1642" data-original-width="2000" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJv56uBJGUILiD8X2nS7IaBxTMglNTJQ8w1d7cMpF_akEFFalgd3VKmgSpJUzn19pEgA74mYtvPZ1-YV86SbVOY2UwDqCFK6mcPxSGgpH8zqu6g4akLrnUVaLcv_TDuIpD9lv1E6bxmE/w400-h329/Thyme+Pug+-+Warren+bay.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thyme Pug</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnDfwV69p2vgQv9YC0XTMH2CIpZ3PqfFSr6GrOr6kLoOL0cVVEn3yYCYNQYXMtROJOk9cCErKG0tk-emed5AVqLB9oAkjKRC-AdG8beJMFIzAlOvJlUe5EZnU-yl7ka9Mcxqk4mpmkqs/s2048/Narrow+Bordered+Bee+Hawk+Moth+-+Warren+Farm+Slump+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1709" data-original-width="2048" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnDfwV69p2vgQv9YC0XTMH2CIpZ3PqfFSr6GrOr6kLoOL0cVVEn3yYCYNQYXMtROJOk9cCErKG0tk-emed5AVqLB9oAkjKRC-AdG8beJMFIzAlOvJlUe5EZnU-yl7ka9Mcxqk4mpmkqs/w400-h334/Narrow+Bordered+Bee+Hawk+Moth+-+Warren+Farm+Slump+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk egg-laying</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9Pcrl_ZwdBYIjFKjnHPdOCjSt4wmAvEY6ZOSNnIYVlMlW8Tnbi5YsB5beN0Lb2Xn5tAOQqFxImoRGe5MofgjtmVFV0MP8ErpB-x4wOuFQbcJ2FtvHuahYMdnc-aebD7LbOu1IHGkLjI/s2000/site.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9Pcrl_ZwdBYIjFKjnHPdOCjSt4wmAvEY6ZOSNnIYVlMlW8Tnbi5YsB5beN0Lb2Xn5tAOQqFxImoRGe5MofgjtmVFV0MP8ErpB-x4wOuFQbcJ2FtvHuahYMdnc-aebD7LbOu1IHGkLjI/w400-h266/site.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goldenrod Plume habitat</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiYwSSfSEenvFxgLV-dymC0JfSzkT6B5kcQdhzVNitbw0SNAJxVFyb-NUW0DFxRtgayqa7hT_6sy1rHQyoJdKxeq2x8myKP2MyIDnhGnonGTWELptPmJxp8mdJ6ltYhd3ZKccyju42I0/s1800/Scythris+picaepennis+-+Watchet+Pine+Slump+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1391" data-original-width="1800" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGiYwSSfSEenvFxgLV-dymC0JfSzkT6B5kcQdhzVNitbw0SNAJxVFyb-NUW0DFxRtgayqa7hT_6sy1rHQyoJdKxeq2x8myKP2MyIDnhGnonGTWELptPmJxp8mdJ6ltYhd3ZKccyju42I0/w400-h309/Scythris+picaepennis+-+Watchet+Pine+Slump+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scythris picaepennis</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Another night time expedition to the coast came in late May,
when I decided I was so starved of excitement by travel restrictions that a
night time search for Scarce Blackneck larvae on Exmoor would be a good idea.
After tramping out to the remote beach where it was last recorded in Somerset
(in 2003), I stomped about in the darkness for a couple of hours, completely failing
to even find any Wood Vetch (its foodplant) at the grid references I had, let
alone any larvae. With my resolve failing, I tried heading away from my grid
reference, and about a kilometre of pebbles later, I found the plant and found
the larvae. 5 of them to be precise. Munching away quite happily out in the
open at 11:30pm.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidssIok1HHigmaMRcw0oeIpgWc_nGGBtXPQs77C6qxoWzxawZg__MAQXBWU7IUvMiU98uIWjgsGtgCjOfqLN_tW0otLZsaXrsEeLHGdFhKldx_FiV2fQAn4DWOV1qkf19Z-zTwN75nmHY/s2048/Scarce+Blackneck+larva+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1570" data-original-width="2048" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidssIok1HHigmaMRcw0oeIpgWc_nGGBtXPQs77C6qxoWzxawZg__MAQXBWU7IUvMiU98uIWjgsGtgCjOfqLN_tW0otLZsaXrsEeLHGdFhKldx_FiV2fQAn4DWOV1qkf19Z-zTwN75nmHY/w400-h306/Scarce+Blackneck+larva+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Blackneck larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3x7LzVvQOs7bg7ChVraChW2HlcX09DD4dobi1-6zdNzSVUaDNVFaND4DAysq8uvAcDT2H7Ej2YQZVDvoDqfjB2KrYRd4O3MCdywPb7R_07NDqTqMxTbltwGdxtvCCFcoN4l0YFrsu-k/s2048/Scarce+Blackneck+larva.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1102" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv3x7LzVvQOs7bg7ChVraChW2HlcX09DD4dobi1-6zdNzSVUaDNVFaND4DAysq8uvAcDT2H7Ej2YQZVDvoDqfjB2KrYRd4O3MCdywPb7R_07NDqTqMxTbltwGdxtvCCFcoN4l0YFrsu-k/w215-h400/Scarce+Blackneck+larva.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Blackneck larva</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Back in Oxford, my solo field trapping was limited to three
trips out, of which two were at Aston Rowant. The first was at Sydlings Copse,
where after trekking across the fields, traps in hand, I managed to get wet
from both above and below, choosing to trap in the very soggy fen, in the hope
of Dentated Pug, on a decidedly rainy night. Dentated Pug of course did not
show, and nor could larvae be found in September, but I got a nice variety of
wetland species for my efforts. The two sessions trapping at Aston Rowant were
rather more successful, with 100+ species on both nights. As well as the
afore-mentioned Pimpinel Pug, other excitement was provided by a large
selection of chalk grassland specialists, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sitochroa palealis</i>, Chalk Carpet, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oncocera semirubella</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parectopa
ononidis</i>, Barred Rivulet, Citron Plume, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora
lixella</i>, Festoon and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hypochalcia
ahenella</i>. Top billing went to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora
niveicostella</i> (pRDB3, a rather scarce Thyme Feeder and the 3<sup>rd</sup>
for Oxfordshire) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argresthia
abdominalis</i>. This Juniper feeder is pRDB2, and doesn’t seem to have taken
advantage of garden plants, being restricted to wild Junipers on chalk downland.
It is therefore very rare, and this was the second Oxfordshire record, the last
having been in 1974… at Aston Rowant. It was caught on my second trapping trip
on the reserve, a fantastically atmospheric night in August, right on the top
of Linky Down, from where I could sit and watch the traffic roaring down from
London on the M40, lightning flashing in the distance, and the Juniper Pugs
busy fluttering around the foodplant egg-laying, all on a night that didn’t get
below 20c the whole time I was there.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9YErx-gsGLMn9RMREJ11e2sFpuElBF68wXCUPMmEwN67O2OCYEDwovq0Ii69unt6RFJgUF9rAv2VnEuwET83GfpPxl4BdThIP5lookO38lwyn5u4l7tXY27syZpfIhhMY-RykVl_3YY/s2048/Argyresthia+abdominalis+-+Aston+Rowant+6.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1461" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9YErx-gsGLMn9RMREJ11e2sFpuElBF68wXCUPMmEwN67O2OCYEDwovq0Ii69unt6RFJgUF9rAv2VnEuwET83GfpPxl4BdThIP5lookO38lwyn5u4l7tXY27syZpfIhhMY-RykVl_3YY/w400-h285/Argyresthia+abdominalis+-+Aston+Rowant+6.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Argyresthia abdominalis</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cJoklMPwrdEfsoiR_-VuZOCFiXJHFRUhyphenhyphenooF87hNFVBvtLRQkg1hRDvWIMWEvo1PO2e8TbA_qPGsBjXbOXl0ZmzBvBccv8-43rUYbtu-lFB4c1lkp8BkKQ25uOwS-auG2XpDlmiMgJ8/s2000/Coleophora+niveicostella+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1335" data-original-width="2000" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9cJoklMPwrdEfsoiR_-VuZOCFiXJHFRUhyphenhyphenooF87hNFVBvtLRQkg1hRDvWIMWEvo1PO2e8TbA_qPGsBjXbOXl0ZmzBvBccv8-43rUYbtu-lFB4c1lkp8BkKQ25uOwS-auG2XpDlmiMgJ8/w400-h268/Coleophora+niveicostella+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coleophora niveicostella</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxJbKINvIKIScCCvRviqs7RJBBGk99jwuWHFgmNHBTTG3JEJnfK6FJa2V_4-b4I7kjtvYbotEeVwCu67Sif2CpZMzZxdDROkGjhieCGR_2DLE6MJGpjti-5i7Y7bvBCZRIrm9s4m9NbM/s2000/Festoon+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1343" data-original-width="2000" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxJbKINvIKIScCCvRviqs7RJBBGk99jwuWHFgmNHBTTG3JEJnfK6FJa2V_4-b4I7kjtvYbotEeVwCu67Sif2CpZMzZxdDROkGjhieCGR_2DLE6MJGpjti-5i7Y7bvBCZRIrm9s4m9NbM/w400-h269/Festoon+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Festoon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOOIFY87GGtR1bThDFQKxJ4a4XS_gCznfu1tT4ZnScRwUFgg0AXrXCi5v6dBich0MMw5ZT_CMPoSMRwfYGdiZpAFEIQRs8TXyzoCS81aY9ULDuXkWhnf_4y0-1L1k_3tymbyL7ph_lCI/s2048/Parectopa+ononidis+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1645" data-original-width="2048" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOOIFY87GGtR1bThDFQKxJ4a4XS_gCznfu1tT4ZnScRwUFgg0AXrXCi5v6dBich0MMw5ZT_CMPoSMRwfYGdiZpAFEIQRs8TXyzoCS81aY9ULDuXkWhnf_4y0-1L1k_3tymbyL7ph_lCI/w400-h321/Parectopa+ononidis+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parectopa ononidis</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Aston Rowant also delivered excitement by day, including
adults of the lovely little <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nemophora
minimella</i> and the mines of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ectoedemia
arcuatella</i> on Wild Strawberry – the second and first records (respectively)
of these species for Oxfordshire.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPLbHFoeAcYGunBHNUTk44iwRiiGNIg12pJBqgnf2WnXN0BykOaa3SENvBOj1R9WeHvRCJByMOdNAEveru6udKHw36AzV4ArbY6Rc5fKlbMFouORXVnu0oqnzEMhTODVotYm8Gl0EZvg/s2048/Nemophora+minimella+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPLbHFoeAcYGunBHNUTk44iwRiiGNIg12pJBqgnf2WnXN0BykOaa3SENvBOj1R9WeHvRCJByMOdNAEveru6udKHw36AzV4ArbY6Rc5fKlbMFouORXVnu0oqnzEMhTODVotYm8Gl0EZvg/w234-h400/Nemophora+minimella+-+Aston+Rowant.JPG" width="234" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemophora minimella (male)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20u7h_wOuIjXdoHwRBd2kYxEIZDQz9PVkIKB4n1k0qTpWZmXRWkL_zhgYxYUDzoHk5wMOrG0w_UuHDmWTMdrb-0-dzJAwiJUST1NMcNCR_oY-mlIJ7qIkRSy2gTxwEIbm2oBlvkv8M80/s750/Ectoedemia+arcuatella+mine+-+Aston+Rowant+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="750" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20u7h_wOuIjXdoHwRBd2kYxEIZDQz9PVkIKB4n1k0qTpWZmXRWkL_zhgYxYUDzoHk5wMOrG0w_UuHDmWTMdrb-0-dzJAwiJUST1NMcNCR_oY-mlIJ7qIkRSy2gTxwEIbm2oBlvkv8M80/w400-h313/Ectoedemia+arcuatella+mine+-+Aston+Rowant+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ectoedemia arcuatella mine</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Over the latter half of the summer, I found 2 more new moths
for Oxfordshire as leafmines. Most cryptic was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phyllonorycter ulicicolella</i>, rooted out of a gorse spine at
Sydlings Copse in November, while more expected was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lyonetia prunifoliella</i> which has been expanding its range and
threatening to make an entrance for a while, duly doing so with some mines on
Blackthorn along the Thames at Goring. About half an hour before finding these,
I’d also potted a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sorhagenia</i> sp. Off
some Buckthorn and thought very little of it, other than that it was my first
of this genus, and rather rare, but on going under Peter Hall’s knife it turned
out to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">janiszewskae</i>, and another
new moth for Oxfordshire. All of this was found on a trip that failed to find <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Epermenia insecurella</i> at nearby
Hartslock. In mothing, it seems best to expect the unexpected.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KsURpL_PFX9ElAsf0cP136F0EYO7KIkL2z7JDnJQ9LaafhZXD4UMGfFax-PfuCYVlUI4sU3zvTAoPey0kDpP3HF5YqFRzPX7VetrRMLTTGfIWu_Cmu5se5EdYTvsmKvCUDRRu7Q5xo8/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+4.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KsURpL_PFX9ElAsf0cP136F0EYO7KIkL2z7JDnJQ9LaafhZXD4UMGfFax-PfuCYVlUI4sU3zvTAoPey0kDpP3HF5YqFRzPX7VetrRMLTTGfIWu_Cmu5se5EdYTvsmKvCUDRRu7Q5xo8/w400-h266/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phyllonorycter ulicicolella mine - Sydlings Copse</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfH62p7LsbFIDVvHGiL258jsN9ICPigiX00shAQSot0x86nyjcAl0VOsW27ZfAa1RJbWv9U0EdworhEubrVAsWkrjb8aFKGq1Zo3J2CZiSBABAXClrqAtFAxomK0tsErGkzgY83WnRya8/s2048/Lyonetia+prunifoliella+mines+-+Goring+4.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2048" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfH62p7LsbFIDVvHGiL258jsN9ICPigiX00shAQSot0x86nyjcAl0VOsW27ZfAa1RJbWv9U0EdworhEubrVAsWkrjb8aFKGq1Zo3J2CZiSBABAXClrqAtFAxomK0tsErGkzgY83WnRya8/w400-h269/Lyonetia+prunifoliella+mines+-+Goring+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lyonetia prunifoliella mine - Goring</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Further local excitement was provided by a session leaf-mining up at Wytham Woods with Doug Boyes, where we found <i>Phyllocnistis xenia </i>(Grey Poplar) and <i>Cosmopterix scribaiella </i>(Reed), which (pending verification of 2019 records) look like they might be new to VC22.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLrZgSXAcghYnV9jAw6mE8PyWKRMgp_8jtdmwbdFPjKigbC7jcu9dP2fuz5tclkBSqy7Y1eiVhyphenhyphenrdpsvJpZ2UC7Q_58a6fBnwufs-i_FowJ7Rg3P6dNkAVRBumAApDxdDUdlflBlqWJE/s2048/Phyllocnistis+xenia+mine+-+Wytham+Woods+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1943" data-original-width="2048" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLrZgSXAcghYnV9jAw6mE8PyWKRMgp_8jtdmwbdFPjKigbC7jcu9dP2fuz5tclkBSqy7Y1eiVhyphenhyphenrdpsvJpZ2UC7Q_58a6fBnwufs-i_FowJ7Rg3P6dNkAVRBumAApDxdDUdlflBlqWJE/w400-h380/Phyllocnistis+xenia+mine+-+Wytham+Woods+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phyllocnistis xenia mine</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_Iu5qgpam3hPB7F2E3ixxYVeW-dM2kaxXBp9R9S0d85OzDygdvqO2LKFH7arvdO9IxMNSIY9szTcbD99x2Ph1kKs8Uee2VyGWdqGt5Hiex7DJljBrgvmA2BxNG1klAZqgKkOnQQ31wY/s2048/Cosmopterix+scribaiella+mines+-+Wytham+Woods+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="2048" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_Iu5qgpam3hPB7F2E3ixxYVeW-dM2kaxXBp9R9S0d85OzDygdvqO2LKFH7arvdO9IxMNSIY9szTcbD99x2Ph1kKs8Uee2VyGWdqGt5Hiex7DJljBrgvmA2BxNG1klAZqgKkOnQQ31wY/w400-h238/Cosmopterix+scribaiella+mines+-+Wytham+Woods+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cosmopterix scribaiella mines</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Leaf-mining
has continued right up to the present day as well, at the start of December, scrabbling
around on Putney Bridge and embarrassing some friends as I collected Pellitory
of the Wall covered in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cosmopterix
pulchrimella</i> mines, and also with several winter trips to look for miners
on gorse and broom. After the initial success at Sydlings Copse, I spent quite
a bit more time looking for the mines of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phyllonorycter
ulicicolella</i>, and its close relative, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i>.
I found the former at 3 more sites, and the latter at 2, including back in
native Somerset at Willet Hill, where it was new to VC5. There’s a bit more
about searching for these in an <a href="https://willsbutterflies.blogspot.com/2020/12/">older post</a> on this blog.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCgd2HHElSA8WLskANjxgLJ7NMCYxIACVm1nlcCxcU-JBFNmzk-mP3eO5hiLJRHxwk7umnmsDaRDLtwfma8hPI1FhJG1b7k74E_GyJvK8EV9z1r3qy62sbQOTSZOiL_bNo6KdiyHjMnw/s2731/Cosmopterix+pulchrimella+-+ex.+larva+Putney+Bridge.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2731" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCgd2HHElSA8WLskANjxgLJ7NMCYxIACVm1nlcCxcU-JBFNmzk-mP3eO5hiLJRHxwk7umnmsDaRDLtwfma8hPI1FhJG1b7k74E_GyJvK8EV9z1r3qy62sbQOTSZOiL_bNo6KdiyHjMnw/w400-h169/Cosmopterix+pulchrimella+-+ex.+larva+Putney+Bridge.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cosmopterix pulchrimella - ex mine on Putney Bridge</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemxFcR5FOuWoVRt1C_Y8svq3nlgE9KCtFAn490mfRzubN_g00noTz3_80jL-tVMIAa3XoGKCSlqbWWx7CSIF-AM-N5gMkuokzp9q2Dv3inawkNdJSLVHlEzdwoyF-lfEvKPL-QUJhaB0/s2048/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="2048" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemxFcR5FOuWoVRt1C_Y8svq3nlgE9KCtFAn490mfRzubN_g00noTz3_80jL-tVMIAa3XoGKCSlqbWWx7CSIF-AM-N5gMkuokzp9q2Dv3inawkNdJSLVHlEzdwoyF-lfEvKPL-QUJhaB0/w400-h231/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phyllonorycter scopariella mine - Greenham Common</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">In numbers, 2020 was my best year for moths yet, I recorded
746 species in total, in contrast to 617 in 2019. Of these, 220 were new for
me, taking me past my 1000<sup>th</sup> species (a Tissue at Aston Rowant
apparently). Interestingly, in 2019, 161 of these were not at light, whereas in
2020 it was 322 – a marked shift in approach as being stationed in a city
full-time deprived me of garden trapping, and I tried to be a bit more targeted
about tracking down rare species by day (77 vs 56 nationally notable species in
2019). In a year marked by a dramatic shrinking of social horizons, it was also
nice that some of my mothing managed to be a bit more collaborative than 2019
(or rather exploitative, as it was mostly other people generously helping me), and
I owe a big thanks to people who helped with with IDs (particularly Rob Edmunds,
Peter Hall and Paul Wilkins), queries (the long-suffering Somerset/Upper Thames
recorders) and let me tag along with trapping trips (big thanks to Doug Boyes
and the hundreds of species he showed me up at Wytham), as well as the people
who generously let me trap on their land (the National Trust in Somerset, and
BBOWT and Natural England in Oxfordshire).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-69461063740185375262020-12-28T03:01:00.006-08:002021-03-12T08:31:58.655-08:00Finding Phyllonorycter ulicicolella and scopariella<p></p><p><span style="color: black;">In an effort to stave off the
winter mothing/butterflying blues that has arguably only led to further
suffering, I've spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks looking for
leaf mines on Gorse and Broom. Each plant has a <i>Phyllonorycter</i> species
(and broom has a few extra miners of which more later) that makes very subtle
mines inside the stems (or leaves/spikes on Gorse) - <i>Phyllonorycter
ulicicolella</i> on Gorse, and <i>scopariella</i> on
Broom. The unobtrusive nature of these mines, and the fact they're
probably easiest to look for during the winter (when most sensible folk are
dissecting things and sorting their records for the year) means that they're
not recorded very often. In fact, unlike almost all other leafminers in the UK,
both species seem to be recorded more often as adults, typically beaten from
the foodplant, rather than as mines. Like most leafminers though, they're
probably both very under-recorded and waiting to be found at new sites. This
has certainly been my experience in the last few weeks. Because lockdown has
given me very little else to do, I've now found the mines of <i>ulicicolella</i> at 4 sites, and <i>scopariella</i> at 2. Two of these finds
were new for their vice-counties (<i>ulicicolella</i>
in VC23 - Oxfordshire, and <i>scopariella </i>in
VC5 - South Somerset). All of the sites were new as well, and some of them
didn't have loads of the foodplant (and much of it wasn't in great condition),
so I'm sure they're lurking out there at lots of new sites, like most
leafminers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">In order to justify the hours
expended on searching for these two miners, I thought I'd try and put all my
photos of them and their habitat together into this blog post in the hope that
it also helps others thinking of looking for them develop a bit of a search
image by looking at lots of pictures first, before heading out into the field.
It should be cautioned that my total count of mines of each species is now
about 40 for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicicolella</i>, and 20ish
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i>, which is hardly
huge, so any generalisations about what kind of plants they like, how variable
the mines are etc ought to be taken with a healthy pinch of salt.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><u><span style="color: black;">What habitat?</span></u><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">I've searched for the mines of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicicolella</i> at 5 sites now, and found
them at 4 of these. The first was Sydlings Copse (Oxon), a very small fragment
of rather degraded sandy heath, then Bagley Woods (Oxon, but VC22) not so
sandy, just small amounts of gorse growing along the edge of the wood. Next was
Greenham Common (Berks) rather stony heathland (acres upon acres of gorse), and
finally Willet Hill (Somerset) where small amounts of rather unhappy gorse
plants grow along the edges of Sitka spruce plantations, it's stony and rather
acid on the soil front here. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phyllonorycter</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i> was then also found at
Greenham Common (not loads of Broom here, I searched about 40 plants) and
Willet Hill (rather less Broom, a lot of which has been damaged and removed by
forestry operations, probably about 20 searchable plants but more being choked
in plantations). I think the only take home here is that these sites don't have
loads in common geologically or habitat-wise, they just have the foodplants,
but in very variable amounts and condition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><u><span style="color: black;">Which plants?</span></u><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">With such a small sample of mines
(and a not very systematic approach to searching), it's hard to say whether
each species has a preference. One thing that it clear is that pretty much all
the mines of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicicolella</i> that I have
found have (I think!) been on Western Gorse rather than Common Gorse. Similarly, they seem
to prefer the slightly bushier, older growth rather than the young fast-growing
stuff (at the tops of bushes, or growing as suckers) that has very large
spines. Virtually all the mines I've found have been on the stems of such
growth, and not on the spines as some people have found them (I've only found
one like this, the first one at Sydlings Copse). This growth seems to be more
common on slightly scraggly, older, woody plants (as side shoots off the woody
stems), and the highest densities of mines that I've found have been on rather
old and unhappy looking plants. Edit: That said, I saw on twitter that it's been found on younger gorse in Gloucestershire recently, and after publishing this blog I saw Jack Oughton's </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsetmoths/permalink/3510279032422236">excellent
pictures</a> of mines on much younger, thicker growth down in Devon this winter. Edit 2: on 07/03/21 I visited Frilford Heath golf course (in Oxfordshire, but Berkshire for moth recording) where there's a small amount of gorse has been retained, seemingly for an aesthetic finish to the course. I sought out scraggly-looking bushes of the kind where I had found mines before, and checked 3 that I thought looked good. All of them had mines on (8, 7 and 4 respectively).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmwsAEi3BLvKfsN-HnVcrTSaXq1cAza_U6jOBxtc5D_SCa6aPQh3XgIsY2plD3l3YmGMT18V2k2dpyWrVvZfv_8J3ffMdfuZk72eoScPJCteCAaSjTlv6kmPwd5POb_KGgHOeOoYqIeY/s2048/Willet+Hill12.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1283" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmwsAEi3BLvKfsN-HnVcrTSaXq1cAza_U6jOBxtc5D_SCa6aPQh3XgIsY2plD3l3YmGMT18V2k2dpyWrVvZfv_8J3ffMdfuZk72eoScPJCteCAaSjTlv6kmPwd5POb_KGgHOeOoYqIeY/w400-h640/Willet+Hill12.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather crude representation of the kind of growth where I've found <br />most ulicicolella mines.It's not super obvious here, but hopefully <br />the photos of the actual mines get the point across too.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKvdfuByVXtCRJOCYvlWMpZmthAZXEbWvxG3TuQ0OJ8bqZFZx_CiHqx_OYyk2mNd8hPqgGKNp4PN0YJSV-LsnzEttzTH-jzjGHnsI_7_QA1kXNu8Cg36BLQp8Hn9pHifmjMQ63USoX4Q/s2048/Gorse+with+8+Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mines+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKvdfuByVXtCRJOCYvlWMpZmthAZXEbWvxG3TuQ0OJ8bqZFZx_CiHqx_OYyk2mNd8hPqgGKNp4PN0YJSV-LsnzEttzTH-jzjGHnsI_7_QA1kXNu8Cg36BLQp8Hn9pHifmjMQ63USoX4Q/w400-h266/Gorse+with+8+Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mines+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This gorse bush had 8 mines of Phyllonorycter ulicicolella on - <br />Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkRXO5VBjmhZ_eANd8MoQ1-T8XOTYTMiF1ee5I17UP-rDA9xA3tVt8rTRmTRjCBI9kI7UfMuXTvn_L_6RWlPVH2WBlO4YUX1kwCkjj5OquD1Q4Ks723cY9njV7f-N8r7QwDrxkis57Uo/s2048/Willet+Hill2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1206" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkRXO5VBjmhZ_eANd8MoQ1-T8XOTYTMiF1ee5I17UP-rDA9xA3tVt8rTRmTRjCBI9kI7UfMuXTvn_L_6RWlPVH2WBlO4YUX1kwCkjj5OquD1Q4Ks723cY9njV7f-N8r7QwDrxkis57Uo/w235-h400/Willet+Hill2.JPG" width="235" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This very unhappy gorse bush lurking under a willow by the track at Willet Hill (Somerset)<br />had at least 15 ulicicolella mines on it.<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPOW0-5mIiVAVapLiq6piFea7tr4_FPZVE0Glaf_lepwXU_b1y64XM0g2VT-c6VVvBkBJxrIQPLNfN0YIGTIb0wlcmc1bsj3Zvblfp1f7GNOHZwVaCkJgMZVwJ9c1HbtsM-50c3WC5Qw/s2048/IMG_3624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicPOW0-5mIiVAVapLiq6piFea7tr4_FPZVE0Glaf_lepwXU_b1y64XM0g2VT-c6VVvBkBJxrIQPLNfN0YIGTIb0wlcmc1bsj3Zvblfp1f7GNOHZwVaCkJgMZVwJ9c1HbtsM-50c3WC5Qw/w400-h266/IMG_3624.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A late addition to this blog after I first wrote it - <br />this scraggly bush at Frilford Heath <br />(Berkshire/Oxfordshire) had 8 mines on it.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxetcioJEQXXiD83NmLR2RXWNSLgHl8k2xEilWJ8KnvYbO_5dQcCjtWhcHdTFLs85iv-mFwJYbQnzloc_XwlUU4VlYAbuJe9w9LOrU88uH9YY2uV4dc-ECdnogfV5qXuO4MB8jqJZRyo/s2048/IMG_3625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxetcioJEQXXiD83NmLR2RXWNSLgHl8k2xEilWJ8KnvYbO_5dQcCjtWhcHdTFLs85iv-mFwJYbQnzloc_XwlUU4VlYAbuJe9w9LOrU88uH9YY2uV4dc-ECdnogfV5qXuO4MB8jqJZRyo/w266-h400/IMG_3625.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another leggy bush from Frilford Heath with 7 mines on</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q62HkOEtNM5x998KwTe4LrjLPiAuIHkyDOBQJDnTHlH7eTc4d7-V_W8usQR1hq74liyvbi5mRCB_LGsWy2Lwd_wEu45_sHN_rh5UvXz1y_iu6O7Jqz_ibdMfRCNOCNGWaZLihyphenhyphen4NgRY/s2048/IMG_3641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_q62HkOEtNM5x998KwTe4LrjLPiAuIHkyDOBQJDnTHlH7eTc4d7-V_W8usQR1hq74liyvbi5mRCB_LGsWy2Lwd_wEu45_sHN_rh5UvXz1y_iu6O7Jqz_ibdMfRCNOCNGWaZLihyphenhyphen4NgRY/w400-h266/IMG_3641.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some wider context of an ulicicolella site - the small patch <br />of gorse retained at Frilford Heath golf course. The 6 broom bushes in <br />the corner of the picture also had mines of Trifurcula immundella.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">Having said all that, I'm not
sure whether this means <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicicolella</i>
has a real preference for these kinds of plants, or they're just much easier to
detect on them, when the spikes are small and sparse, and the stems aren't too
dense. This is probably why I've found so few mines on the much more densely
spiked western gorse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">As for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i>, I think the sample is probably too small to say
anything really specific. I have found no mines on young suckering broom
though, and again, the highest densities have been on slightly larger, older
plants. I've found them on some very battered ones too, that have been chopped
and damaged by forestry in Somerset.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPmx8DfxiNdnRl6SbY58gXmc9LT3odqTFBfWaxMbNHrOXa88eb_lMfH-UEMlo1VpsTvYB2mkUmdYf5K0wENhSaMev2Lle-4Macg9MWg5yhHxrcq5taqxOhgy570pFWjDF25xR-ngffEw/s2048/Willet+Hill6+-+Copy.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="2048" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPmx8DfxiNdnRl6SbY58gXmc9LT3odqTFBfWaxMbNHrOXa88eb_lMfH-UEMlo1VpsTvYB2mkUmdYf5K0wENhSaMev2Lle-4Macg9MWg5yhHxrcq5taqxOhgy570pFWjDF25xR-ngffEw/w400-h316/Willet+Hill6+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I found about ten mines of scopariella on this old Broom <br />being squashed by a spruce plantation at Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjga-Wdf7IpH1vQeB6RMw5h9Ap8Dc4A0mzhBO8uPyhaIUZnqfsm7qsYOe8FJ950lyDUCBI_E-39buUq3nL0B1B_qebyYv6oGfiOkoa786aFQ9ic94X4G7ZsSId03GtvxBKvuONWkx14xqM/s2048/Willet+Hill1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1123" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjga-Wdf7IpH1vQeB6RMw5h9Ap8Dc4A0mzhBO8uPyhaIUZnqfsm7qsYOe8FJ950lyDUCBI_E-39buUq3nL0B1B_qebyYv6oGfiOkoa786aFQ9ic94X4G7ZsSId03GtvxBKvuONWkx14xqM/w219-h400/Willet+Hill1.JPG" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This rather battered Broom on the edge of a forestry track had two mines of scopariella on - Willet Hill (Somerset)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWX6TaewPdvgCy-Dne_SPTH7pP3x03DE9po3FlCDhe_aJYZ5YjNaQeZy3vIVikWtGm7VDmR5lzm0h7qfyQmsQxsYuRP_RXD51ftFk72oSO-6VbSjrYMftiG18uqK8SE6i8kJs1uNbED4/s2048/Willet+Hill11.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1303" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSWX6TaewPdvgCy-Dne_SPTH7pP3x03DE9po3FlCDhe_aJYZ5YjNaQeZy3vIVikWtGm7VDmR5lzm0h7qfyQmsQxsYuRP_RXD51ftFk72oSO-6VbSjrYMftiG18uqK8SE6i8kJs1uNbED4/w255-h400/Willet+Hill11.JPG" width="255" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two for the price of one: the gorse on the right and the broom on the left here both had their respective Phyllonorycters in residence - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p><u><span style="color: black;">The mines in the field</span></u><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Phyllonorycter ulicicolella</span></i><span style="color: black;"> is a very tricky mine to spot, showing just as an area of paler
green on the stem, often (but seemingly not always) with some purpley-brown
bruising. How strong these features are seems to really vary, and some mines
are much more obvious than others. In a couple of instances I've spotted one
nice clear mine, and then noticed others next to it while taking pictures.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFgIEqBrWEGrwxXhCdqVOnUtrmSlUCZLdNn-3wSmVGRcQK1Fc7ps9o_RSyn824v4Xjq3UDUYNZxBmJvCfhTBD6A8JrFM0uFmpLWQLoTE_3XVuRiQPBlwzTspn3pk6Rw82fON3JboySNg/s2048/Willet+Hill3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1495" data-original-width="2048" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFgIEqBrWEGrwxXhCdqVOnUtrmSlUCZLdNn-3wSmVGRcQK1Fc7ps9o_RSyn824v4Xjq3UDUYNZxBmJvCfhTBD6A8JrFM0uFmpLWQLoTE_3XVuRiQPBlwzTspn3pk6Rw82fON3JboySNg/w400-h293/Willet+Hill3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Phyllonorycter ulicicolella mines - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFTY5qe0lguyCHPSh9A26SP3HvrvlcfSzaYsCbEYoI4uuaKmWTZZ6svC3lzT5vlzSSQCK6snXBNWOI1hMCG9jTU71xRhBZNvigEmSHen-dM8-XtAheJT5fR42Hl4w1usXmjbi72TWhec/s2048/Willet+Hill4.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1507" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFTY5qe0lguyCHPSh9A26SP3HvrvlcfSzaYsCbEYoI4uuaKmWTZZ6svC3lzT5vlzSSQCK6snXBNWOI1hMCG9jTU71xRhBZNvigEmSHen-dM8-XtAheJT5fR42Hl4w1usXmjbi72TWhec/w294-h400/Willet+Hill4.JPG" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three ulicicolella mines from the same bush - <br />Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5P55nFMSR4g8DGTV2m4LWoR-4EnCeW_KImGpYP47oKn9CYKiKhNkhKBT9Pqh4EjaR2fNKU-C0PMwOPZx2XLxKiBTNHs4rvtz_YE909Twh7MvN31rjJPk5xyAR1it1qLu5dAuQ4Kti6M/s2048/Willet+Hill5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1258" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5P55nFMSR4g8DGTV2m4LWoR-4EnCeW_KImGpYP47oKn9CYKiKhNkhKBT9Pqh4EjaR2fNKU-C0PMwOPZx2XLxKiBTNHs4rvtz_YE909Twh7MvN31rjJPk5xyAR1it1qLu5dAuQ4Kti6M/w246-h400/Willet+Hill5.JPG" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This single very large and obvious ulicicolella mine was on the <br />same bush as well - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IT5dLKW986jV57YJVlq5T-62LGcEGMuG5hLXD_TZgXZ-TgtRy0He39xKEUzDMKzsCqoXi258qb8xcv9q4oLcxO0h7YKldFgmN2j181FJ5-UdkQ__vtVK2wbNGiPoSLmsqydCwzlMFIM/s2048/Willet+Hill9.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="2048" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IT5dLKW986jV57YJVlq5T-62LGcEGMuG5hLXD_TZgXZ-TgtRy0He39xKEUzDMKzsCqoXi258qb8xcv9q4oLcxO0h7YKldFgmN2j181FJ5-UdkQ__vtVK2wbNGiPoSLmsqydCwzlMFIM/w400-h318/Willet+Hill9.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather subtle ulicicolella mine - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX0uPAvC6MofATYYYdd5C7q1dcef0oXXgxXITFAen2nQUW0gHW1s7Ib2QgESlxdbG4YAFEFRchueww9dqXJoujZIpcvaLDRv5UAZVxsOj4QD34x_yD_bclOxL5QQ0IrDup0_FiBkOaAQ/s2048/Willet+Hill10.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX0uPAvC6MofATYYYdd5C7q1dcef0oXXgxXITFAen2nQUW0gHW1s7Ib2QgESlxdbG4YAFEFRchueww9dqXJoujZIpcvaLDRv5UAZVxsOj4QD34x_yD_bclOxL5QQ0IrDup0_FiBkOaAQ/w264-h400/Willet+Hill10.JPG" width="264" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and a more obvious one on the same bush</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>I think <i>scopariella</i> is rather easier to pick out, look for an area of
uniform discolouration on the broom stem, wrapping round it and continuing up
the stem. Initially they seem to be greyish and slightly inflated, before
fading to brown and then whitish on very old mines. These old mines are the
most obvious, and the ones I've felt happiest recording, as I think some of the
greyer specimens of the young mines can look a little like <i>Trifurcula immundella</i> mines (these are basically black, and don't
fade to white or anything, unlike <i>scopariella</i>).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fE4Fb06E6ixd0XTj-xHSenJyi0eVWaYHs-xhh0T5ZzL8z6im5FA6Ivx2Lo0w7LyANjVsf4pDwrlWBr-GFk0l5wyID4BIyZpsLD3QCQ2nAYXilG_LDuxr6O2YX-qIqmjBzLyi3LoybOA/s2048/Willet+Hill7.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="2048" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5fE4Fb06E6ixd0XTj-xHSenJyi0eVWaYHs-xhh0T5ZzL8z6im5FA6Ivx2Lo0w7LyANjVsf4pDwrlWBr-GFk0l5wyID4BIyZpsLD3QCQ2nAYXilG_LDuxr6O2YX-qIqmjBzLyi3LoybOA/w400-h249/Willet+Hill7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two old scopariella mines at the base of some Broom side-shoots -<br />Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUC7dbjBEj7D0lHQtoQr7NED8qSvxIF3BpiGpIxaq_-mCsLziJDNt0eVgYgQS_fZD9Nco80SVFhu0DdVrlOmsat5MXeHN75Q5BM-_hhnDb7DPQyW7Y8U9mlMF6dm99QxbOlVaD2gGU1s/s2048/Willet+Hill8.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1359" data-original-width="2048" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUC7dbjBEj7D0lHQtoQr7NED8qSvxIF3BpiGpIxaq_-mCsLziJDNt0eVgYgQS_fZD9Nco80SVFhu0DdVrlOmsat5MXeHN75Q5BM-_hhnDb7DPQyW7Y8U9mlMF6dm99QxbOlVaD2gGU1s/w400-h265/Willet+Hill8.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old scopariella mine on a side-shoot - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><u><br /></u><p></p><p><u>The mines up close</u></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">There's not much to say about the
mines up close that hasn't been stated above, but here are some pictures of
them that hopefully demonstrate the features already mentioned, and how they
vary.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP4ZdrAoIOGbTbWZLAhYJPHF_vcY4dzDWKQ3Osk9I4Hn0LLlEF0clhSsIMmj4pgQUaChlhvQ6ZyKCf-Y4hkQVo3RrriXlNZBW8P3cvOl5EZ5XqWRP-W4LfIs8oaEf5sb4dbUMNgEUbK0/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="2048" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoP4ZdrAoIOGbTbWZLAhYJPHF_vcY4dzDWKQ3Osk9I4Hn0LLlEF0clhSsIMmj4pgQUaChlhvQ6ZyKCf-Y4hkQVo3RrriXlNZBW8P3cvOl5EZ5XqWRP-W4LfIs8oaEf5sb4dbUMNgEUbK0/w400-h204/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ulicicolella - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT7mxCNuRJ-UdV3kSGDDhe1lfGI0QGDT_xIUXX-uEXI7GMrNlBUcD7EqgwQdU0G_aLIUb2djOE721hi4xXe3ypM_uR03GgrdPlya__GUSPvUKjq-QIbhbkGGdf9vnwpiV0hc4ECdTpxU/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Bagley+Woods+resized.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="2048" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDT7mxCNuRJ-UdV3kSGDDhe1lfGI0QGDT_xIUXX-uEXI7GMrNlBUcD7EqgwQdU0G_aLIUb2djOE721hi4xXe3ypM_uR03GgrdPlya__GUSPvUKjq-QIbhbkGGdf9vnwpiV0hc4ECdTpxU/w400-h248/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Bagley+Woods+resized.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice obvious ulicicolella - Bagley Woods (Oxfordshire/Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePaq02gQQ_WNJ8XASprcFYDem7kraozYCu8Q7nXzE48tEYTjECow_CihX6CpUrQ5yuBlgIbao_wzFqC9kBH_f1bipG-4qpmFfI3dH-9uAovSx3uG4uRzNgvxcvukxfzoFENRX527UXNA/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1556" data-original-width="2048" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePaq02gQQ_WNJ8XASprcFYDem7kraozYCu8Q7nXzE48tEYTjECow_CihX6CpUrQ5yuBlgIbao_wzFqC9kBH_f1bipG-4qpmFfI3dH-9uAovSx3uG4uRzNgvxcvukxfzoFENRX527UXNA/w400-h304/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ulicicolella - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz7c4-Zays4DIbbrCdHhk9VwYQYAsWijs-o8w54tUKaJmjOi8cMiaIFR61FgEZ1SKqM50S6TPwCvt9TVnMQOoxGD-BAA4iI5sBMU042mUtcoDgy1FlZaJcCEawvMKm7suc1cS_ifmNFU/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1580" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHz7c4-Zays4DIbbrCdHhk9VwYQYAsWijs-o8w54tUKaJmjOi8cMiaIFR61FgEZ1SKqM50S6TPwCvt9TVnMQOoxGD-BAA4iI5sBMU042mUtcoDgy1FlZaJcCEawvMKm7suc1cS_ifmNFU/w309-h400/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+5.JPG" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two ulicicolella mines - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnuWyw1_ezo_6cxvnYlYZ4Z3allJ2PxJVhwplNc0Aa_KKvYW0a_h2KX0WdTqb_LT2Pk5_jKP0vMt6M9tl0ZDvPilLyYhM2Pg6yDVj_uPDKpFog7OogRJ-DCSTRNeKuy36rKJtccUpfXg/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+7.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1951" data-original-width="2048" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcnuWyw1_ezo_6cxvnYlYZ4Z3allJ2PxJVhwplNc0Aa_KKvYW0a_h2KX0WdTqb_LT2Pk5_jKP0vMt6M9tl0ZDvPilLyYhM2Pg6yDVj_uPDKpFog7OogRJ-DCSTRNeKuy36rKJtccUpfXg/w400-h381/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An ulicicolella mine with strong purple bruising - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJy02IEX44z5L7B9kClzFlmg5Xm2sxA5rW9imuK2z8D36TpNdkKLQ2CfGRe8gxdwYb0X9pMoGPgleADumFev7sR7nHk8lIbXVi5txq1296vTBKWfgpooHgFVefxfqtq5H-WzhVBpudI9g/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="2048" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJy02IEX44z5L7B9kClzFlmg5Xm2sxA5rW9imuK2z8D36TpNdkKLQ2CfGRe8gxdwYb0X9pMoGPgleADumFev7sR7nHk8lIbXVi5txq1296vTBKWfgpooHgFVefxfqtq5H-WzhVBpudI9g/w400-h275/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ulicicolella - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9dCvThpLi3x0dgJvJTv-ukIrh3Ky4X-HHwRDO581dT74zGCAzcgfRkiTdzvvfSs0QYJlq0_wpdAedwGid8FX3VEcbltMhcPUkqVR3deM7HbzIjzYrLGjtzfgYX9T354keU2hH0o3rPA/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+4.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9dCvThpLi3x0dgJvJTv-ukIrh3Ky4X-HHwRDO581dT74zGCAzcgfRkiTdzvvfSs0QYJlq0_wpdAedwGid8FX3VEcbltMhcPUkqVR3deM7HbzIjzYrLGjtzfgYX9T354keU2hH0o3rPA/w400-h266/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first ulicicolella mine, and the only one I've found on a spike - <br />Sydlings Copse (Oxfordshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4O3sMksAzEVZ9uggVrnprs5Ki9NrE-SXQzgxI08kCDEAgrXnDQSqMXyHIVI5ROYNTMhyphenhyphenqAxpHicnGjkFb8sX44se3te18l31nUG-nVhFD3qe2Q1_nCGp28ETd94vs-vYwT7v-HCUfKc/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4O3sMksAzEVZ9uggVrnprs5Ki9NrE-SXQzgxI08kCDEAgrXnDQSqMXyHIVI5ROYNTMhyphenhyphenqAxpHicnGjkFb8sX44se3te18l31nUG-nVhFD3qe2Q1_nCGp28ETd94vs-vYwT7v-HCUfKc/w400-h246/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ulicicolella - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieT0wNQnchkA19L-Fj6gcgCBrEzc54Zf9O5mUWyB2rN0Necqf_jyZsp25Mufn2I-a_tQRkhXEhBxjnujXgjEx8a0bqOv78eIDY9oHz7H1fyL2oJ46wnfyvoPit0fksAAnZejCbAY-qSz0/s2048/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+1+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1827" data-original-width="2048" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieT0wNQnchkA19L-Fj6gcgCBrEzc54Zf9O5mUWyB2rN0Necqf_jyZsp25Mufn2I-a_tQRkhXEhBxjnujXgjEx8a0bqOv78eIDY9oHz7H1fyL2oJ46wnfyvoPit0fksAAnZejCbAY-qSz0/w400-h356/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+1+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scopariella - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISG-JQE3XZlngwiL2XTOVNOxrvVY1UD4vbV7XKEo5svtJpvCTKzm_v75FNUE2a8B-WR1mUBzjlcIa3CzhnxG6Bzy3fZe0rdWYZQbPQFmxCSby5CypFc_TIGkJ2XLLqbOK0PK3j1ABMco/s2048/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+2+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1033" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISG-JQE3XZlngwiL2XTOVNOxrvVY1UD4vbV7XKEo5svtJpvCTKzm_v75FNUE2a8B-WR1mUBzjlcIa3CzhnxG6Bzy3fZe0rdWYZQbPQFmxCSby5CypFc_TIGkJ2XLLqbOK0PK3j1ABMco/w201-h400/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+2+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scopariella - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXI2Cg2_mEJ0-WmEKZTN_j1_NMW8XJ_hyeD-A7d19VTIm55tQn5kev0rkb_BTUhFVOuzv_lJYgJyldYjTr-o1n6GBZBRui-YGFsgbhtmgN_Sbz8sMWH1iBBOdj3zquxQyKCKFiB_g4sw/s2048/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+7.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="2048" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXI2Cg2_mEJ0-WmEKZTN_j1_NMW8XJ_hyeD-A7d19VTIm55tQn5kev0rkb_BTUhFVOuzv_lJYgJyldYjTr-o1n6GBZBRui-YGFsgbhtmgN_Sbz8sMWH1iBBOdj3zquxQyKCKFiB_g4sw/w400-h226/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scopariella - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNWD_gi1o4dP9BvQ_j98YKKF1cfVczCwP_ngMzyTywKVxh_D84ZV9wd6rJF1yQ2e3PqDdHjVzixecuCy_r4sOE6ld4FCMOcrEKtrJ6RYTlNXIxjQF-TUJ1Cba5Yh5DAIU85z66RScyQA/s2048/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="2048" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNWD_gi1o4dP9BvQ_j98YKKF1cfVczCwP_ngMzyTywKVxh_D84ZV9wd6rJF1yQ2e3PqDdHjVzixecuCy_r4sOE6ld4FCMOcrEKtrJ6RYTlNXIxjQF-TUJ1Cba5Yh5DAIU85z66RScyQA/w400-h231/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same scopariella mine, but from a different angle, showing the <br />oldest part of the mine that has faded more - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><u><br /></u><p></p><p><u>Confirming the ID</u></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">I don't think I'd want to record
either species without opening up a putative mine to check that there is/has
been a larva in it (and it's not just some similar-looking damage) by opening
it up to look inside. It seems to be okay to record these species without a
larva, and just the frass, as nothing else seems to mine in the same way.
Opening up the mines so that you can see the contents is tricky for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicicolella</i>. I initially tried pulling
off spikes, and then peeling them back so they stripped away the upper layers
of the stem, or using a knife to do the same thing, but I found they removed
too much of the stem, often taking the upper layers that contained the larva
and any frass. The technique I'm trying now is to 'unzip' the mine rather than
peel its top off, by just cutting down the middle of it, either just using a
nail or the tip of a sharp knife (I imagine a needle might work as well). This
technique seems to work well for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i>
mines too, which are a bit more hollow and split down the middle nicely. </span><i>Phyllonorycter ulicolella</i> seems to have quite distinctive pale orange-yellow frass that fades to red-brown with age, while the few <i>scopariella</i> mines I've opened up have been quite old and had rather dark frass. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK9yhy33oBicxw92ky2nM_VCuWU-p5IyJ6GAlvk-m6ow5E9vM-GQlCUyqmtUz1CXKoyFfM6_Ue2UhTcDH8uBp_DmI7-YTOtoMlBBLJZMbCU8fsFCpAQ7V1M57HOgOvME3SRdhC8i_KNM/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill+3.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1477" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK9yhy33oBicxw92ky2nM_VCuWU-p5IyJ6GAlvk-m6ow5E9vM-GQlCUyqmtUz1CXKoyFfM6_Ue2UhTcDH8uBp_DmI7-YTOtoMlBBLJZMbCU8fsFCpAQ7V1M57HOgOvME3SRdhC8i_KNM/w289-h400/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Willet+Hill+3.JPG" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ulicicolella - the frass is initially quite yellowy as here<br />(Willet Hill, Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8JmqM9fuXIT5R7b9D3b2F7kHYWyAXc0X3qNe2FE4ENOh2i63ElmeB9Rq7xqFFnIRaqKHSwHlI6TH61ivICqs55CzwjCMS1ZExNBhn7D420F0bw5eP8Mvzk4x0AtRyDLf7Du23aoCwKo/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+7.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1424" data-original-width="2048" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8JmqM9fuXIT5R7b9D3b2F7kHYWyAXc0X3qNe2FE4ENOh2i63ElmeB9Rq7xqFFnIRaqKHSwHlI6TH61ivICqs55CzwjCMS1ZExNBhn7D420F0bw5eP8Mvzk4x0AtRyDLf7Du23aoCwKo/w400-h278/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+mine+-+Sydlings+Copse+7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It gets darker with age though (Sydlings Copse, Oxfordshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv32JitJ-97kF3kXUixTw2xfm3gKx1f3AM1fQvG9uuvVCs2Qbk-apPB2fld04YrjGmSsCp2D4lKQiAnZMM_oemR03Tv4x3stM__m_8iBU65IS1KhTzDvKt5HyAzOxBh8DhWOSuVrr1v88/s2780/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+5.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1131" data-original-width="2780" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv32JitJ-97kF3kXUixTw2xfm3gKx1f3AM1fQvG9uuvVCs2Qbk-apPB2fld04YrjGmSsCp2D4lKQiAnZMM_oemR03Tv4x3stM__m_8iBU65IS1KhTzDvKt5HyAzOxBh8DhWOSuVrr1v88/w400-h163/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+-+Greenham+Common+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scopariella - Greenham Common (Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA73itJQJ4wltXnIWpKhVHr2CPYdm0pSwY5A4YZl01nteV3cLoPTuq4SDoYxZOJOy-5jcYyBH-jxlzEzevsAysOXAxPPrxbhF64AauyH7Nkllbi7Wso_diEXdsiBZ3lGoJekMRwNMR2EQ/s2609/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+2+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="2609" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA73itJQJ4wltXnIWpKhVHr2CPYdm0pSwY5A4YZl01nteV3cLoPTuq4SDoYxZOJOy-5jcYyBH-jxlzEzevsAysOXAxPPrxbhF64AauyH7Nkllbi7Wso_diEXdsiBZ3lGoJekMRwNMR2EQ/w400-h185/Phyllonorycter+scopariella+mine+2+-+Willet+Hill+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scopariella - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<p><span style="color: black;">I've
struggled to find the larvae in the mines, and have only found 5 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicolella</i> larvae in the mines I've
opened up (though I haven't always opened them fully), and no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scopariella</i>. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ulicolella</i> larva is quite a weird looking one, being rather long
and slim, and was only recently formally described in the entomological
literature by Rob Edmunds a few years ago (2005, Ent Rec vol 117, part 4).</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9UELNtBuIUSJgk1NsUgQ4RammczxJbimpjrXx_wf04urJNNOyGKGeJj-buiVB8sD7ZhkFn6Qv-z6mVH6KTbpF9eTONKfEsH7qY-D9pBG3FYeTDJztzMntGV5vwLZLmCqVonQZ4MFab8/s2048/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+larva+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1303" data-original-width="2048" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju9UELNtBuIUSJgk1NsUgQ4RammczxJbimpjrXx_wf04urJNNOyGKGeJj-buiVB8sD7ZhkFn6Qv-z6mVH6KTbpF9eTONKfEsH7qY-D9pBG3FYeTDJztzMntGV5vwLZLmCqVonQZ4MFab8/w400-h255/Phyllonorycter+ulicicolella+larva+-+Willet+Hill.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phyllonorycter ulicicolella larva - Willet Hill (Somerset)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7cUfXV11EAr8nx99jt79vSgnewNvJSsAeU2-9mEiP3fedAjn16A2t3t37LV7T95QNALab4w4EGKZnku7Q0PWsYVvHmal3isrAFRL2k_-UCujC-HjVfJvPS2a47llOMZ3CL2Kfsj9LI4/s2048/IMG_3591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7cUfXV11EAr8nx99jt79vSgnewNvJSsAeU2-9mEiP3fedAjn16A2t3t37LV7T95QNALab4w4EGKZnku7Q0PWsYVvHmal3isrAFRL2k_-UCujC-HjVfJvPS2a47llOMZ3CL2Kfsj9LI4/w400-h266/IMG_3591.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A larva in the mine - Frilford Heath Golf Course (Oxfordshire/Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: underline;"><br /></span></p><p><u><span style="color: black;">Other stuff to look out for</span></u><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: black;">If you're searching over the
winter, there are a couple of other things on Broom to keep an eye out for too.
Fristly, two miners - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trifurcula
immundella</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leucoptera spartifoliella</i>
both make linear, blackish mines along the stems. I've only found the former,
which can be told from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spartifoliella</i>
by the distinctive egg case at the end of the mine. I think I may have
overlooked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spartifoliella</i>, as you
still need to open up mines that don't have the egg shell to check the larva
(and make sure it's not just an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">immundella</i>
mine on which the egg has fallen off), and I don't normally do this if I've
been finding lots of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">immundella</i> mines
(which seem to be quite ubiquitous).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHMNfvh74oDukoUxU7lZmVYeENS6k1wwu5LPsSrIFC0HD1vwIna0BklYKIn3JVs2sfjA8GrNN2lfYoJZ4i2zSQRZQ5kgL824zX0PMqZLmlhERaBPgw7v4sn5jUka9RpNs2EYTjtUpZ3g/s2540/Trifurcula+immundella+mine+-+Bagley+Woods+3+with+inset.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2540" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHMNfvh74oDukoUxU7lZmVYeENS6k1wwu5LPsSrIFC0HD1vwIna0BklYKIn3JVs2sfjA8GrNN2lfYoJZ4i2zSQRZQ5kgL824zX0PMqZLmlhERaBPgw7v4sn5jUka9RpNs2EYTjtUpZ3g/w400-h195/Trifurcula+immundella+mine+-+Bagley+Woods+3+with+inset.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trifurcula immundella mine, with the distinctive egg in an inset - <br />Bagley Woods (Oxfordshire/Berkshire)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>There's also an <i>Agonopterix</i> species that feeds over the
winter - <i>assimilella</i>, in a spinning
between branches, usually obvious thanks to protruding white silk. Again,
caution is needed here, as the dreaded Light Brown Apple Moth can also be found
in a similar spinning. </p>
<p><span style="color: black;">These three species are all
described and illustrated in a bit more detail <a href="http://microleps.blogspot.com/2012/02/">here</a> (along with a nice young
<i>scopariella</i> mine), in a handy blog
post from Tony Davis. They’re also all featured in Ben Smart’s excellent <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/micro-moth-field-tips-book">Micro Moth Field Tips</a>
book, and of course, all the miners mentioned here are pictured on Rob Edmunds’
<a href="http://www.leafmines.co.uk/html/Mine_Guide.htm">leaf-miner website</a>
(to whom a big thanks for confirming the IDs of many of the mines featured
here). Later in the year, in spring, there are lots of other things to look out
for on Broom, several more <i>Agonopterix </i>species,
<i>Anarsia spartiella</i>, <i>Mirificarma mulinella</i>, and the larvae of
the Streak can all be found (or not, in the case of the latter on my patch).
It's a plant well worth paying close attention to in all seasons.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-80772514772555770612019-12-27T13:25:00.000-08:002020-03-04T08:43:58.479-08:002019 Moth Highlights<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">2019 has
been a bleak year – Game of thrones ended (badly, for what my opinion is/isn’t
worth), ‘All I want for Christmas’ reached number one in the US for the first
time, and someone thought it was a good idea to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_(2019_film)#Casting">turn Jason Derulo into a humanoid Cat.</a> It wasn’t all bad though – for a fleeting, glorious moment, the
inane backwater of the internet in which millennials like me waste a lot of
their time was obsessed with <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bja7nm/new-moth-lamp-meme-meaning-explanation">memes about moths</a>. It’s possible that my survival
through finals can be entirely ascribed to this brief period in internet
history, but it’s more likely that real (as opposed to internet-based) moths
were to blame, for 2019 was the year that I attempted to get a bit more serious
about moths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">This was
largely precipitated by an excellent present this time last year – ‘<a href="https://www.nhbs.com/micro-moth-field-tips-book">micro-moth field tips</a>’, essentially a handy guide to finding the early stages of
micro-moths you previously didn’t know existed in each month of the year. The monthly
layout is perfectly-suited to micro-moth beginners, enabling you to look up
what’s about on any given day, and then go forth, find, and enjoy. It also
helps to extend the lepping season into the winter months, adding leaf-mines
and case-bearers to hairstreak eggs for that lean post-Christmas period. The
text itself is eminently practical too, with short descriptions for each
species covering all the key details – favoured habitats, how to spot them, and
a brief look at confusion species. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The author, Ben Smart, is clearly someone
who spends a lot of time looking for micros, and is very familiar with the
species he’s describing; yet he doesn’t fall into the erstwhile trap of the
expert – using too much jargon and failing to anticipate the kind of questions
complete novices might want answers to. In short (or long, now), it’s the
perfect gateway drug for micro-moth early stages, written in the finest
traditions of British amateur naturalists. Plug over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Armed
with this new sacred text, I managed a fairly respectable 226 new species of
moth this year, taking me to a heady total of 858 (this might sound good, but
plenty of people have recorded more species in their gardens alone). This
landmark inevitably meant a highlights blog post, which was rather rambling and
self-indulgent when I first wrote it, so I’ve tried to give it some structure,
meaning that it’s now rambling and self-indulgent but with headings – enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Leaf
Mines</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Leafminers
are a great way to expand your moth list and were a big feature of 2019, as
they enable you to easily record a whole load of species whose identification
normally requires dissection and examination of the genitalia. This is a fiddly
process requiring some serious skill, and so these groups are often ignored by
regular moth trappers who don’t have the time or resources, meaning that these are
often very under-recorded. This means that with a small amount of leafmining
effort (rather than a large amount – if you allow yourself to be guided by the
brilliant <a href="http://www.leafmines.co.uk/index.htm">British leafminers</a> website) you can therefore get some really useful
moth records.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">This year
produced a few such records – the first came courtesy of micro moth field tips,
as I blindly followed the instructions to find <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scrobipalpa instabiliella</i> mining Sea Purslane on Porlock Marsh,
without realising it was new to Somerset (VC5 and 6).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnxwkm4kNUtx3V0jCi2mYBt0S43GN8QczY9t5vxXQa78eG3zl-kXbTFtkXkziVNQX8pOP9J4MLC7nX0cJXFGhI-h7-p2cZYdxhlGOux2_XEoeMJ7AwIKOtNAABnOzdWu3YrR0h8318dw/s1600/Scrobipalpa+instabiliella+mine+-+Porlock+Weir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1350" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnxwkm4kNUtx3V0jCi2mYBt0S43GN8QczY9t5vxXQa78eG3zl-kXbTFtkXkziVNQX8pOP9J4MLC7nX0cJXFGhI-h7-p2cZYdxhlGOux2_XEoeMJ7AwIKOtNAABnOzdWu3YrR0h8318dw/s640/Scrobipalpa+instabiliella+mine+-+Porlock+Weir.jpg" width="537" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The mine of <i>Scrobipalpa instabiliella</i> on Sea Purslane, with its<br />distinctive hole for ejecting frass.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">After
that, a few seconds: in native Somerset, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trifurcula
cryptella</i> mining Greater Bird’s Foot Trefoil at Langford Heathfield was the
second county record, as were fellow nepticulids <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stigmella poterii</i> (on Salad Burnet) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trifurcula headleyella</i> (on Self-Heal) in adopted Oxfordshire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbARBhHTY93mEfoh9AhV4igMOdWiZq1MgwtEw-MRQ_HoU4pebcrDWGPFz8FzH8MRlz-ML_J-7fApGgGVcmWpsO2vVJEy8QYwu8lQRIoRA0NOBQzrEiTzZcDbBGpwsJaUCokh80mcejt3s/s1600/T+cryptella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1600" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbARBhHTY93mEfoh9AhV4igMOdWiZq1MgwtEw-MRQ_HoU4pebcrDWGPFz8FzH8MRlz-ML_J-7fApGgGVcmWpsO2vVJEy8QYwu8lQRIoRA0NOBQzrEiTzZcDbBGpwsJaUCokh80mcejt3s/s640/T+cryptella.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Trifurcula cryptella</i> on Greater Bird's Foot Trefoil at Langford Heathfield</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2Wgp7chwR6RoJcp94Ca1RQu6tRBmNwL5WOW94LULhyFG9h-fD8cERAb2TQe6MZsHSOnLQ1Ibypd-DPYHS90SVvM2wR9VBuHaXIS2DCC7PUIuje_tN-nlb4c84TvijSmHvf7EoANvhLo/s1600/Aston+Rowant+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ2Wgp7chwR6RoJcp94Ca1RQu6tRBmNwL5WOW94LULhyFG9h-fD8cERAb2TQe6MZsHSOnLQ1Ibypd-DPYHS90SVvM2wR9VBuHaXIS2DCC7PUIuje_tN-nlb4c84TvijSmHvf7EoANvhLo/s640/Aston+Rowant+3.jpg" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stigmella poterii</i> mining Salad Burnet at Aston Rowant</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qVe9yo_wAdmIYUEisMYniVOaqYL9MLMCzqhOH5RxS_8wuD6I5hA-oDz-ksuvd3jPYxk100rOGORgQ4TeP6EkMyt1kTdopvIgH8WY_cx0b9-f9D5XscRzqffb6fWp06go8SCJvBul8kg/s1600/Aston+Rowant+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qVe9yo_wAdmIYUEisMYniVOaqYL9MLMCzqhOH5RxS_8wuD6I5hA-oDz-ksuvd3jPYxk100rOGORgQ4TeP6EkMyt1kTdopvIgH8WY_cx0b9-f9D5XscRzqffb6fWp06go8SCJvBul8kg/s640/Aston+Rowant+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A <i>Trifurcula headleyella</i> mine on Self-Heal at Aston Rowant</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Other
good ones were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The nationally
scarce B <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stigmella filipendulae</i> on
Meadowsweet (at Sydlings Copse, near Oxford).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF23EN7AoX73HvYyT24BXycAr5AVUyGaM1SA1uqchxd-X11Ewh8FmGQSjn7rdbxtXaQKbxnPf6lRDCh3R-pH5-gkesc_VQipgU8wgYvQC7Y9S-5KrR0OdpgB0rxei-SinB_7HAkkaJto/s1600/Possible+Stigmella+filipendulae+-+Sydlings+Copse+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="759" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF23EN7AoX73HvYyT24BXycAr5AVUyGaM1SA1uqchxd-X11Ewh8FmGQSjn7rdbxtXaQKbxnPf6lRDCh3R-pH5-gkesc_VQipgU8wgYvQC7Y9S-5KrR0OdpgB0rxei-SinB_7HAkkaJto/s640/Possible+Stigmella+filipendulae+-+Sydlings+Copse+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stigmella filipendulae</i> on Meadowsweet<br />at Sydlings Copse</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><i>Stephensia brunnichella</i> - I recorded this pretty little Elachistid as both an adult and a mine in both Somerset and Oxfordshire - at Thurlbear Quarrylands (in Somerset) it was new to VC5, while in the remaining fragments of limestone grassland around Oxford its mines were fairly common on Wild Basil.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCiURfQTkAc4oP4oghzYU4ZbfoBcK95xNu9AkteMtFOgRZPbfQZ3en_JFSbrtIA6z5nwDfIkgK7ho2JqJ0eifPjrXjX869cO35mIRnI-WUWbEXvzBCywesx3ZxdPgaAi4K3C-wGdbLCk/s1600/Stephensia+brunichella+-+Thurlbear+Quarrylands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1398" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCiURfQTkAc4oP4oghzYU4ZbfoBcK95xNu9AkteMtFOgRZPbfQZ3en_JFSbrtIA6z5nwDfIkgK7ho2JqJ0eifPjrXjX869cO35mIRnI-WUWbEXvzBCywesx3ZxdPgaAi4K3C-wGdbLCk/s640/Stephensia+brunichella+-+Thurlbear+Quarrylands.jpg" width="556" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stephensia brunnichella</i> - Thurlbear Quarrylands</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZtuCR_h6n9bq2fMDNVgO7U4unRCkIUqRYhF0RQ83MSY2mLg-kK0wOLWdm5GpW6Cez_Vn-zoQM4sBnbJHt1O6KeeDgR7BwNSJfzgEHzyIaiuleE2kpFQfo9KirKHQg-dmJL2KzzWbCN4/s1600/Stephensia+brunnichella+mine+-+Wytham+Woods+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="1600" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZtuCR_h6n9bq2fMDNVgO7U4unRCkIUqRYhF0RQ83MSY2mLg-kK0wOLWdm5GpW6Cez_Vn-zoQM4sBnbJHt1O6KeeDgR7BwNSJfzgEHzyIaiuleE2kpFQfo9KirKHQg-dmJL2KzzWbCN4/s640/Stephensia+brunnichella+mine+-+Wytham+Woods+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stephensia brunnichella </i>mine - Wytham Woods</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The fantastic spiral mines of Britain's smallest moth - </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Enteucha acetosae</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> (on Sorrel) were found on the coast near Salcombe in Devon, and back in Somerset at Hurlstone Point and Priddy Pools - at the latter site they seem to be the first record of this nationally scarce A species for VC6.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu0RVNJ02GsmyCnI4xqcezEymfu1rv86YcCBm8ZLVAZy5Oi37uRz2vR2zmoVmUMmnL5o9K55zrFgDR1HVwFfRvOfskIl-Rq1MRqgPeR94h3f4g8z1EyKR5U68EjS6IopInPuxXpq8sDA/s1600/Enteucha+acetosae+-+Priddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1600" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnu0RVNJ02GsmyCnI4xqcezEymfu1rv86YcCBm8ZLVAZy5Oi37uRz2vR2zmoVmUMmnL5o9K55zrFgDR1HVwFfRvOfskIl-Rq1MRqgPeR94h3f4g8z1EyKR5U68EjS6IopInPuxXpq8sDA/s640/Enteucha+acetosae+-+Priddy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Enteucha acetosae</i> mine - Priddy Pools</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">While at Hurlstone Point I also checked for the mines of <i>Cosmopterix pulchrimella</i> on Pellitory of the Wall in nearby Bossington, and was pleased to find some, along with plenty of adults - the second record of this pretty colonist for Somerset.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqgqq06Eu0lvZeTuFTn0JIWIt-bghrZZHhLKbn5W4pbHsvttoK_DSOS-3_PYhyphenhyphenXJVOTwoioEOMekYZZOChPw5vhl2qDi7ObhDdkVh2sBOfhY-7KSmtP6cx4VAXpMke6RmQYQ3sVPDClg/s1600/Cosmopterix+pulchrimella+-+Bossington+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1172" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqgqq06Eu0lvZeTuFTn0JIWIt-bghrZZHhLKbn5W4pbHsvttoK_DSOS-3_PYhyphenhyphenXJVOTwoioEOMekYZZOChPw5vhl2qDi7ObhDdkVh2sBOfhY-7KSmtP6cx4VAXpMke6RmQYQ3sVPDClg/s640/Cosmopterix+pulchrimella+-+Bossington+3.jpg" width="467" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Cosmopterix pulchrimella</i> sat just above its mine on<br />Pellitory of the Wall</span></td></tr>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Phyllonorycter nigrescentella</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> was also found on Bush Vetch near my home in
Somerset. This species is actually red data book, but is probably rather under-recorded
(/patchy/weirdly common in West Somerset) – once I cottoned on, I found it in 5
1km squares around my home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIG1tEgtGvdLt-YBR3JDqNXfyfODwhuDFO4PpeUxxOKERZu7matnWaz36-Ooh6Gp-0GuFJq46OdXbTah_Kw4JCYXH9lEpfd-5uhZxHDHmDxhXOYq0eevvOdi5dtCKlfq3J21qhpYB530/s1600/Phyllonorycter+nigrescentella+mine+-+Thurlbear+Woods+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="919" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIG1tEgtGvdLt-YBR3JDqNXfyfODwhuDFO4PpeUxxOKERZu7matnWaz36-Ooh6Gp-0GuFJq46OdXbTah_Kw4JCYXH9lEpfd-5uhZxHDHmDxhXOYq0eevvOdi5dtCKlfq3J21qhpYB530/s640/Phyllonorycter+nigrescentella+mine+-+Thurlbear+Woods+5.jpg" width="364" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Phyllonorycter nigrescentella</i> mines<br />on Bush Vetch</span></td></tr>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Stigmella myrtillella</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> on Bilberry on the Quantocks –
this wasn’t a new site, but one I’d failed to find in the past, so it was nice
to put it to bed. Other moorland species were not so kind to me, with a search
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ectoedemia weaveri</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phyllonorycter junoniella</i> on Cowberry
(while up in Yorkshire) ending in miserable failure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoVNNBS-10XY00SMVVXg7oP5hi7vKStucur9hZ3B64QIczY4AxFhOtSiP6Zp8KxIsGf3GgLz-_4iW4gk8dTkQxM6E5NY7BEXoa572f8KlfHhiqYgbjVvNrZZgAzEMgSYvmZFWUDHJPBk/s1600/Stig+m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1139" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoVNNBS-10XY00SMVVXg7oP5hi7vKStucur9hZ3B64QIczY4AxFhOtSiP6Zp8KxIsGf3GgLz-_4iW4gk8dTkQxM6E5NY7BEXoa572f8KlfHhiqYgbjVvNrZZgAzEMgSYvmZFWUDHJPBk/s640/Stig+m.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Stigmella myrtillella</i> mine on Bilberry</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><i>Euspilapteryx auroguttella</i> - this miner of St John's Wort isn't especially rare (I found it in quite a few places around Oxford), but it really is stunning, and was one of my few leafminer breeding successes this year.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB18aiOADOrvZO3AHpKZM2z7RhoFGJ7l8VIHxOXWNpcwJ2-IUzbOq_sIYaXXL7TEXyROBcTM9LfYUosYwpYgBA4Mr-9BXJ61e7OyJ2gnKoVsCIcpB62jd3px32uR3zmGZVEXna2YxRPhk/s1600/Euspilapteryx+auroguttella+-+Ex.+Wytham+Woods+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1600" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB18aiOADOrvZO3AHpKZM2z7RhoFGJ7l8VIHxOXWNpcwJ2-IUzbOq_sIYaXXL7TEXyROBcTM9LfYUosYwpYgBA4Mr-9BXJ61e7OyJ2gnKoVsCIcpB62jd3px32uR3zmGZVEXna2YxRPhk/s640/Euspilapteryx+auroguttella+-+Ex.+Wytham+Woods+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Euspilapteryx auroguttella</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Coleophora</u></i><u>s</u></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Like
leaf-miners, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora</i>s are one of
those groups of micro moths that I’ve tended to pretend don’t exist when I
encounter them as adults (out of over 100 species recorded in the UK, only a
handful don’t need the chop for identification), but they too have distinctive
larval stages. All (?) of them form distinctive cases from bits of their
foodplant (leaves, seed capsules etc) in which the larva lives, most of which
can be identified to species when found by careful searching of their
foodplant. I got quite into searching for some of these alongside the leaf-mines
this year, with 21 new species rather putting into perspective the 3 I’d
previously recorded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Several
of these were found on a family trip to Norfolk, on which I spent most early mornings
looking for some of the really hardcore saltmarsh <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora</i>s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Limoniella</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">, feeding on Sea-Lavender, fell
quickly on the first morning, and was extremely abundant throughout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GFzqv-V-NbkF09xxEoU7QT048rR246w7nN286tZUyQeNm1olycoVDGzO-FSUvhCVpmsevFD6X9SMMYRERvClrRLML41gcNHj711n61W4PN67Y-roF4gZq_9Iswj-rYfg0qh_ECDGOgU/s1600/Coleophora+limoniella+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1585" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GFzqv-V-NbkF09xxEoU7QT048rR246w7nN286tZUyQeNm1olycoVDGzO-FSUvhCVpmsevFD6X9SMMYRERvClrRLML41gcNHj711n61W4PN67Y-roF4gZq_9Iswj-rYfg0qh_ECDGOgU/s640/Coleophora+limoniella+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" width="632" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A case of <i>Coleophora Limoniella </i>on Sea Lavender</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The
distinctive, ‘dirty-looking’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> atriplicis</i>
on Grass-Leaved Orache was next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSPSxvkI80zpTU_ByZTkcrbmpyaOyjyvIdxcmCksndEzHy6OuJXB-NIUV2M7k9WSqldNT4KzUlyLw7w41K8ZbO59cUFBsOsPLEn6qaYi2mobC6EkMbIF2iM0iRPTDKp50iOOSZMcVVic/s1600/Coleophora+atriplicis+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1247" data-original-width="1600" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSPSxvkI80zpTU_ByZTkcrbmpyaOyjyvIdxcmCksndEzHy6OuJXB-NIUV2M7k9WSqldNT4KzUlyLw7w41K8ZbO59cUFBsOsPLEn6qaYi2mobC6EkMbIF2iM0iRPTDKp50iOOSZMcVVic/s640/Coleophora+atriplicis+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Coleophora atriplicis</i> on Grass-Leaved Orache</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">albicans</i> – nationally scarce A on Sea
Wormwood (with a lovely humbug case).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4In8HsRcrM712ZE50jRJ4xQqikfUg-RMU7v25-l7iHT3aN-FwNEEtvS9V41UpsYeWe0IDgUJGgQi-cMmfSqfvMYMFm1dHaWd92JU-pHoENdAeDBYedsRW6rSgM9I8n4evyyZC4bjeo9w/s1600/Coleophora+albicans+-+Morston+Quay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1600" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4In8HsRcrM712ZE50jRJ4xQqikfUg-RMU7v25-l7iHT3aN-FwNEEtvS9V41UpsYeWe0IDgUJGgQi-cMmfSqfvMYMFm1dHaWd92JU-pHoENdAeDBYedsRW6rSgM9I8n4evyyZC4bjeo9w/s640/Coleophora+albicans+-+Morston+Quay.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The case of <i>Coleophora albicans</i> on Sea Wormwood</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">It was
several mornings and some serious soul searching (largely done while on my
knees in the saltmarsh) before I found <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora
salicorniae</i> though, probably the most hardcore of the bunch, a Samphire
specialist that can apparently survive full immersion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4C3Hs8Yk9kBptjvdmKNcByTjlnXNMqFoEm6-90DH2v6ull3sy-BqLkmX73-C_RojqnfTsWOZO6wJPEnEIppKBLWBGnJ1ziDcCxOWaDtSjk4Mjh5og_pz6znTqvF0Vo2PWX3MV_RgxFSI/s1600/Coleophora+salicorniae+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4C3Hs8Yk9kBptjvdmKNcByTjlnXNMqFoEm6-90DH2v6ull3sy-BqLkmX73-C_RojqnfTsWOZO6wJPEnEIppKBLWBGnJ1ziDcCxOWaDtSjk4Mjh5og_pz6znTqvF0Vo2PWX3MV_RgxFSI/s640/Coleophora+salicorniae+larva+-+Cley+Saltmarsh.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A case of <i>Coleophora salicorniae</i> - finally found<br />on Samphire</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">There
were also macros on the saltmarsh with a magnificent Star-Wort larva on Sea
Aster, and an audience with the UK BAP Scarce Pug, with 11 superbly-camouflaged
larvae on Sea Wormwood. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">These
mostly redeemed my failure to find </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">Coleophora
squamosella</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> at Holkham Dunes mid-way through the trip, a quest that tested
the normally inexhaustible patience of my next of kin, who are now largely
de-sensitised to the idea that I spend most of my time either searching for
leps, or indeed thinking about searching for leps. For a couple of weeks I
became a bit obsessed with this moth after stumbling across it in a field guide
–blessed with the common name of Surrey Case Bearer, NBN has no records from anywhere
(let alone Surrey), and feeding on Blue Fleabane (a plant I’d never heard of),
it seemed excessively rare, and highly desirable as a result. Fortunately I was
able to set the record straight when doing a bit of moth-ing at Aston Rowant in
mid-October, with four larval cases in a tiny patch of Blue Fleabane -</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">a first for Oxfordshire! There were far fewer
plants here than there had been at Holkham, but the cases were extremely well
concealed inside the plants’ seedheads, almost imperceptible as slight dark
patches, until the seeds were blown away, so it seems possible that I just
missed them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKswOFI5lLJVJ3YrVTGq7Z5Ji338jX5DN8hhCOYfVodvKLkKdUjmYWAHdh6hPy9-ndfaliUKXVvrAmlm-8CUn53B0TRhbJskeIClP4Q4PzGR6jpBpnCkCyL0pxp1nY_4Mvf8ZSQIxTE8/s1600/C+squamosella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1600" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAKswOFI5lLJVJ3YrVTGq7Z5Ji338jX5DN8hhCOYfVodvKLkKdUjmYWAHdh6hPy9-ndfaliUKXVvrAmlm-8CUn53B0TRhbJskeIClP4Q4PzGR6jpBpnCkCyL0pxp1nY_4Mvf8ZSQIxTE8/s640/C+squamosella.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A case of <i>Coleophora squamosella </i>found on Blue Fleabane at Aston Rowant</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmrtLhywzaa1TEz7dDEIaGoAfa0iCC_V0CCZR35U7il5fzI2_p-4hE88R0dOoCcxxHjme7DVdmz7d3k6WVpFg7XcVCoHGs8tOOQ-FB2ogwaiM_YDmv7u37tQPyB1vEm790u7vB-P_zBY/s1600/Coleophora+squamosella+cases+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1600" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmrtLhywzaa1TEz7dDEIaGoAfa0iCC_V0CCZR35U7il5fzI2_p-4hE88R0dOoCcxxHjme7DVdmz7d3k6WVpFg7XcVCoHGs8tOOQ-FB2ogwaiM_YDmv7u37tQPyB1vEm790u7vB-P_zBY/s640/Coleophora+squamosella+cases+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The case is scarcely visible as a little dark area on the right of the Blue Fleabane head<br />in the first picture, but gradually becomes more obvious as seeds are blown away.</span></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oxford
Sites</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Aston
Rowant was one of a number of nice sites around Oxford that I visited for the
first time this year, despite having been semi-resident there for almost 3
years. Others included the Chilswell Valley, the Lye Valley, and Cothill Fen. As
is often the case with small nature reserves around large towns/cities – they all
represent scraps of habitat that were previously much more extensive (in this
case limestone grassland and valley/alkaline fen), increasingly hemmed in by
agricultural intensification and urban sprawl (if Oxford can be said to
sprawl). Fortunately though, despite their small size, these sites are far from
neglected, being managed and restored by dedicated bands of volunteers under
the ‘<a href="https://www.wildoxfordshire.org.uk/">Wild Oxfordshire</a>’ scheme. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Chilswell
Valley proved to be particularly fun for moths with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nemophora metallica</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minmella
</i>both found in the grassland, alongside Six-Belted, Orange-Tailed and Red-Belted
Clearwings to lures. Success with Clearwing lures has come late to me, after
buying the full set a few years ago, and after managing a paltry two Six-Belted
Clearwings in a season, growing quite disillusioned with them. This year was
much better, with Currant, Red-Tipped and Yellow-Legged alongside the two already mentioned (and
a Hornet Moth Pupa as well!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHiomcbbaJ97mnXvLGaNuektIytPAIX7bA9bb22212cEJgYimRF7FLIb-EGKbknXYoaDwi9IzKo2mXJjeIJr7De4-XBo7MpINYB8qRXHiKeTjjZhPxHEuWYDEfBxZpjoBeCQB7jy1EG_k/s1600/RTCW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1372" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHiomcbbaJ97mnXvLGaNuektIytPAIX7bA9bb22212cEJgYimRF7FLIb-EGKbknXYoaDwi9IzKo2mXJjeIJr7De4-XBo7MpINYB8qRXHiKeTjjZhPxHEuWYDEfBxZpjoBeCQB7jy1EG_k/s640/RTCW.jpg" width="547" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Red-Belted Clearwing - Trap Grounds Allottments</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zZJqH4DD-ZhBFQDyiuhuDNI2d0gQHdmMfsVdv2An6YgH9KHNcesbqrvuWRfNokiAoqzyx3AZD0a5PzuGfbY4Kg5G_dIDkV7JcBvRzZmK1mz5LdpJdtU1AWKFJ97o1dAtIubSo5tNdjs/s1600/YLCW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1600" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zZJqH4DD-ZhBFQDyiuhuDNI2d0gQHdmMfsVdv2An6YgH9KHNcesbqrvuWRfNokiAoqzyx3AZD0a5PzuGfbY4Kg5G_dIDkV7JcBvRzZmK1mz5LdpJdtU1AWKFJ97o1dAtIubSo5tNdjs/s640/YLCW.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yellow-Legged Clearwing - Wytham Woods</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Two more
particularly heartening micro finds at Chilswell Valley were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grapholita pallifronta</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Commophila aeneana</i> – the former is a UK
BAP species feeding only on the enigmatic Wild Liquorice (and was already known
from Chilswell it should be said), and the latter is nationally scarce B, and
has long been right at the top of my moth wish-list, thanks to its wonderfully
volcanic orange and iridescent blue colouring. Both were found in a field
corner next to the reserve that had evidently been left by the farmer for
wildlife, and also sported a good collection of Pyramidal and Bee Orchids –
given half a chance, these things just get on with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyaKAQYrIZZlvrUh-o4kqEC3t75LkjhO6QZEYWDegp-AxV_miMAjQRiMrBa-IUOzqWXP4DBiqI1ToZOhNbGtRbtHgKH1FA55oWbpZ9S9NgWR15_3bdkLIPSqUE_xpRaZLatpEzBby18Y/s1600/Grapholita+pallifrontana+-+Sydlings+Copse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1087" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyaKAQYrIZZlvrUh-o4kqEC3t75LkjhO6QZEYWDegp-AxV_miMAjQRiMrBa-IUOzqWXP4DBiqI1ToZOhNbGtRbtHgKH1FA55oWbpZ9S9NgWR15_3bdkLIPSqUE_xpRaZLatpEzBby18Y/s640/Grapholita+pallifrontana+-+Sydlings+Copse.jpg" width="433" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Grapholita pallifrontana</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHKeyF1JZSaMaQ51G2BW3hKUZMIJK4svSmFACsMIEBv4LFoySUBMQeXmy7CrUgFCAeEwgSh_vOrNRjDj-LXF_yfnNB38-Fc-Ye6zp6vwvcm0F5gSxoqjNkafuJTgkEiFAA8pFFtWaK_U/s1600/c+aneaenea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1110" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHKeyF1JZSaMaQ51G2BW3hKUZMIJK4svSmFACsMIEBv4LFoySUBMQeXmy7CrUgFCAeEwgSh_vOrNRjDj-LXF_yfnNB38-Fc-Ye6zp6vwvcm0F5gSxoqjNkafuJTgkEiFAA8pFFtWaK_U/s640/c+aneaenea.jpg" width="441" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Commophila aeneana</span></i></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Watchet</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The
Chilswell valley was an excellent example of a renewed enthusiasm for moths
allowing me to see my local area through fresh eyes, and I enjoyed a similar
awakening when I returned home to Somerset for the summer. In the pre-lep
years, I associated the small coastal village of Watchet mostly with the West
Somerset Railway, tormenting well-meaning shore crabs with bacon/squid baits,
and the occasional excitement of a car getting stuck on the mud at nearby Blue
Anchor as the tide rose; but thanks to Chris Gladman’s excellent ‘Wild Orchids
of Somerset’ I learnt that it in fact sat on a sizeable chunk of limestone (a
rare beast in West Somerset) and began visiting the area more regularly to look
for butterflies and moths. I was well-rewarded for my efforts, thanks to the
excellent variety of habitats here – a combination of old-school farmland with
nice broad field margins and limestone grassland, alongside brilliantly tangled
undercliffs with dense coastal scrub and grassy, orchid-rich slumps that make
for seriously precipitous mothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The main
macro moth headline has been the first Narrow Bordered Bee Hawks in VC5 since
2006 (and the first modern ones away from the Blackdowns), seemingly breeding
on the abundant Devil’s Bit Scabious on the slumped cliffs. Other excitement
has been provided by Little Thorns in the coastal woods, alongside Chalk
Carpets, Annulets, Six-Belted and Orange-Tailed Clearwings in the slumps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-q_Ayw102Nn2xqZCBkdQtDzelGsOr2O4_vOiNqi6XSPqmHqGfLxAaJUgUKTgvUj1sh8c0ucSbsQF5eoVh4WbEXN_Rz-c8SUgWRFY3rsFgezpJP7CLSF6t-iErUNdn00CJ4TnjREBL8gA/s1600/NBHM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-q_Ayw102Nn2xqZCBkdQtDzelGsOr2O4_vOiNqi6XSPqmHqGfLxAaJUgUKTgvUj1sh8c0ucSbsQF5eoVh4WbEXN_Rz-c8SUgWRFY3rsFgezpJP7CLSF6t-iErUNdn00CJ4TnjREBL8gA/s640/NBHM.jpg" width="524" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Narrow Bordered Bee Hawk - Nr Watchet</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKHakzfnZY9QIr4KQF64y0gPp9m14jsZ-WDUbjlDJ5VukVtvnD-X_RFv3HpjV8inXx9sZzXu1GcOAQfRfJFzyEum2Hn-6x6g3Ni49AqiVWtwylAy1N-cODZop47hRk5dOpiUJGz0Dgfs/s1600/Six+-+Belted+Clearwing+-+Nr.+Watchet+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1053" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKHakzfnZY9QIr4KQF64y0gPp9m14jsZ-WDUbjlDJ5VukVtvnD-X_RFv3HpjV8inXx9sZzXu1GcOAQfRfJFzyEum2Hn-6x6g3Ni49AqiVWtwylAy1N-cODZop47hRk5dOpiUJGz0Dgfs/s640/Six+-+Belted+Clearwing+-+Nr.+Watchet+7.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Six-Belted Clearwing - near Watchet</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Micros got
in on the act too, with Dowdy Plume (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stenoptilia
zophodactylus</i>), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endothenia
nigricostana</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elachista
subocellea</i> the third, second and first modern VC5 records respectively, while
a Scarce Light Plume (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oxyptilus laetus</i>)
in July was entirely new. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The
latter was one of this year’s migrant moth headliners, with a significant
influx in July. I normally miss out on these things, and have to avoid twitter
for a few days until the smug south-coast moth-ers go back into hiding, but
this time quite the opposite happened – after my first </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">O. laetus</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> at Blue Anchor, I found another the next day while
looking for Nightjars, and another after that in my own garden – the first,
second and third for VC5 all in a week!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uRL3abScEpTlslGPaE_trFgiQpXQRrb6kWQAuZ7-GpCXYoZMulblk0QKKtq_TkYi2VAKh7CfbvCmXvQNs8N9-_NBNOi8RsyRIqCTcgj2WCpQ1ALRdSr1NpkV7PmohDDRa-EdWie00E8/s1600/Blue+anchor+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1595" data-original-width="1600" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uRL3abScEpTlslGPaE_trFgiQpXQRrb6kWQAuZ7-GpCXYoZMulblk0QKKtq_TkYi2VAKh7CfbvCmXvQNs8N9-_NBNOi8RsyRIqCTcgj2WCpQ1ALRdSr1NpkV7PmohDDRa-EdWie00E8/s640/Blue+anchor+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scarce Light Plume - Nr Watchet</span></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Garden
Mothing</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">That final
Scarce Light Plume crowned a great period for moth-ing in the garden, in a year
when several records were broken; a haul of 123 species crammed into and around
my little skinner trap in one night (the stormy 24<sup>th</sup> of July) far
exceeded my previous best of 95, while the 500 species barrier was finally
breached in late August, with the 99 new species for the garden this year. Most
of these were probably just previously unrecorded locals, but warm nights in
mid-July provided a nice flush of moorland species (probably from the nearby
Quantocks), including Beautiful Snout, Chevron, True-Lover’s Knot and Scallop
Shell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1_4_KXD_eSC7zpmyLhBgtQ7Lvxv39OjusWa9OvpgwWgAkS_QJhhdo6-ljzxGnIpBDwjo9s4tY2wkOIhqpoKxj7hm2E9WM9Fud3kch_ZlX60DZPgvWnnvHtAy0Tx2FHiVeuW00CttPZE/s1600/Beautiful+Hook-Tip+-+The+Newt+Garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1_4_KXD_eSC7zpmyLhBgtQ7Lvxv39OjusWa9OvpgwWgAkS_QJhhdo6-ljzxGnIpBDwjo9s4tY2wkOIhqpoKxj7hm2E9WM9Fud3kch_ZlX60DZPgvWnnvHtAy0Tx2FHiVeuW00CttPZE/s640/Beautiful+Hook-Tip+-+The+Newt+Garden.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beautiful Hook-Tip</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP6Ei5-N-tXStPNHUAKbIA5_7HzIhjpnByp0KtWGTBw7uPZy00tBY94PemONevO3PHm-UJvN_Hfl6e3ckNDVubwU3bfEf3r5xcz-TijR-XbUQGDQrrMYI2edtBGrxUaUnRBydekmc2Is/s1600/Lilac+Beauty+-+The+Newt+Garden+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1600" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP6Ei5-N-tXStPNHUAKbIA5_7HzIhjpnByp0KtWGTBw7uPZy00tBY94PemONevO3PHm-UJvN_Hfl6e3ckNDVubwU3bfEf3r5xcz-TijR-XbUQGDQrrMYI2edtBGrxUaUnRBydekmc2Is/s640/Lilac+Beauty+-+The+Newt+Garden+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lilac Beauty</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyq7HTbGkwgPTs1lbqoXfl9ncsSsN8Ilra2C6kl5PcFuJaT4EoLhzs5UsprBOftdUV4u0jZ-VwQrzPxb55ShUrhxeJkLVMOVgfeG34OuQiZBf8B41H4UEBpRYqZnkYJ-bRVxGbnEaRrA/s1600/Garden+Tiger+-+The+Newt+Garden+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1600" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQyq7HTbGkwgPTs1lbqoXfl9ncsSsN8Ilra2C6kl5PcFuJaT4EoLhzs5UsprBOftdUV4u0jZ-VwQrzPxb55ShUrhxeJkLVMOVgfeG34OuQiZBf8B41H4UEBpRYqZnkYJ-bRVxGbnEaRrA/s640/Garden+Tiger+-+The+Newt+Garden+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Garden Tiger (sadly only the second garden record)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCdvU0dgx3rIZRz-A1D6VfQpu_lcwcJZ_Gi2Yvuq9_5gWF2hZwGa8lOZ0LUG8s4kSld9SbyigJKoM6xDg7CxqgbaQounncTi2EZreZc83jUNBgNzOAwqPrLTwRG70SAPCPlgSWgGnk_A/s1600/Coronet+-+The+Newt+Garden+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1600" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCdvU0dgx3rIZRz-A1D6VfQpu_lcwcJZ_Gi2Yvuq9_5gWF2hZwGa8lOZ0LUG8s4kSld9SbyigJKoM6xDg7CxqgbaQounncTi2EZreZc83jUNBgNzOAwqPrLTwRG70SAPCPlgSWgGnk_A/s640/Coronet+-+The+Newt+Garden+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Coronet</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLGA7P8sVt61BphEqPzxT2CkS4ooDVJlaeQptOtstbOYIJ8odOM8sSISu-TkqpDJD7IwGypb2vBq7qcu-eAeFy1MCgG4g71FS5MET-FadOZ_3wGm4w1DZY3rjyjokd1RDHNyTNZCUuAg/s1600/July+Highflier+-+The+Newt+Garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="1600" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLGA7P8sVt61BphEqPzxT2CkS4ooDVJlaeQptOtstbOYIJ8odOM8sSISu-TkqpDJD7IwGypb2vBq7qcu-eAeFy1MCgG4g71FS5MET-FadOZ_3wGm4w1DZY3rjyjokd1RDHNyTNZCUuAg/s640/July+Highflier+-+The+Newt+Garden.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">July Highflier - a common visitor to the garden trap in July (unsurprisingly)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHE9sqA_6lSbGx7wfrR0hryxJqulutfWWnDoaO0J17lbDPBrgZNj58d0nceJZ7D_aUIZqZcX9U_kEDfLSrjDnW2sBnANIy4nzfBLHPViXYoNePhkNcGGJUcJfJqgvrKEsQFNfiafGvRBo/s1600/Scalloped+Shell+-+The+Newt+Garden+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1600" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHE9sqA_6lSbGx7wfrR0hryxJqulutfWWnDoaO0J17lbDPBrgZNj58d0nceJZ7D_aUIZqZcX9U_kEDfLSrjDnW2sBnANIy4nzfBLHPViXYoNePhkNcGGJUcJfJqgvrKEsQFNfiafGvRBo/s640/Scalloped+Shell+-+The+Newt+Garden+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scallop Shell - The first for the garden.</span></td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next
Year</span></u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Now that
we are deep into the moth-ing off season (even when armed with micro moth field
tips), it is time to make a few plans for 2019 (as well as write self-indulgent
blogposts). These are already coming thick and fast, like last year, thanks to
a couple of new books (things are getting increasingly niche – this year it’s
Plume Moths of Britain and Pug Moths of North West Britain), with the main aim
to head slightly further afield for some more specialist targets. This will
involve lots of day-time micro-ing (this year’s main modus operandi), but
excitingly, also some trapping, as the parts of the summer not spent mothing
were mostly spent arming myself with several home-made LED moth traps (and a
LepiLED, I confess). These were made by following <a href="https://petermobbs.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/a-better-moth-trap-using-leds/">Peter Mobbs</a>’ lamp design,
combining UV, green and blue LEDs with a fairly standard bucket/funnel trap,
and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the results. I’ve modified my wiring
slightly to allow me to run them off mobile phone power-packs (rather than the
favoured 12V battery) which makes things significantly more portable, and
enabled me to scale the undercliffs at Watchet by torchlight for their first
outing September, resulting in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coleophora
virgaureae</i> for VC5. I’m excited to test these out a bit more, with
permission to trap at a few sites around Oxford, and will try and do a bit of a
preliminary blogpost on their specifications/cost/dubious effectiveness in due
course – watch this space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6n3nwRsBQiFmH5Cc_kPvV8fwBBIS6AkYt7e7yryaYZcquyh9XQ440eXtloMVsCEA-VOy5yda-joToKSDB_cCTZTO_t45bmDqQthFoC3vziVkxKG1bZj7avx5aMD9kYlXsB10qriInDU/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6n3nwRsBQiFmH5Cc_kPvV8fwBBIS6AkYt7e7yryaYZcquyh9XQ440eXtloMVsCEA-VOy5yda-joToKSDB_cCTZTO_t45bmDqQthFoC3vziVkxKG1bZj7avx5aMD9kYlXsB10qriInDU/s640/13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Autumnal Rustic - a long awaited first for me, thanks to the LED trap.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-4017204812982586272018-10-16T15:18:00.005-07:002020-03-04T08:40:47.160-08:00Copper Country<br />
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In the psyche of nature lovers across Britian, there lie
scarcely-imagined, mythic beings. For birders maybe it’s Wood Thrush, Sibe Blue
Robin or this weekend’s White – Rumped Swift. These are creatures so rare, so
fanciful, that when they flit across our radars and then disappear, it seems
impossible to believe they were ever there in the first place. These things
lurk in the murk on the edge of our imagination, hardly tangible, and
rarely-acknowledged for fear of making them vanish like the puffs of smoke they
so often seem to be, and when they appear, do so with such cosmic,
earth-shaking clarity that for those lucky enough to meet with them, the image
will be burned onto retinas forever.<o:p></o:p><br />
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For people who like butterflies, some might say Camberwell Beauty, or Queen of Spain Fritillary, but perhaps that’s underselling things a bit – beauties, for all their searing power and brawn, occasionally form hopeless territories post hibernation, or loaf around on Buddleias in August (like <a href="http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/species/butterfly/gallery%20rarities.html">this one</a> at Pulborough Brooks, which stayed for almost a week in 2006 ) Queens are often eminently well-behaved too (like<a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-queen-of-spain-turns-into-a-vicious-thug-t3sc68wrl"> the ones in Sussex last summer</a>) – stuff of legend though these things undoubtedly are, are they really of the same knee-weakening calibre? To fill this lepidopteran void, there's surely only one candidate - the <a href="http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=dispar">Large Copper</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyM6g02vbamGubRFu7lclWIqZfMTfkF2qPQAZyyEPXJy6GVLxIGrKL7OGDJJnlrR7GkAVEoARTVg4f3tqa4B4WH-OprQzAOAhmDnt1bmBci1P7QdW8ASDWT71j5jHA9kj4ldSFVpytXc/s1600/Sweden+00000050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1600" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyM6g02vbamGubRFu7lclWIqZfMTfkF2qPQAZyyEPXJy6GVLxIGrKL7OGDJJnlrR7GkAVEoARTVg4f3tqa4B4WH-OprQzAOAhmDnt1bmBci1P7QdW8ASDWT71j5jHA9kj4ldSFVpytXc/s640/Sweden+00000050.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Does it cut it? A Camberwell Beauty from Sweden this summer.</td></tr>
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There is no doubt that for British butterfly watchers at
least, these pass the unattainable test with flying colours, since they’re now
a thing of the past as far as we’re concerned, yet that stunning plate in Thomas and Lewington, (illegal!)
releases, tales of failed introductions and the possibility of future ones
means that they remain ever so slightly tangible for those who dare to dream. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps more than any other British butterfly past or
present, they have become emblematic of something lost, disappearing along with
the fenlands they called home. They are creatures of a time when the fens were
a largely intact wilderness supporting Cranes and Ospreys, Swallowtails, and a
strange proud people, in a swampy vastness stretching from Yorkshire in the
North to Cambridgeshire in the South. In other words, there’s something
decidedly different, mysterious, and above all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wild</i> about the whole thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With the exception of some of the northern specialities on
their hilly/boggy redoubts, British butterflying sometimes feels quite far
removed from this. You spend a lot of your time visiting nice sites with
interpretation boards; well-managed, sunlit woodlands, rolling chalk downlands
above chocolate box villages, meadows and the like – this is part of what makes
it so great, beautiful places on the interface between people and nature, but
equally, this is what makes the idea of Large Coppers so thrilling. You can
picture them rising in the morning, shaking off a proper fenland fog and then
tearing about in a huge, treacherous wilderness that’s remained un-changed for
several thousand years, dodging Norfolk Hawkers and picking fights with
Swallowtails – it’s a wild and romantic vision when you’re someone that loves
butterflies and consequently spends most of their time watching humanity mix a
cocktail of abandonment, intensification, heavy pesticide use and increasingly
frequent extreme weather events to de-rail these creatures and your happiness.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGid9Q4OPdWJGs_5xmdjzvmuh9ERksVOqvgcaZBmfAmhqQLIyYQi2-hlqiWjPDWsbH9hSkRpuQH1-nd78HihCwlF8PqX6OXQ_3ERpwGG7jeOlK2W9mpE3VdLSVYq1SNuVpoSV1PfNL78/s1600/IMG_7817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGid9Q4OPdWJGs_5xmdjzvmuh9ERksVOqvgcaZBmfAmhqQLIyYQi2-hlqiWjPDWsbH9hSkRpuQH1-nd78HihCwlF8PqX6OXQ_3ERpwGG7jeOlK2W9mpE3VdLSVYq1SNuVpoSV1PfNL78/s640/IMG_7817.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lycaena dispar dispar (with thanks to Oxford University Natural History Museum)</td></tr>
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Sadly, for the moment at least, a vision is what it remains – for our unique (and bigger and brighter) subspecies, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lycaena dispar dispar</i> quietly disappeared from the fens midway through the 19<sup>th</sup> century. This was a mere 102 years after it was first discovered, in 1749, when it was recorded in the minute book of the ‘Spalding Gentleman’s Society’ as the ‘Orange Argus of Elloe’, having been found by the society’s secretary (a Dr John Green) at Dozen’s Bank, in Lincolnshire. Having been ‘discovered’ in this way without much fanfare, the beast then lay dormant and typically wrapped in mystery, presumably only known to a select few or the residents of the fens, and unbelievably,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was only formally described by Haworth 54 years later in 1803 (probably having heard of it from the brothers William and Fenwick (!) Skrimshire who saw some ‘unusual copper butterflies by the roadside’ near Ely (if Large Coppers and all they evoke was not enough to get the pulse racing, then the thought of an era when there were naturalists with names like Fenwick Skrimshire I hope does).<br />
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Typically for such a mythic being, the exact details of the
Large Copper’s former occurrence have always been hazy, and even the source of
some dispute. This is largely a result of the continued emergence and
re-assessment of historical specimens and diaries in old drawers and dusty
attics, and their former distribution probably included the Fens and Broads (as
far north as the Ouse) and the Somerset levels (on the strength of historical
specimens in the Taunton Museum), while some such as Dennis (1977) give
credence to records from inaccessible areas in the Wye marshes, ‘not far from
Monmouth’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key dates are also
shrouded in mystery, John Green’s discovery for example, was only realised in
1982, while the date of its extinction tends to be quoted at either 1847 or
1848 (with a series of specimens taken at Holme Fen), 1851 at Bottisham Fen
(Cambridgeshire) or 1864 at Woodbastwick in the Broads. Either way, there was
little more than a century between the Large Copper’s discovery and its tragic
demise.</div>
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We’re rather used/de-sensitised to the sad tales of
intrepid, under-funded scientists discovering outlandish and wonderful
creatures in far-flung parts of the globe, only for an un-helpful oil
magnate/plantation owner/natural disaster to make the proverbial coffin and
provide the proverbial final nail a heart-beat later, but the rapid extinction
of the Large Copper after its description mirrors these daily tragedies that
are perhaps often perceived to be the preserve of rapidly-developing countries
– the threats that biodiversity faces are old, and sadly nearly always the same
it would seem.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xr13NzR3x9xLMkhWXPsA6mNUZOW8NcoSgUqA1uwdPhvvdFqQpm3-OyG3l_dpxnLSSx6lF08ZBVNN0pGXvm5iAqkRomvI1H6Wk-iB8TLC-pmAXDwdB04Y070SrnOcjfkXIc1cj25oHWM/s1600/Large+Blue+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xr13NzR3x9xLMkhWXPsA6mNUZOW8NcoSgUqA1uwdPhvvdFqQpm3-OyG3l_dpxnLSSx6lF08ZBVNN0pGXvm5iAqkRomvI1H6Wk-iB8TLC-pmAXDwdB04Y070SrnOcjfkXIc1cj25oHWM/s640/Large+Blue+9.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Blues returned - could Large Coppers?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Webb and Pullin (1997) in their article on the history of
the Large Copper in Britain highlight this – the extinction of the Large Copper
came at a time when Entomology was exploding in popularity – while a generation
of butterfly enthusiasts was learning its trade, leafing through their copies
of the Aurelian and dreaming of Large Coppers, so they were fading away, to be
lost forever, to take up a special, and painful place in the British
butterflying psyche – an extinction symbol of sorts. My generation of naturalists
has grown up with hundreds of these, as the roster of the missing and dead
following post war agricultural intensification grows. We dream of Corncrakes
and Red-Backed Shrikes in every parish, and fantasise about heady days in the
Cornish coastal combes in search of the last great English Large Blue colonies,
or Chequered Skippers on flowery rides in middle-England Oak woods – tales of
these wonders are so widespread in old county avifaunas and collectors’ diaries
that they seem almost within reach, despite being doomed to fly on only in
day-dreams. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not all bad though, as the Large Blue and Chequered
Skipper prove – the former has been successfully restored to our rough
limestone grasslands (in the most successful re-introduction of an insect
ever), and the latter is hopefully going to go the same way in Rockingham
Forest. Could the same be possible for the Large Copper? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the turn of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, most
lepidopterists certainly thought so, and gamely went about the task in what has
been described by some as the first ever attempt at insect conservation. The
first was at the famous former stronghold, of Woodwalton Fen, and wasn’t much
of a hit thanks to a lack of foodplant. Further attempts followed in 1913
(bizarrely, in Ireland, where Large Coppers have never been recorded), 1926 (at
Woodbastwick Marshes in the broads), 1930 (Wicken Fen, lasting until 1942 when
part of the fen was re-claimed) and 1949 (near Surlingham in the Yare Valley)
which were all ultimately unsuccessful. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OTqKBYfo1QuxAXQ_zN32-gV-g6JzMa9YSGA_J3FjS4zNLQpHqtBree-kV_dZWl9yVMwu21v5WyMzgqLfVHXKJiy0VNFgIavRLw6_QV_RdNTKIIVCzHIIMl2Y_w8oWAq_m2K8t_jd1wk/s1600/IMG_7823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="974" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OTqKBYfo1QuxAXQ_zN32-gV-g6JzMa9YSGA_J3FjS4zNLQpHqtBree-kV_dZWl9yVMwu21v5WyMzgqLfVHXKJiy0VNFgIavRLw6_QV_RdNTKIIVCzHIIMl2Y_w8oWAq_m2K8t_jd1wk/s640/IMG_7823.JPG" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lycaena dispar rutilus from the introduction to Greenfields, Tipperary, Ireland (with thanks to Oxford University Natural History Museum).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given the sad non-existence of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lycaena dispar dispar</i>, the introductions had to look to other
sub-species for their stock. There are two of these in Europe, of which the
most widespread is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rutilus</i>, thinly
scattered and in retreat across central and eastern Europe (but <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266323188_Lycaena_dispar_on_its_northern_distribution_limit_An_expansive_generalist">making some gains in the North</a>). This
sub-species is slightly smaller and duller than the mighty <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dispar</i>, and also tends to be a bit more flexible, typically having
two broods (with some suggestion of 3 in eastern Europe) and feeding on a
larger variety of dock species (rather than just the Great Water Dock, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rumex hydrolapathum</i>). In 1915 however
this became surplus to our proto-conservationists’ requirements, when <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lycaena
dispar batavus</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was unearthed in the
fens of Friesland, Holland (before reading any further, check out t<a href="http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/download/file.php?id=108734&mode=view">his truly superb photo</a> of a female by Mark Hulme, brother of the mighty <a href="http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4065">Neil</a>). Remarkably, this happened on maybe the most gripping
school trip ever, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>discovered by a party
of children out on a nature ramble (once, I was proud of my 2 Dotterels on a
school trip to the Brecon Beacons, now, less so). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZaYvVDG3mKB9EAimu0E5ucsHadHKMKzkqDyE7vL0b8SISav-aVe0m_wj0FRY5crHEIBYjATE-Qmd9XXWRbI2aZVMbOdIrxwWimEvogo5qGvoHNd5uW8IqvEGS9PFQIcB64k71GWem9E/s1600/IMG_7802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZaYvVDG3mKB9EAimu0E5ucsHadHKMKzkqDyE7vL0b8SISav-aVe0m_wj0FRY5crHEIBYjATE-Qmd9XXWRbI2aZVMbOdIrxwWimEvogo5qGvoHNd5uW8IqvEGS9PFQIcB64k71GWem9E/s640/IMG_7802.JPG" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Specimens of Lycaena dispar batavus from the Woodwalton re-introduction (with thanks to Oxford University Natural History Museum)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Batavus</i> is rather
more similar than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rutilus</i> to our
native <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dispar</i>, being big and bright,
feeding only on Great Water Dock, and being more or less restricted to damp
fenlands (it’s also always been said to have 1 brood, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dispar</i>, but with nature’s typical disregard for textbooks, it’s had
<a href="https://www.vlinderstichting.nl/actueel/nieuws/nieuwsbericht/zeldzame-tweede-generatie-grote-vuurvlinders">quite a good second one this yea</a>r). This made it the favoured stock for later
introductions - to Wicken Fen and Surlingham, and most famously to Woodwalton
Fen again in 1927. This latter re-introduction is the best-known one as it
survived (with a great deal of artificial assistance) until 1969, with several
further introductions until the programme was suspended in the 1990s, and is
thus perhaps the main reason for why Large Coppers still seem vaguely tangible
so-long after their original extinction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve always struggled to work out what the exact reason for
the failure of the (well-studied) Woodwalton re-introduction was, the larvae
seem to have suffered much higher over-wintering mortality than their Dutch
counterparts in the Weeribben (though it’s not clear why), and they also
suffered with the cosmopolitan tachinid parasite <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phryxe vulgaris</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzyx4vBF8RjVzKOZHxxaW7gU_ZYxzAIAoDcZ7yQ66NDsy1WTJHJJhcHQdmaYYL6hh4LKIiMKCBXaL-r_aU8-AwgPcDhY0EjudmjGVvvhrlWPBgs69PDeb5aNCmyRlBwok1yVsAC3XvWw/s1600/IMG_7805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzyx4vBF8RjVzKOZHxxaW7gU_ZYxzAIAoDcZ7yQ66NDsy1WTJHJJhcHQdmaYYL6hh4LKIiMKCBXaL-r_aU8-AwgPcDhY0EjudmjGVvvhrlWPBgs69PDeb5aNCmyRlBwok1yVsAC3XvWw/s640/IMG_7805.JPG" width="534" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tachinid parasite Phryxe vulgaris - the scourge of early re-introductions at Woodwalton Fen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The big driver behind the failure of this re-introduction
seems to have been high over-wintering mortality, but the causes of this
aren’t entirely clear. A comparison by Webb
and Pullin (1997) of patterns of winter mortality in larvae at Woodwalton and
in the Weeribben<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>suggested the causes
were broadly similar, but mortality significantly higher at Woodwalton. Webb and
Pullin suggested genetic problems resulting from inbreeding as the likely
cause. This makes sense, the stock of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">batavus</i>
used in the re-introduction (and subsequent top ups) was maintained in
captivity for a long time, and the ‘wild’ colony shrunk to just a handful of
individuals on several occasions. With such repeated bottlenecks, genetic
deterioration seems inevitable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This situation is not unique to the Large Copper at
Woodwalton, and genetic deterioration resulting from small populations has been
shown in a number of the more endangered British butterflies (like <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00632.x">Adonis Blues</a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24640538">High Brown Fritillaries</a>).
This highlights an important point about re-introductions and conservation
generally – you need to go big to ensure large, well-connected populations, to
work on whole landscapes to get long term success. The drainage of the fens
involved habitat destruction on a truly epic scale (<a href="http://www.greatfen.org.uk/about/introduction">over 99% was lost</a>) and was
all but complete with the draining of Whittlesea Mere (the Large Copper’s
former heartland) in the 1850s, meaning that Woodwalton Fen was just a blemish
on a giant carrot field by the time the cavalry (complete with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">batavus</i>) turned up. As such, the Large
Copper re-introduction was maybe always doomed to fail. Duffey (1968) who did
much of the early pioneering work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">batavus</i>
at Woodwalton sadly concluded that it was ‘unlikely that a viable population
could be permanently maintained under natural conditions because the habitat is
too restricted and the population will probably never be large enough to
withstand fluctuations’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Large Copper project (as it was) was dis-continued in
the 1990s, about the time that I popped out into the world, destined to be a
lucky recipient of the <a href="http://www.european-butterflies.org.uk/downloads/EBG_Annual_Research_Bursary.pdf">European Butterflies Group grant</a> to go to Hungary in summer 2017. My main purpose
there was to help with mark-release-recapture work of Large Blues in the <a href="https://www.ferto-hansag.hu/en">Fertő-Hanság National Park</a>, but the
trip was rife with ulterior motives from the start. While Large Coppers
continue to decline in western Europe as their wetland habitat gets fragmented,
in some eastern European countries (like Hungary), they remain fairly
widespread, though never common. Here, subspecies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rutilus</i> is the order of the day, with a slightly wider range of
dock foodplants than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">batavus</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dispar</i>, it manages to be a bit more
adaptable and widespread. Interestingly, it’s been found to be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266323188_Lycaena_dispar_on_its_northern_distribution_limit_An_expansive_generalist">positively associated with human habitation in Estonia</a>,
thanks to its use of dyke side docks for egg-laying – ironically adapting to
the drainage mechanisms that were the architect of its destruction in the UK. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the Fertő-Hanság, Large Coppers are in fact in rude
health, so much so that when I asked (within my first half hour of getting off
the plane) whether I was likely to see Large Coppers, my boss (Andras Ambrus)
openly scoffed at my naiveté. I’ve never been so delighted at someone laughing
in my face.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_sLVJzuOojuT1frmkKaEDzad8i2R5fJSmQTdBGBRPOsAJ-G3oGGWbA6WpXaK7uMpsZjb_cdiUBbwrRj1Kn2aX5h9I5u11pxclbNIRD-AAL_tS9fyRjpsOyhD3VfdG1WI2IXXup5xxzE/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Ebergoc+-+Hu-0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1285" data-original-width="1600" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_sLVJzuOojuT1frmkKaEDzad8i2R5fJSmQTdBGBRPOsAJ-G3oGGWbA6WpXaK7uMpsZjb_cdiUBbwrRj1Kn2aX5h9I5u11pxclbNIRD-AAL_tS9fyRjpsOyhD3VfdG1WI2IXXup5xxzE/s640/Large+Copper+-+Ebergoc+-+Hu-0006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nagy tuzlepke - the Fire Butterfly - my first ever Large Copper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He proved of course, to be quite right in doing so, with my
first coming on the 24<sup>th</sup> of July, a couple of weeks after I arrived.
Inevitably it is the most memorable, it’s also the only one I’ve got any real
notes on, as I lost my second diary from Hungary, started shortly after. It was
a male at my favourite of the Large Blue sites, a scrubby, flowery marsh on the
edge of a small village, ringed by poplar plantations beloved of Golden
Orioles. I flushed it out of the grass as I crashed through some sallow scrub
for the nth time that morning, and it helpfully landed a couple of yards away.
It took a moment for the full brilliance of the thing to dawn on me, as in
flight the orange upperside and silver-blue underside combined to give a rather
purply impression (a bit like a Purple – Edged Copper), but once it landed,
wings spread, dawn it most definitely did. As you do in these moments, I stood
in rapt silence feeling like the air had been knocked out of me, before mustering
the courage to kneel and display the proper levels of deference/take photos.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI0bFUoGWtmCmdazHlpYkg8MUv31ffN24Nqpg-c3kctJucMGH3HSQFE3GHjP9cNSMNgJKPHGwX_OEaLCMQiDmoU8bjGUq9JuHaNRI2xyeEL0iPpJjdE0AUPA5s1EB0WmRT1pMHp0DO0U/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI0bFUoGWtmCmdazHlpYkg8MUv31ffN24Nqpg-c3kctJucMGH3HSQFE3GHjP9cNSMNgJKPHGwX_OEaLCMQiDmoU8bjGUq9JuHaNRI2xyeEL0iPpJjdE0AUPA5s1EB0WmRT1pMHp0DO0U/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0031.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - Male</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After my first audience, I had to wait another week
(guarding my memory card in the interval with new levels of paranoia, determined
to have proof that it wasn’t all a waking dream brought on by 8 years of
fantasising), but then the floodgates opened, and while they didn’t release a
surging mass of winged fire on the land, I saw Large Coppers fairly regularly
after that. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTEytM4bKkNYTfydfm_vDAdHMr4PwBv1AY383c_D4OseLb-2cP_D7M_5v9hJOrkH6R7iAKGhuBb2HyLLlEND-S6s6TI625o9q-owSCNFAV8HVVPUnjk5EgnPcPzV-642w-xyGwQux4E4/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTEytM4bKkNYTfydfm_vDAdHMr4PwBv1AY383c_D4OseLb-2cP_D7M_5v9hJOrkH6R7iAKGhuBb2HyLLlEND-S6s6TI625o9q-owSCNFAV8HVVPUnjk5EgnPcPzV-642w-xyGwQux4E4/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0048.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - male in the evening.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Generally, this was in ones or twos, rather like Small
Coppers (third broods aside), they seem to be low density butterflies, fanning
out far across the landscape in small numbers, often turning up far from
‘typical’ habitat. This is a butterfly of big country, and it’s easy enough to
see why it could never thrive in the postage stamps of fenland we’ve
thoughtlessly left for it back home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my imagination, feeding off the stories of huge swampy
wildernesses where our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dispar</i> was
found, I’d thought I’d be seeing Large Coppers in pristine marshlands, perhaps
skimming distantly and frustratingly over vast reedbeds or rush-meadows. The
reality of their fairly wide distribution in the Fertő-Hanság was far more
prosaic (and heartening). In fact, the best site I saw for them, where I
managed a monumental (by Large Copper standards) 15 individuals, was the canal
pictured here – choked with the invasive goldenrod, with trains thundering over
the bridge (where the picture was taken), and questionable graffiti on the
underpass below – hardly a pristine wilderness, but all the better for it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdFasqysmqoqwsifMC83KaBiIOh38FMfW8-N6RcmdZTD9k-4KE4857nrvFEH-cpOOAKHIWMuFbJ885axtFRxl9C18WGPlYMCSsT_9WRWuqhl5-3Z3oKtsrwMmaY0N4qJxcgqEXP1sBeM/s1600/Vitnyed+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdFasqysmqoqwsifMC83KaBiIOh38FMfW8-N6RcmdZTD9k-4KE4857nrvFEH-cpOOAKHIWMuFbJ885axtFRxl9C18WGPlYMCSsT_9WRWuqhl5-3Z3oKtsrwMmaY0N4qJxcgqEXP1sBeM/s640/Vitnyed+copy.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hardly wilderness, but all the better for it - the best site I saw for Large Coppers in the Ferto-Hansag</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is one of the surprising features of Large Coppers in
Eastern Europe (at least from a British point of view), where it’s bivoltine (which rutilus is almost all through its
range, sometimes even with a sneaky third brood) the second brood seems to be
far less constrained than the first, using a greater variety of foodplants,
often in very dry situations (like urban waste ground), with the females
dispersing far and wide in search of them, while males set up territories in
flowery meadows (presumably why there were so many by the canal). I’ve not
found a good reason for this (if anyone knows a paper on it I’d be really
interested), but it has striking parallels with other specialists – Adonis Blues
for example, are less fussy about where they lay their eggs in spring than in
autumn, since warm summer temperatures mean their larvae can survive in taller,
cooler swards.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2_p98d__77YMHDnvU7JTD_Pel6P-gAUqmCPbwb-A5LUT7GtuMfQaG_fdDYT7QfGGhmpG5JA89hw3WYVLiX1BKn4Na66ZltVs6YYsXpjNHH5XeOx4pbEkiWHwlEOMxdUK3uyYQwA9IvI/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+-0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2_p98d__77YMHDnvU7JTD_Pel6P-gAUqmCPbwb-A5LUT7GtuMfQaG_fdDYT7QfGGhmpG5JA89hw3WYVLiX1BKn4Na66ZltVs6YYsXpjNHH5XeOx4pbEkiWHwlEOMxdUK3uyYQwA9IvI/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+-0004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - Male</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I resolved to see as much as possible of the Large Coppers
during my 6 week stay, and apart from a frustrating (but memorable) Saturday
trying to bait Lesser Purple Emperors out of poplar plantations (tasteful
variety of Hungarian pates all refused), I spent all my days off trying to get
to know the vanished deity that had dominated my day dreams since for the last
8 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where they occurred, males were
reasonably easy to locate, although they spent long periods stationary when
holding territories, they tended to do so around prominent patches of flowers
(like Purple Loosestrife and the dreaded Canadian Goldenrod), and give the game
away with the occasional patrol flight. ‘Patrol flight’ makes it sound
systematic and focussed, like they slowly search every nook and cranny of their
tiny marshy kingdoms, but the reality was more fighter jet than infantry
patrol, the butterflies tearing up and down at breakneck speed, often covering
quite large distances, before returning to the same patch of flowers once more.<o:p></o:p><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFc1AJKP139BrJmCJE_-aeu__rDw9qoxCOjgK6gASxGnmlRm7eUxqulZ34FmQGSPGfYM34Ccx3J5uwVL5-wWogZxD-5f3eFphc3m3JNSXPgHlWBaeKzDxWucUVi3-F5eG-7KScaDSrX8/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1193" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFc1AJKP139BrJmCJE_-aeu__rDw9qoxCOjgK6gASxGnmlRm7eUxqulZ34FmQGSPGfYM34Ccx3J5uwVL5-wWogZxD-5f3eFphc3m3JNSXPgHlWBaeKzDxWucUVi3-F5eG-7KScaDSrX8/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0007.JPG" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What male Large Coppers live for - the chance to court a female. This one wasn't interested though.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5XGvljjDU8Ri4XsdWMuAWBnsw7lvsaV3DKFdPJcbJFx2B88vmugn2yzbSdAIlkNQ5aggjXiWPoLlunzcGQzP_TWEaQ8h6G2dOiCMKZ-xJ5JRkSnX7cwN1YncQfz2wHgPEeaOqpzBLvA/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+-0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5XGvljjDU8Ri4XsdWMuAWBnsw7lvsaV3DKFdPJcbJFx2B88vmugn2yzbSdAIlkNQ5aggjXiWPoLlunzcGQzP_TWEaQ8h6G2dOiCMKZ-xJ5JRkSnX7cwN1YncQfz2wHgPEeaOqpzBLvA/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+-0009.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - Male</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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I didn’t see many females, maybe 5 or 6, probably because
their behaviour was much more furtive (tending to spend a lot of time sat low
in the grass), and they weren’t tied to nectar-rich territories where I
searched for males. I did see one egg-laying towards the end of the trip, on a
small dock re-growing in a cut meadow, zipping over the grass before turning on
her heel and dropping into the vegetation to deposit her flattened white cargo
on a dock I’d totally failed to notice in all my sessions marking on the site.
It’s one of the best demonstrations of the extraordinary sensory abilities of
butterflies that I’ve seen, and she evidently wasn’t the only perceptive female
about, since a quick check of the underside of the leaves revealed a first instar
larva and several more eggs.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35boF2YxUk6vaNyHJVIikEqq45hyphenhyphenftIoQI6yTkAvUrQt50g2LdVUsEBWCafpGVZ9WUHysC3eADv47u2Jl3psnF8tzCXjyK8TYB3XwlfuIZlj8KUofVpvfp_AfpB6XcxS0Dst3-euP9-M/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+3-0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35boF2YxUk6vaNyHJVIikEqq45hyphenhyphenftIoQI6yTkAvUrQt50g2LdVUsEBWCafpGVZ9WUHysC3eADv47u2Jl3psnF8tzCXjyK8TYB3XwlfuIZlj8KUofVpvfp_AfpB6XcxS0Dst3-euP9-M/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+3-0023.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - female warming up early in the morning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58ByzJ7kSZSNmy4iskXUhWv0S4kTW8YjzLpSqdf4cLRHstw8WVpUZzaYZBFcmFYuK_TlSil9nkr3NktgC1UjEKJDMTPwlKBDQJedywu28hr8WxznObd5fimfuI0UhxjMMiHyMfTgIZTE/s1600/Large+Copper+Ova+-+Hidegseg+-+Hungary-0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58ByzJ7kSZSNmy4iskXUhWv0S4kTW8YjzLpSqdf4cLRHstw8WVpUZzaYZBFcmFYuK_TlSil9nkr3NktgC1UjEKJDMTPwlKBDQJedywu28hr8WxznObd5fimfuI0UhxjMMiHyMfTgIZTE/s640/Large+Copper+Ova+-+Hidegseg+-+Hungary-0001.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper ova - on a small re-generating Dock in a cut meadow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXUedwv2vDEQFUzCY9h5ek9j10yZxDx6RAX32AWrjVOAmR7I9InazZVaZBJIaa089vDntMAAgJDEE80p-b-rTRraRYemkcUYJsamuovugC710d5otmhbQIZ9axC8cGZE2QtMdgvigU-E/s1600/Large+Copper+Ova+-+Nr+Fertod+-+Hungary-0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1319" data-original-width="1026" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXUedwv2vDEQFUzCY9h5ek9j10yZxDx6RAX32AWrjVOAmR7I9InazZVaZBJIaa089vDntMAAgJDEE80p-b-rTRraRYemkcUYJsamuovugC710d5otmhbQIZ9axC8cGZE2QtMdgvigU-E/s640/Large+Copper+Ova+-+Nr+Fertod+-+Hungary-0007.JPG" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper ova - these were 3 of 11 on a tiny little dock on dry, urban waste ground.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I found eggs at several sites during my stay, on a variety of dock species - huge dyke-side Great Water Docks and tiny, re-generating docks in cut meadows, and even on dry waste-ground. The plant pictured below had 11 eggs on it, growing in the dry, rocky grassland by an old gravel pit. Nearby plants on the damp margins of an old pool (surprisingly) had none on them. These contrasting egg-laying sites meant that the few eggs that I found didn’t really give me much of an insight into what it was that constrains Large Coppers, which makes sense given that this was the all-singing all-dancing, un-constrained second brood.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuZQJji_rR4xDRI3ALPj1Tg1uZ8PZyNUQsfVr4SJS84l2QI4juGVYjuxAjKNI0SUF1wrfOP8y_CNUdP3eZqSqNPHRPLxZPrmn209sOoFgMgdGr5c9NvrJT4ldlJpBfLfcX23wzMSEjgs/s1600/Large+Copper+Larva+-+Hidegseg+-+Hungary-0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="999" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuZQJji_rR4xDRI3ALPj1Tg1uZ8PZyNUQsfVr4SJS84l2QI4juGVYjuxAjKNI0SUF1wrfOP8y_CNUdP3eZqSqNPHRPLxZPrmn209sOoFgMgdGr5c9NvrJT4ldlJpBfLfcX23wzMSEjgs/s640/Large+Copper+Larva+-+Hidegseg+-+Hungary-0003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Instar Large Copper larva - on a regenerating Dock in a cut meadow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGK3aaHKfWsiVWAMw64IXj68lXCvlS4rPkge7zDK0VtuoX3C78qMy0bKC64cClXuVw_yWs2lQPZ_hJo_dvcVE0_5NzXbzspuE1sAwfs5XRiAUQjlFKqn6npidmtT_syPWUFfhOfSnALY/s1600/Large+Copper+Larva+-+Nr+Fertod+-+Hungary-0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGK3aaHKfWsiVWAMw64IXj68lXCvlS4rPkge7zDK0VtuoX3C78qMy0bKC64cClXuVw_yWs2lQPZ_hJo_dvcVE0_5NzXbzspuE1sAwfs5XRiAUQjlFKqn6npidmtT_syPWUFfhOfSnALY/s640/Large+Copper+Larva+-+Nr+Fertod+-+Hungary-0004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper larva</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While Large Coppers seem (for now at least) to be doing fine
in the Fertő-Hanság national park, and even expanding in parts of northern
Europe, the picture in north west Europe is nowhere near so rosy, after their
loss from the UK, Large Coppers have declined in the Netherlands and France,
Northern Germany and parts of Italy, meriting their inclusion in the both
Annexes of the EU Habitats Directives as a species deserving protection in its
own right, and its designation as a Natura 2000 species more recently. Despite
this rather bleak outlook though, some British lepidopterists keep a faint
spark of hope alive in the form of a pioneering project in the Large Copper’s
former heartland.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXXXVQ6gJvWkOeVeEgwjgT1bRL1vUWZlAHy5rv5qIwbwC_R-BcQkU2Xu-FSRW0AJertHAU7y_fTfgvtiSmX0AG5OW9YpAvR5L2TvIsNA1GoclD0JVRJ_oqccz_ugKVxaojodXFpzQNVE/s1600/Large+Copper+Ab+radiata+-+Ebergoc+-+Hungary+-0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1179" data-original-width="1065" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXXXVQ6gJvWkOeVeEgwjgT1bRL1vUWZlAHy5rv5qIwbwC_R-BcQkU2Xu-FSRW0AJertHAU7y_fTfgvtiSmX0AG5OW9YpAvR5L2TvIsNA1GoclD0JVRJ_oqccz_ugKVxaojodXFpzQNVE/s640/Large+Copper+Ab+radiata+-+Ebergoc+-+Hungary+-0008.JPG" width="578" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Coppers rarely vary from the type, but I was lucky enough to find this ab. radiata, the last Large Copper of my trip, on my final day of marking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This spark is the Great Fen project, a landscape restoration
project from before we had re-wilding (and it became cool), which aims to
reconnect Holme and Woodwalton Fens with 37000 ha of restored fenland. These
two National Nature Reserves are of course two of the Large Copper’s former
strongholds (with the release at Woodwalton and those late specimens at Holme
in 1846/7) and while the project doesn’t explicitly mention Large Coppers in
its aims (instead focusing on species like Bitterns, which fortunately aren’t
extinct in the UK), it’s hard not to feel a faint flash of optimism. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps with this new habitat, and climate warming leading
to a newly bivoltine and un-constrained <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">batavus</i>,
we could once again see Large Coppers thriving in East Anglia. It’s a
compelling vision, a landscape restored and the return of its most iconic
native, and with the success of the Large Blue (and the on-going Chequered
Skipper re-introduction), it’s clear many organisations have the will to take
on these ambitious projects. Perhaps, armed with the right knowledge and a
central philosophy of landscape-scale conservation, connecting up sites and
people with these fantastic creatures once more could be possible.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8B32BU4uT1JxABuUtobhZoCfT4AWg5_jc8eVi-0s3z_XSr7pRhypmrUaC_yX26mC2WTQ3rTv6KW1LPAaywHyjzAdF2yWHS_eSDRWOKZwBXgKNYY1LBna9VCntESwjOmzpVuM4sXbzJgs/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8B32BU4uT1JxABuUtobhZoCfT4AWg5_jc8eVi-0s3z_XSr7pRhypmrUaC_yX26mC2WTQ3rTv6KW1LPAaywHyjzAdF2yWHS_eSDRWOKZwBXgKNYY1LBna9VCntESwjOmzpVuM4sXbzJgs/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0027.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper - male at roost</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3yoFIZ9XQWYCkBPnUYp83dfZ8h7C9dcItrwo0wTxROtEEPFWS4LXRN-bgvu4aZGkwj0P9agYJmxSgwqKPc8v_Nsd52ACYgAlq4QrosoOuxahinhVxC05eS-9vDbBrE-_JU4URf9KJ6I/s1600/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1226" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3yoFIZ9XQWYCkBPnUYp83dfZ8h7C9dcItrwo0wTxROtEEPFWS4LXRN-bgvu4aZGkwj0P9agYJmxSgwqKPc8v_Nsd52ACYgAlq4QrosoOuxahinhVxC05eS-9vDbBrE-_JU4URf9KJ6I/s640/Large+Copper+-+Vitnyed+-+Hu+2-0016.JPG" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Copper male - at roost early in the morning. This was at the canal site, where loose 'communal' roosts formed in the evenings (with a couple of individuals sharing the same patch of vegetation). Roosting was nearly always just below the top of the vegetation (about two thirds of the way up), always in sedges. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><b>References</b></u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><br /></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been interested in Large Coppers for a little while and
read some stuff while writing this blog, though haven’t really referenced
properly. Here’s a list of the stuff I read, and some useful sources of
information should you too feel the spark…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Salmon M.A. and Edwards, P.J. (2005) The Aurelian's Fireside
Companion: An Entomological Anthology. Paphia Publishing Ltd, Lymington. –
<i>Compiles lots of diaries of old collectors, with some nice tales of days in
pursuit of dispar dispar.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Salmon M.A. (2000) The Aurelian Legacy - a History of
British Butterflies and their Collectors: With contributions by Peter Marren
and Basil Harley. Harley Books. – <i>Similar (excellent) stuff</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lindman, L., Remm, J., Saksing, K., Sõber, V., Õunap, E.,
Tammaru, T. (2015). Lycaena dispar on its northern distribution limit: an
expansive generalist. Insect Conservation and Diversity. 8 (1), pp.3-16. <i>Interesting
paper about the spread of Large Coppers in Estonia, here it has managed to be a
real generalist and is positively associated with human habitation
(remarkably).</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dennis, R. (1977) The British Butterflies: Their origin and
establishment. Faringdon, Oxfordshire. <i>Lots of interesting ideas about how the
British butterflies established after glaciation – very dense though!</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pullin, A. (1997). Habitat requirements of Lycaena dispar
batavus and implications for re-establishment in England. Journal of Insect
Conservation. 1(3), pp.177-185.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Pullin did a lot of work on Large Coppers for Woodwalton in
the 1990s, all of which makes for interesting reading. This has a comparison of
survival at Woodwalton and in the Weeriben, and considers a re-introduction in
the Broads.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Duffey, E. (1968). Ecological Studies on the Large Copper
Butterfly Lycaena dispar Haw. Batavus Obth. at Woodwalton Fen National Nature
Reserve, Huntingdonshire. Journal of Applied Ecology. 5(1), pp.69-96. <i>The big
early work on Large Coppers, very long, but worth reading to get a feel for how
the re-introduction worked.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Webb, M. and Pullin, A. (1997) – The Orange Argus - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A history of the Large copper butterfly in Britain.
British Wildlife. 9 (1). <i>Nice, short summary of Large Coppers in the UK.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=dispar">UK Butterflies on Large Coppers –</a> <i>always a great summary,
with brilliant photos.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thomas. J. and Lewington, R. (2014). The Butterflies of
Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury, London. – <i>The new, revised edition of the
ultimate classic, mouth-watering plate and another great summary.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Andrews, P. (2015). A History of the British Large Copper
Lycaena dispar dispar and the Scarce Copper Lycaena virgaureae in Somerset
[Online]. Available from http://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=102 [Accessed
October 16, 2018]. – <i>The latest word on Large Coppers in the south west
(following Sutton, 1993), makes exciting reading for fellow Wurzels.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's lots of other stuff out there, with plenty of random
articles on old specimens and diaries, and published work by Pullin and Dutch
Researchers which I sadly didn’t have time to read while writing this, all of
it no doubt fascinating stuff that will only add to the mystery and allure of
Large Coppers!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-69987182271153747212017-09-25T13:09:00.001-07:002020-03-04T08:41:26.531-08:00Hungary and the EIG Annual Research Bursary<div class="MsoNormal">
Some childhood experiences can be strangely formative –
learning to ride a bike, losing a tooth, or perhaps facing the occasionally
despicable nature of your fellow man full in the face for the first time. This
happened for me on my first trip to Hungary aged 11, when our accommodation was
broken into and my Ipod nano, and more importantly our flapjack was stolen. This
cosmic episode stuck with me in the ensuing years, but so did the extraordinary
wealth of wildlife (at the time, avian was the main interest) is such seemingly commonplace settings – in
gardens, little woods and all the farmland – here was a place that hadn’t been
totally put under the plough in a post-war race to the bottom and still
retained a large proportion of its seething, heaving mass of ancestral
biodiversity – these thoughts lay dormant in my young mind, and as I became
more interested in butterflies and moths, germinated into a cold and perhaps
unrealistic certainty – I had to return.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And so it was that 8 years later I took up Butterfly
Conservation’s European Interest Group Annual Research Bursary (<a href="http://www.bc-eig.org.uk/downloads/EIG_Annual_Research_Bursary.pdf">http://www.bc-eig.org.uk/downloads/EIG_Annual_Research_Bursary.pdf</a>)
and did just that. The grant is offered
every year and put simply is both extraordinarily generous and extraordinarily
helpful – up to £500 to hit the continent and study butterflies – any
butterflies, anywhere in Europe, the opportunity of a lifetime. As one of this
year’s lucky recipients, I used mine to head to the Ferto-Hansag National Park
in the North-West of Hungary for 6 weeks this summer.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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The park is around the Hungarian part of the Neusidlersee,
the lake that straddles the border with Austria and whose Hungarian part is
known as the ‘Ferto-lake’, and is of great importance for wetland birds (think
droves of herons, White-Tailed Eagles, waders, terns, Moustached Warblers etc.),
also taking in areas of classic Hungarian steppe habitat with species like
Saker Falcon and Eastern Imperial Eagle (both satellite-tagged as part of EU
LIFE projects and yielding fascinating results), and extensive areas of wet
woodland and meadows in the Hansag region. For invertebrates the Ferto-Hansag
perhaps lacks the reputation of some other areas of Hungary – the Zemplen
Mountains and the Buuk Hills with their beasts from the east, and the chalk of
the Balaton uplands with their Lesser Fiery Coppers and Clouded Yellows, but
does have internationally important populations of a very special group of
butterflies – the Maculineas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coming from Somerset, I’m already an acolyte of arion – the
Large Blue – the winged victory of British butterfly lovers (returning after a
re-introduction project, the most successful of its kind anywhere in the
world). Those that know this butterfly well will be familiar with its extraordinarily
convoluted life-cycle. Eggs are laid on the flower heads of Wild Thyme (or
Marjoram at a couple of sites) and the resultant larvae hatch out and tear
through all 4 of their instars in a couple of weeks, dropping off the
flower-head in the evening to be adopted by red ants (specifically Myrmica
sabuleti) which carry the larva as one of their own into the nest after
‘milking’ its honey gland. Here the larva goes rogue and will attack and eat
the ant grubs, puncturing their skin and feeding on their bodily fluids,
steadily growing to become a giant, implacable, pale imposter in the nest,
before hatching out the following year to dance over the herb-rich slopes on
midsummer days.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xr13NzR3x9xLMkhWXPsA6mNUZOW8NcoSgUqA1uwdPhvvdFqQpm3-OyG3l_dpxnLSSx6lF08ZBVNN0pGXvm5iAqkRomvI1H6Wk-iB8TLC-pmAXDwdB04Y070SrnOcjfkXIc1cj25oHWM/s1600/Large+Blue+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xr13NzR3x9xLMkhWXPsA6mNUZOW8NcoSgUqA1uwdPhvvdFqQpm3-OyG3l_dpxnLSSx6lF08ZBVNN0pGXvm5iAqkRomvI1H6Wk-iB8TLC-pmAXDwdB04Y070SrnOcjfkXIc1cj25oHWM/s640/Large+Blue+9.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Somerset arion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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There are several more species of ‘Large Blue’ in Europe,
3,4 or even 5 depending on how you work your taxonomy, Dusky Large Blue
(nausithous), Scarce Large Blue (teleius) and Alcon Blue (alcon) are dead
certs, while some people produce Mountain Alcon Blue (rebeli) from Alcon and
‘Maculinea ligurica’ from Large Blue. Despite being some of the best studied
European butterflies (as a result of their extraordinary life cycles and
precipitous declines), a great deal of uncertainty still seems to remain about
the classification of Maculineas. Rebeli for example, like alcon, is a cuckoo
(feeding on regurgitations from ants rather than larvae, like arion does), but
with a different host ant (Myrmica shencki as opposed to ruginodis), and on the
whole tends to be slightly darker (something frequently seen in butterflies
that fly at higher altitudes, arion does this too, with f. obscura described
from the Swiss Alps), but some studies (like Als et al. 2004) suggest very
little divergence from alcon. Ligurica too tends to be larger, paler and slower
flying than arion, also flying later in the year, but again it’s difficult to
be sure how distinct it is from its parent – Berecski et al. (2014) suggest
that it’s a species in the making – showing differences in the structure of the
wings and the male genitals, but only small ones in the genetics.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqrJQUVNCOeXBD9VKynBUZny-VTCYIKHXYPdTHy4LeXq0tqoxrlO1KS8nYFosDr4SmNjtGND9p_W1PFodf-X28tPHErhWisQrLGhyphenhyphenZ5TWnCjERAL8tfudgjdfpc6_8u8oXv_oJRyUAbM/s1600/Scarce+Large+Blue+-+Hidegseg+-Hungary+-0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1002" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqrJQUVNCOeXBD9VKynBUZny-VTCYIKHXYPdTHy4LeXq0tqoxrlO1KS8nYFosDr4SmNjtGND9p_W1PFodf-X28tPHErhWisQrLGhyphenhyphenZ5TWnCjERAL8tfudgjdfpc6_8u8oXv_oJRyUAbM/s640/Scarce+Large+Blue+-+Hidegseg+-Hungary+-0002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Large Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is all rather complicated, but at least illustrates an
important point about maculineas and indeed butterflies in general – like many
insects, with their short generation times, they’re able to constantly adapt
and evolve to a changing world – to paraphrase Matthew Oates – never underestimate
a butterfly, you only have to look at the Quino Checkerspot’s extraordinary
re-invention (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/07/endangered-butterfly-species-defies-climate-change-quino-checkerspot">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/07/endangered-butterfly-species-defies-climate-change-quino-checkerspot</a>)
to see the truth of these words. What this means is that the boundaries between
forms/species can be even more blurred than they usually are, with fascinating
evolutionary experiments happening right before our eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlI-j-SjSPji4M5yZNQkKLcS3Ao_Y8HJ1r8DaXHUahifqILcYAogCgNr_eX_FkHhcU8HWjXelDlc5xaklhvZ_Mr_ykYN2Za3weHcrt3CU9phTiCDj8soFFVjgezsUd_oH5gGkMkRzxMc/s1600/Maculineas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1600" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlI-j-SjSPji4M5yZNQkKLcS3Ao_Y8HJ1r8DaXHUahifqILcYAogCgNr_eX_FkHhcU8HWjXelDlc5xaklhvZ_Mr_ykYN2Za3weHcrt3CU9phTiCDj8soFFVjgezsUd_oH5gGkMkRzxMc/s640/Maculineas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ferto-Hansag's Maculineas - alcon, nausithous and teleius.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, in Hungary, I was helping with
mark-release-recapture work on three species: Scarce, Dusky and Alcon (Large
and ‘ligurica’ are found in other parts of Hungary too) around the Ferto Hansag
from the 10<sup>th</sup> July to the 20<sup>th</sup> August. These three species all favour damp
grasslands (in contrast to arion’s herb rich slopes), where teleius and
nausithous lay on the heads of Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), using
young unopened and old, flowering heads respectively, while alcon scatter their
eggs in what seems to be a fairly haphazard way over Marsh Gentians. Why the
Maculineas lay in the ways they do seems to still be the subject of on-going
debate, alcon appear to fire their eggs over the gentians with all the
precision of a small machine gun bound to a couple of jackhammers, often 60 or
70 white pin-pricks on one rather small plant, but Van Dyck et al. (2000)
reckoned they were cleverly laying them within the range of host ant (M.
ruginodis) nests, gradually shifting to favour ones further away later in the
season to reduce competition and cannibalism (the latter is rife amongst young
Maculineas). This makes a lot of sense – a young larva only has one shot at
adoption and has to be taken in by the correct host, otherwise its chances of
survival are pretty low. Still, in order to get to the stage where it dupes
innocent ants, a Maculinea larva has to find enough foodplant to get it through
the early weeks. This means that the conclusions of Thomas and Elmes (2001)
also make a lot of sense, deciding that egg-laying in all the European Maculinea
species is governed by host plant phenology – the plants have to be the right
age to provide food for the larvae. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCY9fmfqyf6veaWvUrhwpoXZwpvbIRtXZTuQfQfHjNiTD6hVsUfvpK1CXV7c72D0OZ_YOqDuHhWVmDaAqWqj603mtVzn-71gt3ZH-Gps8thZ_DgIhaBW4SirDAQMVemq0DR3h7xjVs0I/s1600/Alcon+Blue+Ova+-+Himod-+Hungary-0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="1600" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCY9fmfqyf6veaWvUrhwpoXZwpvbIRtXZTuQfQfHjNiTD6hVsUfvpK1CXV7c72D0OZ_YOqDuHhWVmDaAqWqj603mtVzn-71gt3ZH-Gps8thZ_DgIhaBW4SirDAQMVemq0DR3h7xjVs0I/s400/Alcon+Blue+Ova+-+Himod-+Hungary-0004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alcon ova scattered with gay abandon over a Marsh Gentian.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clearly then, an
impasse has been reached, come forth then Patricellia et al. (2015) to change
the game completely, deciding that neither conclusion is correct for M. arion, instead
proposing an explanation that is in fact far more complex (and interesting!).
When under stress, plants will often produce certain VOCs (volatile organic
compounds) to try and turn the tables on their stressor. Marjoram and Thyme
(the foodplants of arion), for example, produce Thymol and Carvacrol (both
isomers of each other), when their roots are damaged by growing ant colonies.
These are biocides that will kill the ants, thus saving the plant. Myrmica
species (such as our, and arion’s friend, M. sabuleti) are able to upregulate
genes to detoxify these compounds, causing the plant to produce them in ever
higher concentrations in order to win the battle for survival. Thus, high
concentrations of Carvacrol/Thymol around Marjoram/Thyme indicate the presence
of Myrmica nests, and as you’ve probably guessed, are highly attractive to
female Large Blues, they don’t detect the ants themselves, but a trophic
interaction caused by them – intricate, and quite extraordinary!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrus6Pp4ZL9b7J5GCs3a3B-Rm-PSCJ73-j45_NJen_ZzaSyGE1MxvwaDohGyOBS236pD7MNCGwnCNkGVaPwOzE79K_Ucp5_ZGKYq41ePc_S__mtObDEtP4rM5d5g19jYquNzgfbAsUqs/s1600/Maculineas+-+Urhanya+-+Hungary-0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrus6Pp4ZL9b7J5GCs3a3B-Rm-PSCJ73-j45_NJen_ZzaSyGE1MxvwaDohGyOBS236pD7MNCGwnCNkGVaPwOzE79K_Ucp5_ZGKYq41ePc_S__mtObDEtP4rM5d5g19jYquNzgfbAsUqs/s640/Maculineas+-+Urhanya+-+Hungary-0004.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce and Dusky Large Blues</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back to Hungary then, where the three Maculineas are
increasingly threatened by changing farming practices – mowing of meadows tends
to happen in July, taking down the gentians and burnet, and with it Maculinea
eggs, abandonment of Maculinea country (often already quite dense, tussocky
grassland) quickly leads to scrub and no more Maculineas, and introduced Canadian
Goldenrod (the cursed Soldago) has swept across Hungary and frequently takes
over the damp meadows if not managed correctly. In other words, Maculineas are
threatened by just about any change in either direction to their habitat, and
their continued survival requires careful management and constant monitoring.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-XQuoQe0EHae9BUgwI2JhZf3gb-QOeq91C3_GNPqQsikzLFTGXlQ2y-4qKbrDsH3D1x9RIivh_4TpYsJGjQysyGd3yhQqYK3WQpe-Z0j_ScV8YflxlTEz3zrqcuJg3c0GfRu2sDTwpQ/s1600/Scarce+Large+Blues+-+Hidegseg+-Hungary+-0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-XQuoQe0EHae9BUgwI2JhZf3gb-QOeq91C3_GNPqQsikzLFTGXlQ2y-4qKbrDsH3D1x9RIivh_4TpYsJGjQysyGd3yhQqYK3WQpe-Z0j_ScV8YflxlTEz3zrqcuJg3c0GfRu2sDTwpQ/s640/Scarce+Large+Blues+-+Hidegseg+-Hungary+-0013.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Large Blues (with a bonus Dusky)!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As it happens, both of these things are happening in the
Ferto Hansag, and Maculineas are doing rather well. When I visited, they were
having a boom year (there’s some evidence that their abundance is cyclical,
following a similar pattern to Holly Blues and Marsh Fritillaries in the UK,
though for different reasons) and numbers were very high at all four of the
sites we worked at. In fact, we marked record numbers at several of them, with
2500 at one, and my personal tally coming to a respectable 2410 butterflies
processed overall. The peak of lazy high summer days for any British butterfly
enthusiast is an evening on the chalk, surrounding by little pale flags winking
in the grass heads – a communal roost of butterflies is a hard sight to beat,
and one indelibly associated with Chalkhill Blues in our butterflying psyche.
They’re not infrequent with Common Blues too, and sometimes even Adonis if they’re
feeling really enterprising – but Large Blues? No, surely not! To see communal
roosts of 20, 30, 40 Maculineas in Hungary was quite mind-blowing, a sight so
wrong, but so right, unquestionably ‘how it ought to be’, and a sight that will
be one of the abiding memories of the trip.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHocuBndqFdAcoen7at1T7adRGdmEtcwHvKb3VzzqB2AJ4bmcn2w1JM6Rec8wmRxJz4w_zgX2r-TMcYuA4OrSQZLHxeOBIvf8nDtaBT1zjKEs7gU-5ttkgWzH_duxWOkbcuskxChPyqI/s1600/Marking+a+maculinea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1600" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHocuBndqFdAcoen7at1T7adRGdmEtcwHvKb3VzzqB2AJ4bmcn2w1JM6Rec8wmRxJz4w_zgX2r-TMcYuA4OrSQZLHxeOBIvf8nDtaBT1zjKEs7gU-5ttkgWzH_duxWOkbcuskxChPyqI/s640/Marking+a+maculinea.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marking a Dusky Large Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This biblical abundance was no co-incidence, these are some
of the strongest Maculinea colonies in Hungary (perhaps Europe as a whole),
with much of it due to the hard work of the staff in the Ferto Hansag,
constantly seeking to compromise, to balance the needs of the butterflies with
the needs of a rapidly intensifying agricultural industry; allowing some areas
to be mown for hay with refuges for the butterflies, allowing hunters to clear
scrub and burn some areas in return for leaving others. Meeting the needs of
these most capricious of butterflies in a fast-changing world is never easy,
but it seems it can be done, with just the right amount of sensitivity,
patience, and most importantly, hopeless devotion to the cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDW4_uCkWB_Yv9lLQME2Mu6BY5cwMLlSQwgdidTPrXbKebpcEe-X1kndWF7vYbHqCx-WOg30m3ECXDVfJY5MVDHWBma4HoCD4eLacv-Qv3vdP7mEaSZSRP3x6qHjqId_e1jW8iV5OOw0/s1600/Scarce+Large+Blue+-+Ebergoc+-+Hungary-0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDW4_uCkWB_Yv9lLQME2Mu6BY5cwMLlSQwgdidTPrXbKebpcEe-X1kndWF7vYbHqCx-WOg30m3ECXDVfJY5MVDHWBma4HoCD4eLacv-Qv3vdP7mEaSZSRP3x6qHjqId_e1jW8iV5OOw0/s640/Scarce+Large+Blue+-+Ebergoc+-+Hungary-0013.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Large Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Andras Ambrus, the park’s resident lepidopterist, one of the
most energetic people I’ve ever met (living proof of the adage that butterflies
keep you young) with whom I was lucky enough to work, fits that bill perfectly,
having carried out the MRR work on some of the sites for over 17 years. While I
was struggling with my first words (sadly not ‘butterfly’), he was marking Maculineas,
and has continued to do so ever since. This ongoing project provides vital data
about population sizes (how are the butterflies responding to management, and
wider changes in the countryside and climate?), dispersal (what’s their ability
to deal with obstruction and colonise new areas like? It turns out nausithous
is much more able to deal with tree-lines than teleius), and phenology (are the
Maculineas, like other species, emerging earlier in response to a warming
climate?), that in turn feeds into their conservation. Without people like
Andras, and their work, young buttefliers like me wouldn’t be able to enjoy
such rare butterflies in such extraordinary abundance, we owe them a great
deal.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y9ZZVY1X2zfQCf-qb5gZQAu-jSPcyq1_NcJyqT2iNCIgQWzBPj-3ggtIkB6_qYOJLrhS1Yv6vanRMAbSmYtEwmpV8JVIGvJX9baXbNOInivBXtQGcEA6TlO70VJgqNtn4WXncuB8sFA/s1600/Dusky+Large+Blue+-+Hansag+-+Hungary+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y9ZZVY1X2zfQCf-qb5gZQAu-jSPcyq1_NcJyqT2iNCIgQWzBPj-3ggtIkB6_qYOJLrhS1Yv6vanRMAbSmYtEwmpV8JVIGvJX9baXbNOInivBXtQGcEA6TlO70VJgqNtn4WXncuB8sFA/s640/Dusky+Large+Blue+-+Hansag+-+Hungary+2.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusky Large Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Not only do I owe a great deal to Andras, but also to EIG –
I’ve already said that the Annual Research Bursary is the opportunity of a
lifetime, but this cannot be overstated. Being able to spend every day for 6
weeks not only surrounded by Maculineas, but mythic, scarcely-imagined beings
like Large Coppers, Lesser Purple Emperors and Common Gliders, seeing Eastern
Imperial Eagles passing low over your garden, and Sakers diving on hapless
kestrels just down the road – these are memories that will last forever, and
are all because someone saw fit to reward my enthusiasm and an A4 page setting
out my plans with a whole £500.</div>
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If you are a young person with an interest in nature reading
this, the message is quite simple – <i>apply!</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbiUSq3FZblKbd98JPIgJQM-FM-U9ioXEsD5YgoC2qy6CDiMqXdIgI1kZ_kRY5FKE5ekiQY_V8oOCegqppDI8t-RSwhSvOzLrElPHj8MDxBcA8w0uoEKcUHxWwokAqwO3Qb-GsDxN168/s1600/Urhanya+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbiUSq3FZblKbd98JPIgJQM-FM-U9ioXEsD5YgoC2qy6CDiMqXdIgI1kZ_kRY5FKE5ekiQY_V8oOCegqppDI8t-RSwhSvOzLrElPHj8MDxBcA8w0uoEKcUHxWwokAqwO3Qb-GsDxN168/s640/Urhanya+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maculinea country</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u>References</u> </div>
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Als, T., Vila, R., Kandul, N., Nash, D., Yen. S-H., Hsu,
Y-F., Mignault, A., Boomsma, J., Pierce, N. (2004). The evolution of
alternative parasitic life histories in large blue butterflies. Nature. 432 (7015),
p.386.</div>
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Bereczki, J., Tóth, J., Sramkó, G., Varga, Z. (2014). Multilevel
studies on the two phenological forms of Large Blue ( Maculinea arion )
(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary
Research. 52 (1), pp.32-43.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hayes, M. (2015). The biology and ecology of the large blue
butterfly Phengaris (Maculinea) arion : a review. Journal of Insect
Conservation. 19 (6), pp.1037-1051.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Patricelli, D., Barbero, F., Occhipinti, A., Bertea, C.,
Bonelli, S., Casacci, L., Zebelo, S., Crocoll, C., Gershenzon, J., Maffei, M.,
Thomas, J., Balletto, E. (2015). Plant defences against ants provide a pathway
to social parasitism in butterflies. Proceedings. Biological sciences. 282 (1811).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thomas J. and Elmes G. (2001). Foodplant niche selection
rather than the presence of ant nests explains oviposition patterns in the
myrmecophilous butterfly genus Maculinea. Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
Biological Sciences. 268 (1466), pp.471-477.</div>
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Van Dyck, H., Oostermeijer, J. G., Talloen, W., Feenstra,
V., Hidde, A. V. D., Wynhoff, I. (2000). Does the presence of ant nests matter
for oviposition to a specialized myrmecophilous Maculinea butterfly? Proceedings
of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 267 (1446), pp.861-866.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-30489983253459155892017-04-24T03:40:00.000-07:002020-03-04T08:42:02.860-08:00Larval Doings<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After moaning in various forms about the hard time that
winter represents for most butterfliers, I’ve now encountered another period of
lean pickings, the March – April gap, when the first hibernators appear in
early March, injecting the first rays of spring-like hope into the year, before
promptly it is promptly removed as the next cold front rolls in from the West.
This time of year is arguably more fraught than winter, winter at least brings
with it the comforting certainty that there are no butterflies to see, no
precious moments of summer to snatch, but in the March – April gap, you can’t
help but feel you should be doing more to seek out those first Orange Tips
(this is of course foolish, the first Orange Tips <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i></b> find you), and so
it is that a new season of frustration is born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">To combat this, like winter, I have developed a daring
strategy to combat this, turning to those shadowy brethren, the immature
stages, this year, those orange sports-car butterflies – the Fritillaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Somerset is not as blessed with Fritillaries as perhaps it
should be, High Brown was last seen at Hurlstone Point in about 2000, victim of
extremely challenging terrain for management, and a lack of resources, and
Pearl – Bordered Fritillary on Exmoor, up at Mounsey in 1992, whilst Marsh Frit
is on the ropes, maintaining a transient presence up on Exmoor, and it would
seem, hiding out elsewhere, with the exciting report of a larval web in East
Somerset this spring, it remains to be seen if they will re-appear at Ash Priors
this spring (fingers and toes firmly crossed).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvyZivhBhgICfzI11Sbn6gQyNLci_p5iqt7vknj1bGx2iN8aA7pqFANZGd-yhY389lNWGzoBfB3VDVz7zJPiQQ_1yktZWDMAEBGOg7kgTQGlj0bmtICqtsFDTpR1BlqgJkrNDDNN39Xo/s1600/Fritillary+larvae+29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvyZivhBhgICfzI11Sbn6gQyNLci_p5iqt7vknj1bGx2iN8aA7pqFANZGd-yhY389lNWGzoBfB3VDVz7zJPiQQ_1yktZWDMAEBGOg7kgTQGlj0bmtICqtsFDTpR1BlqgJkrNDDNN39Xo/s320/Fritillary+larvae+29.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 4th instar Heath Fritillary Larva at Haddon Hill - 21/03</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite this, it’s not all doom and gloom, indeed, one of
our trademark species is a Fritillary – the Heath Fritillary. This shouldn’t
really be a trademark, a rarity, since it was once a common enough species to
earn its own nickname – ‘The Woodman’s Friend’, thanks to its dependence on
managed woodland, where it breeds in areas of coppice, typically peaking 2-4
years after coppicing and then tailing off and having to move on to new areas.
In coppiced woodland Heath Frits breed on Cow Wheat, laying eggs in small
batches (averaging about 40) on and around the foodplant, typically growing in
sunnier areas, often over bare ground. The key here – open coppice, sunny
spots, reflective bare ground is heat – this butterfly is one of some that like
it hot, and can’t survive without it, and so the rapid decline in coppicing
sounded the death knell for most of its populations at the turn of the 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
century, leaving it isolated in Kent (the East Blean Woods complex), and on the
Devon-Cornwall Border. This meant then, that its re-discovery on Exmoor on 1984
was one of the great butterflying events of the last century, up there with
Fort William’s Chequered Skippers, when strong colonies were found completely
defying convention and flying between 200-400m (no other British colonies are
above 100m) on moorland edges – they make ‘em hard in Somerset. This was at a
time when the loss of the Large Blue had galvanised conservationists, and
intensive study by Martin Warren, and some timely management changes ensured
its future, though not before a rocky period on Exmoor in the 90s. Now it flies
in quite a few areas on Exmoor, and most of its old 70s haunts, as well as
several Essex re-introduction sites. Interestingly, its foodplants at the Devon
and Cornwall sites (where it flies in old hay meadows and railway cuttings) are
Germander Speedwell and Ribwort Plantain – this catholic foodplant choice seems
to preclude rarity, but it underlines the key point about Heath Frits – it is
the quality of the foodplant, the heat, that is key.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Nowadays a future for this butterfly in our fair isle looks
relatively assured (though recent UKBMS results indicate it has declined by 82%
over the last decade), with BC’s Two Moors butterfly project just finished, and
currently its All the Moor project helping it along on Exmoor (with lots of
great management by the National Trust’s Holnicote estate), and I’m lucky
enough to have a thriving colony up the road at Haddon Hill, and so it was that
I paid them a visit on the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> of March. The larvae hatch from
their egg batches after a couple of weeks, and feed companionably together in a
small web before dispersing in their second instar, and in September, in their
third instar, spinning up the edges of dead leaves near the ground and moulting
into their fourth instar and going into diapause. They emerge, phoenix-like the
following year, basking on dead leaves as their foodplant germinates around
them, often in friendly little groups. These larvae were my target on my visit,
and after about 20 minutes searching, I struck gold, 2 singletons, and a happy
trio all in a small area of bilberry at the bottom of the slope where they fly
(about 6 metres from the wood edge, so nice and sunny) where the Cow Wheat was
just getting going. They were laid out on dead Birch leaves on the moss through
which the plants were growing, on the edge of a trampled Pony track (providing
a sheltered little ‘valley’ for them) – sheltered, sunny, like everything with
the Heath Frits – it screams heat. These weren’t up to much, and didn’t move in
the hour I watched them – living the good life evidently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9FRrbVgbQkmYaTRoLyXENiPdrm-FT0TDnAot8RSrHMu1QunRsGZyBPmxkL-HE0EUAOYpVhByw6ByFtJoGVlCdst5mskVlTo9kAIQnI68WSmVIVpd8tnyGQ_h4zZ_MB8jd162M8X9s5Q/s1600/Fritillaries+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9FRrbVgbQkmYaTRoLyXENiPdrm-FT0TDnAot8RSrHMu1QunRsGZyBPmxkL-HE0EUAOYpVhByw6ByFtJoGVlCdst5mskVlTo9kAIQnI68WSmVIVpd8tnyGQ_h4zZ_MB8jd162M8X9s5Q/s640/Fritillaries+2.JPG" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4th Instar Heath Frit larvae at Haddon Hill (21/03), singleton in the left circle, and trio in the right<br />
note the warm dead leaves, relatively open bilberry growing through moss (where Cow Wheat is germinating)<br />
and the small path (foreground) creating a sheltered little valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWTei1IBm_Q811CH_SOI7OGC8dt03rlEgzoOV-8wqCKZBTvVVYtyG2RVb46i0HHQsTtDbq9eu5jHTGTv21eObmDXjJz6qqzARxAkSw-OC26Rvm_wVnxhJ5NMWGbLKA5L84hGInHP_WTo/s1600/Fritillaries+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWTei1IBm_Q811CH_SOI7OGC8dt03rlEgzoOV-8wqCKZBTvVVYtyG2RVb46i0HHQsTtDbq9eu5jHTGTv21eObmDXjJz6qqzARxAkSw-OC26Rvm_wVnxhJ5NMWGbLKA5L84hGInHP_WTo/s640/Fritillaries+3.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A single 4th Instar Heath Fritillary larva on the circled leaf - a warm, open mossy hollow, on 11/04 about 20 larvae were here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Impressed by these spiny little creatures, I decided to
return to see them in their magnificent final form (6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> instar)
later on, I made good on this on the 11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> April and was glad I did,
for a larval horde awaited, with 36 counted lounging about amongst the Cow
Wheat in 45 minutes of not especially intensive searching/photography. When a
caterpillar is so common you have to watch your feet, it is a butterfly
unashamedly thriving – and it’s good to see. Once again they were all intent on
getting warm, basking either on the moss through which the foodplant was
germinating, or once more, the dead leaves. I think the key to my lucky strike probably
had a lot to do with the area I searched, one of the most open patches of the
site, with the largest quantity of these warm moss mats, as opposed to denser
areas of bilberry where the cow-wheat is closed out and the ground shaded and
things are less suitable for the larvae – heat, heat, heat! I haven’t yet
decided what instar these larvae are – they look very similar to the fourth
instar larvae of the month before, but with more white spotting (is this just
more obvious because of their larger size?) – I’d be interested if someone
knows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Y1KxSQDaik42LHX40w4ZY1GWw586lOg5HpUE66pGFNMPMyYYxLSQJjAgxnXRRI1CCeCxyRrZ-SPsxB5Z2bVOAalLBcBrdOshxgwBU5KG2aHaSrNXAsW9H3YLaUqV4Pp_ngAteqXZPUY/s1600/IMG_6461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Y1KxSQDaik42LHX40w4ZY1GWw586lOg5HpUE66pGFNMPMyYYxLSQJjAgxnXRRI1CCeCxyRrZ-SPsxB5Z2bVOAalLBcBrdOshxgwBU5KG2aHaSrNXAsW9H3YLaUqV4Pp_ngAteqXZPUY/s640/IMG_6461.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Heath Fritillary larval horde, the two on the right are on a small Cow Wheat seedling (you can see some nibbling to the left of the middle one) - where there is one, there are often more!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDhmZJCn0H66Url40aAlYO23UU7BibFlL_zmnhCXedEVB8GkW-MUA7TFgItHMTidvdfjLaYpMIuQtfSCAeSDfWvHpg7SJ2uYB4V5w1bD2lz0rVYCLxUuxMuPB55-uCtX59-cLgwP2xaI/s1600/IMG_6374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDhmZJCn0H66Url40aAlYO23UU7BibFlL_zmnhCXedEVB8GkW-MUA7TFgItHMTidvdfjLaYpMIuQtfSCAeSDfWvHpg7SJ2uYB4V5w1bD2lz0rVYCLxUuxMuPB55-uCtX59-cLgwP2xaI/s640/IMG_6374.JPG" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heath Fritillary larva at Haddon Hill 11/04 - not too sure what instar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumV5NWOp9FLou-MnYpeKr4BYKAmtQzvpTUJKbnDRU8MyvRnS0xWJtjFPI4ljsEys0Ye6SYJYx5ALw15KYEOhAtHx2gFluV-62rnVcWLPpsiXba_RKwAwjvly0anY0oKA7KpX1U8EK5RQ/s1600/IMG_6607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumV5NWOp9FLou-MnYpeKr4BYKAmtQzvpTUJKbnDRU8MyvRnS0xWJtjFPI4ljsEys0Ye6SYJYx5ALw15KYEOhAtHx2gFluV-62rnVcWLPpsiXba_RKwAwjvly0anY0oKA7KpX1U8EK5RQ/s640/IMG_6607.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heath Fritillary larva basking at Haddon Hill 11/04</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpznJgNMg6LKF97ERvc-yfHJJWGdJcB5b2VIne12rqWKjvL8VA-0i7mAPzNH8i87pCvFJikTETvKBgombuQmnln14HgACMcI3v9DmLo4V1fu6MlKFQQGYydt9QFMtgqdwMBhRniYbFDS8/s1600/IMG_6588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpznJgNMg6LKF97ERvc-yfHJJWGdJcB5b2VIne12rqWKjvL8VA-0i7mAPzNH8i87pCvFJikTETvKBgombuQmnln14HgACMcI3v9DmLo4V1fu6MlKFQQGYydt9QFMtgqdwMBhRniYbFDS8/s640/IMG_6588.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This area had about 30 of the larvae I found - note how much more open and mossy it is than the surrounding area, at the bottom of the slope - sheltered and warm, Cow Wheat was germinating in large quantities.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtNRJoqmILLNarOlkK97OFNeofs2wDqkMnLdYevp_T_uSaFbQ61HApEwOi7mVx-rYmuLIrAq5NtdObtRBdicPz_0Gy5wpd84KjKDsTGDvdnowwZpPsyUX-JtPdoWuo0BewtW_DSprANA/s1600/IMG_6576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtNRJoqmILLNarOlkK97OFNeofs2wDqkMnLdYevp_T_uSaFbQ61HApEwOi7mVx-rYmuLIrAq5NtdObtRBdicPz_0Gy5wpd84KjKDsTGDvdnowwZpPsyUX-JtPdoWuo0BewtW_DSprANA/s640/IMG_6576.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same area from the other side.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Heath Frits were not the only larval target this spring.
More to follow!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-35065384536872022262017-03-17T07:12:00.000-07:002020-03-04T08:43:06.320-08:00Alpine Amble - Part 3<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After a reasonable attempt at spring the over the last few
days that has seen me clock up all the 5 normal hibernators, the weather has
turned and Lepidoptera once more seem a rather distant and frivolous summer
thing, and as such, it’s time to burn the swiss midnight oil afresh.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BVW roosting.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The ‘Whites’ is a bit of an amorphous term that I tend to
apply fairly freely to anything in the first 80 pages of Tolman &
Lewington, hardly a monophyletic group, but convenient. This includes
Swallowtails, Apollos, Festoons, Brimstones, Clouded Yellows, and then at some
point actual whites. Over the course of the walk, we notched up 17 species in
this fairly arbitrary group, with the commonest probably Black-Veined. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acrobatic copulation from BVWs</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite their relative abundance, I always find these
butterflies strangely thrilling, a little piece of Old England flying by on
their papery wings. Black-Veined Whites became extinct in the UK in the 1920s,
with the failing of the last Kentish populations, a string of releases has
followed since, famously by E. H. Newman in the grounds of Churchill’s
Chartwell estate, and most recently, a clandestine introduction to Stockbridge
Down resulting in trampling of some of the site’s key habitats by ardent
photographers – a cautionary tale about the use of such releases if ever there
was one. The causes of extinction are poorly known – Colin Pratt’s ‘Modern
review of the Demise of A. crataegi L., the Black-Veined White’ notes a string
of wet Septembers tended to precede extinctions on most sites, and the cries of
many frustrated breeders of the time who suggested an increase in passerine
populations (due to shotgun innovations=fewer raptors=more blue tits=more
predation of larval webs and pupae). In essence, it’s far from an open and shut
case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Green-Veined White at roost.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Following the veined motif, Mountain Green-Veined Whites
became one of the commonest butterflies at higher altitudes, and despite being
very active in sunny conditions, were relatively easy to find and photograph
when at roost on flowerheads. These differ from ‘our’ Green-Veined Whites by
having heavier, greyish streaking, and often more of a dark suffusion.
Interestingly, they have this in common with Scottish, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thomsoni</i> Green-Veined Whites – a nice bit of convergent evolution,
adapting to their common struggle against frequent colder spells.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having looked back through my photos from the trip, it’s
clear I didn’t pay perhaps as much attention to the whites as I should have,
with only a few photos of Mountain Clouded Yellows and their kin, probably
because most of it was lavished on one particular set of broad white wings –
Apollos. These are arguably one of Europe’s most impressive butterflies –
ardent brits might choose the Purple Emperor for its dazzling iridescence, and
aloof, regal nature, yet Apollos are amazing in a different kind of way: ethereal, seemingly detached, gliding past on wings so large and papery it’s
possible to locate them as they soar past the back of your head, purely on the
basis of the rustling they make as they move, and for such a butterfly, an
iconic setting is a must, so snow-capped peaks and sound of music meadows it is – they,
like most alpine butterflies, are a sight it’s hard not to be seriously
impressed by.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-10918245542285107942016-12-06T13:04:00.001-08:002016-12-06T13:32:56.830-08:00Alpine Amble - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Searching for Brown Hairstreak eggs to stave off the winter
blues is proving unsuccessful, with favoured thickets of young Blackthorn
having been flailed left right and centre, so it’s back to Switzerland to eke
out the remains of the summer that was. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Unlike the lycaenids, the fritillaries didn’t yield any new
species for me, but it was nice to re-acquaint myself with old friends in a
different context. Fritillary is a vernacular name that doesn’t really reflect
the taxonomy of the butterflies that it’s applied to, which can be divided into
two main groups: Melitaeini (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Melitaea</i>) and Argynnini (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argynnis</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Issoria</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boloria</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brenthis</i> in the Alps), 2 rather distantly-related
groups of Nymphalids. Melitaeini are generally smaller, with the classic
checkerboard markings, while the Argynnini are typically the larger, more
orange, and more mobile species.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Glaciegenta</em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My favourite of the fritillaries is one of the Melitaeini,
the Marsh Fritillary (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas aurinia</i>).
In the UK, it favours damp neutral/acid meadows and calciolous grassland, but
in Europe is a bit more cosmopolitan, and has evolved into a large variety of
regional subspecies, generally with a high altitude form, and low altitude form
in each area. A new paper gives loads of really cool information on the
taxonomy (and some pictures of the many awesome-looking forms): </span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.12167/abstract"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.12167/abstract</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
, in Spain for example <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas beckeri</i>
(or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas aurinia beckeri</i> if you’re
not a splitter) flies at low altitudes, while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas aurinia pyrenesdebilis</i> favours the peaks, and in the
South of France: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas aurinia
provencalis</i> in the lowlands, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Euphydryas
aurinia glaciegenta</i> in the Alps. The latter, formerly lumped with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pyrenesdebilis</i> as just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">debilis</i> (on account of morphological
similarities resulting from convergent evolution, the two are pretty different both in terms of genitalia and
genetics apparently) was the subspecies I caught up with, a smaller, more
contrasty form than the ones I know and love from the west country (Marsh Frits
tend to get a bit smaller and darker with altitude). These stunning little
beasts were toughing it out by one of our campsites at 2000m towards the end of
the walk, they feed on gentians (unlike ours, which opt for Devil’s Bit
Scabious), and fly much later in the year, between June and August depending,
like many things in the Alps, on the altitude.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfrsmOrbu-t58gIz3fHbt2wRE3MLWRxm8OTt4i1cDBBOPBhm7bGozxnuZhn_E3WVoTFJv7Fjyw4G6MsVVvbgwHiq9NQh9M8McsP7eOIssLvKL1yZfzIUyb4xNblOkhHEi5cwwOH-d3ew/s1600/Mountain+Fritillary+-+Day+9+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfrsmOrbu-t58gIz3fHbt2wRE3MLWRxm8OTt4i1cDBBOPBhm7bGozxnuZhn_E3WVoTFJv7Fjyw4G6MsVVvbgwHiq9NQh9M8McsP7eOIssLvKL1yZfzIUyb4xNblOkhHEi5cwwOH-d3ew/s400/Mountain+Fritillary+-+Day+9+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Fritillary (metallic female!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QKVG7Kez9CUYVuCwHY0YBjCqPBfTKu_q6e1qBTM2gtnV9gkG1uxIAxPh1SSPHKzgK0k69Mg2t87-OiuWHoMW81rK1EVQEmg1zUrvRknMzxrU4Wdh6sb5p8tfevFz1IJYWC8LeFM47zo/s1600/Mountain+Fritillary+-+Day+9+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3QKVG7Kez9CUYVuCwHY0YBjCqPBfTKu_q6e1qBTM2gtnV9gkG1uxIAxPh1SSPHKzgK0k69Mg2t87-OiuWHoMW81rK1EVQEmg1zUrvRknMzxrU4Wdh6sb5p8tfevFz1IJYWC8LeFM47zo/s400/Mountain+Fritillary+-+Day+9+6.JPG" width="331" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Fritillary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQJ6YoqqHeqZEa4Gtu5cNhESzd0I-ev9an5yN4o4MMVAoMUuK88FkdlNh85knxkQmC3XBhYzRAg6qYkbaANQb3Zcdfep4p3QtSXyY4V2EADT0j0sld7Dfpt_WFgh3B6V7nY5S1obgth8/s1600/Shepherd%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQJ6YoqqHeqZEa4Gtu5cNhESzd0I-ev9an5yN4o4MMVAoMUuK88FkdlNh85knxkQmC3XBhYzRAg6qYkbaANQb3Zcdfep4p3QtSXyY4V2EADT0j0sld7Dfpt_WFgh3B6V7nY5S1obgth8/s400/Shepherd%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen+2.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shepherd's Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HxbnvP1SBjYCaNkjmIAgSlDYuFjasgSjiv2AH3U4hvUdk1B2dOp3wkaoNul0xshQ05fhAou-IT6onroPTrApLVJfZr4c2XrZQKF-QpFFe55E-DfJ308qOXXK4XwphQWsmyP-mcfyyWA/s1600/Shepherd%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HxbnvP1SBjYCaNkjmIAgSlDYuFjasgSjiv2AH3U4hvUdk1B2dOp3wkaoNul0xshQ05fhAou-IT6onroPTrApLVJfZr4c2XrZQKF-QpFFe55E-DfJ308qOXXK4XwphQWsmyP-mcfyyWA/s400/Shepherd%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shepherd's Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A variety of other high Alpine species were flying alongside
these at our campsite, including Shepherd’s Fritillaries, a species that looks
very similar to the closely-related Mountain Fritillary (the males can be distinguished
by greater red suffusion on the underside, and two rows of submarginal spots in
Shepherd’s, and the females by Mountain’s gorgeous blue suffusion). Both are
high altitude specialists feeding on violets, in common with most <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boloria</i> species, and fly extremely
quickly in hot weather, fortunately I was able to catch up with a couple of them
on cooler afternoons. These flew alongside their close, and equally similar-looking
relatives, Small Pearl-Bordered and Pearl-Bordered Fritillaries, both are
classic spring species here in the UK (apart from when Small Pearls sneak in a
second brood and ruin everything in August), but with the high altitudes and
cold temperatures in the Alps delaying development, I found many mud-puddling
companionably alongside Silver-Spotted Skippers and Chalkhill Blues – the
ultimate species of heady late summer days on the chalk back here, with the
orange emperors of the spring woodlands and meadows – weird! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir54D860NVWvO5ga0A0MP-pkS6sUCn1kQgpDlp5RMP17QGJFrB8MenzeCbsNEWXyf39qfGmKhlq4yTAO_l9UUm2bgt1pDJDNKLFXg6XwhdB8xCqXpHhRcVtXULeDs1MwiGsFpEovJ2gKQ/s1600/High+Brown+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Langstafel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir54D860NVWvO5ga0A0MP-pkS6sUCn1kQgpDlp5RMP17QGJFrB8MenzeCbsNEWXyf39qfGmKhlq4yTAO_l9UUm2bgt1pDJDNKLFXg6XwhdB8xCqXpHhRcVtXULeDs1MwiGsFpEovJ2gKQ/s400/High+Brown+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Langstafel.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High Brown Fritillary (Note sex brands!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAykcvFj9Am5XZuGMHHlhZlQsO3_m2WHgr9RTFsVh1-Rcp8IYD3EqYLW5YTXlrZPeS8uN4Vh_dULEqpAceI-3MDftLHTExofM1_-1FIWO3EJBcPlHgCz_-uADLtGw0ItFw-UJwtgq9uLI/s1600/High+Brown+Fritillary+-+Day+12+-+Nr+Sargans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAykcvFj9Am5XZuGMHHlhZlQsO3_m2WHgr9RTFsVh1-Rcp8IYD3EqYLW5YTXlrZPeS8uN4Vh_dULEqpAceI-3MDftLHTExofM1_-1FIWO3EJBcPlHgCz_-uADLtGw0ItFw-UJwtgq9uLI/s400/High+Brown+Fritillary+-+Day+12+-+Nr+Sargans.JPG" width="327" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again note sex brands!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRTzZs6nsYFbbW6dwXL4R4mFLbeyHf4Q1YHnMoIiUcd99VuRhLCEkahdJcfiWwWvJfq1upwjORQT6JVhHLrkmJwiU1tXdAAFZDa4bvATrIueZjADTjCYrzvr7efYMdOH8kQUMmeBr-WA/s1600/Niobe+Fritillary+-+Nr+Zermatt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRTzZs6nsYFbbW6dwXL4R4mFLbeyHf4Q1YHnMoIiUcd99VuRhLCEkahdJcfiWwWvJfq1upwjORQT6JVhHLrkmJwiU1tXdAAFZDa4bvATrIueZjADTjCYrzvr7efYMdOH8kQUMmeBr-WA/s400/Niobe+Fritillary+-+Nr+Zermatt.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Niobe Frit egg-laying.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Other classic summer species flying alongside these early
emergers were the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Argynnis</i> species,
High Brown, Silver-Washed, Niobe and Dark Green Fritillaries (in order of
increasing abundance). The latter were present in pretty much every flowery
meadow, like lepidopteran sports cars, fast, flashy, and utterly unattainable,
I’ve seen them every year for the last 6 and still haven’t got a photo that I
actually like. I thought I’d succeeded with the photo below, but in an elated
rush of blood to the head, I’d not noticed the enormous shiny sex-brands on the
forewings that should have been screaming High Brown, this was only encountered
a couple of times, both in the small, sheltered clearings that seem to be a key
part of Alpine woodlands. Niobe was slightly commoner towards the end of our
trip, quite distinctive in flight with its slightly paler ground colour and
blue-looking veins (it’s the little things), it falls somewhere between Dark
Green (very rounded) and High Brown (pretty angular) in terms of its shape, and
was found in pretty similar habitat to the High Browns. Silver-Washed
Fritillaries are the odd ones out of the group, discarding the ‘dots and pearls’
underside motif of their relatives in favour of their own magnificent green and
white water colour. They’re more of a woodland butterfly too, and like High
Brown, tended to pop up in clearings along the route. Interestingly, the
ultimate <em>Argynnis</em> has just begun to stake a claim to Swiss territory (as
chronicled on Guy Padfield’s UK Butterflies Diary here: </span><a href="http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4872&p=74964&hilit=Cardinal#p74964"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4872&p=74964&hilit=Cardinal#p74964</span></a>, <span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">this
is of course, the legendary Cardinal, possibly the chief of all the European
Fritillaries, a giant, roided up silver-washed with a green tint and
extravagant red forewing panel just because, I was lucky enough to catch up
with a couple in the south of France a few years ago (see photos).</span><br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5AnkXXOxBpCFHOFrVQ5zDlS6sESX0Lrq1WvJimd0FmfuSzRV7hg1KzQ5Dt8r2aI5Fvtgmeo6bu-jS66dhoYARybbP1kOwxbnub5SE6eJa-v0_v7P52wZcZA_0p01xhsDXdNgMMD-Ahs/s1600/Cardinal+-+The+Luberon+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5AnkXXOxBpCFHOFrVQ5zDlS6sESX0Lrq1WvJimd0FmfuSzRV7hg1KzQ5Dt8r2aI5Fvtgmeo6bu-jS66dhoYARybbP1kOwxbnub5SE6eJa-v0_v7P52wZcZA_0p01xhsDXdNgMMD-Ahs/s400/Cardinal+-+The+Luberon+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus pic of 'The Chief'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1r0uk-PHx6F2I3UJe0Nu-Tbh7S2u08_DxTc5x-klzhal92_g6KZcSbb3S1mGYkJGraU1TDUG2J9gqdSO6rNN6WESAaRq3ooE9nurdbm8Y4jOT4Lcw55LZtbQpsnc37C8NKyshEalY2s/s1600/Silver+-+Washed+Fritillary+-+Day+12+-+Nr+Sargans.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHfeLQ03lLot-SI8BFl_tl6OeqHf-PIqZRCmgvqnDLaI7-lzc2Wo71BofNtkCsv7InD7xKrLYVaDAf2gnforpsmtD5rbknp2Sk6_xQMYh59iHkfREyqqMbALimgEGUjVtNG1ZAYBApO8/s1600/Titania%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Nr+Elm+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHfeLQ03lLot-SI8BFl_tl6OeqHf-PIqZRCmgvqnDLaI7-lzc2Wo71BofNtkCsv7InD7xKrLYVaDAf2gnforpsmtD5rbknp2Sk6_xQMYh59iHkfREyqqMbALimgEGUjVtNG1ZAYBApO8/s400/Titania%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Nr+Elm+2.JPG" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tit Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9vTOLGHVptMNPXOR8rNlPiXf-jGG6Ruuqr35JwOYb-KG0x0t8QvIKiqcFoTR_lf73pAH4Txx8OXZ2c1cN6eV2B64FFFZjPrXkQIXmjkckSK2UODOUSAze3Go2B9zQv9joc2H0uAliEA/s1600/Titania%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9vTOLGHVptMNPXOR8rNlPiXf-jGG6Ruuqr35JwOYb-KG0x0t8QvIKiqcFoTR_lf73pAH4Txx8OXZ2c1cN6eV2B64FFFZjPrXkQIXmjkckSK2UODOUSAze3Go2B9zQv9joc2H0uAliEA/s400/Titania%2527s+Fritillary+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+2.JPG" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tit Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The commonest fritillary from the trip was undoubtedly
Titania’s, this is </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">a smart butterfly that tends to pop up hand in hand with
Purple-Edged Coppers (since both feed on Bistort in damp meadows). Like most
Bolorias, it’s a wonderfully graceful flyer, with interspersing rapid flapping
with lengthy glides. Perhaps this is where it gets its name from, Titania, in
Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream was the Queen of the Fairies.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbyLt6TjQGOTKR89_q7lWKkpZD3_MOP422nCx-IHlAA0KD_Azoay8sCsGVxpe5SvEnXKUOPbIHhgwRiLbG1dZf7NoMV8BDkknqoNuFCywIRUYtn72RO9JpkXEzIrnf-Ki0eFFrspEUhs8/s1600/False+Heath+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Langstafel+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbyLt6TjQGOTKR89_q7lWKkpZD3_MOP422nCx-IHlAA0KD_Azoay8sCsGVxpe5SvEnXKUOPbIHhgwRiLbG1dZf7NoMV8BDkknqoNuFCywIRUYtn72RO9JpkXEzIrnf-Ki0eFFrspEUhs8/s400/False+Heath+Fritillary+-+Day+9+-+Langstafel+4.JPG" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">False Heath Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz34xZ49ykaFS80SAUiseyUoJxhswtaVR1NkWot69xCsvr9NOl_7wp9kyFjlkia-QBnf_nwJG9kpwcbM3QzNbLbtf4Tw3HqkoUFtcR4cWN36LZiC2eK4tg-7tX2bKhMuO2jTk4TgTCX-s/s1600/Knapweed+Fritillary+-+Nr+Zermatt+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz34xZ49ykaFS80SAUiseyUoJxhswtaVR1NkWot69xCsvr9NOl_7wp9kyFjlkia-QBnf_nwJG9kpwcbM3QzNbLbtf4Tw3HqkoUFtcR4cWN36LZiC2eK4tg-7tX2bKhMuO2jTk4TgTCX-s/s400/Knapweed+Fritillary+-+Nr+Zermatt+3.JPG" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knapweed Frit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In previous trips to the Alps, it’s always been joined by
the Lesser Marbled Fritillaries (yet another Bistort feeder), yet these
handmaidens to the queen were strangely absent in the parts of Switzerland that
our walk took us to, instead, the second most abundant species was the False
Heath Fritillary. As the name suggests, it’s a dead ringer for Heath Frits
which we know and love from coppiced woodland in the UK, appearing slightly
darker, the cause of the occasional identification headache. In fact, the whole
Melitea genus becomes rather more varied and tricky once you go abroad, along
our walk for example, we clocked up Spotted Fritillary (bright orange, and easy
enough), Grisons Fritillary (another high-altitude hard nut, look for the dumbbell
mark on the forewing), Meadow Fritillary (slightly sparser forewing markings
than Heath and the darker False Heath), Heath Fritillary, and Knapweed
Fritillary (like a large, angular Glanville Fritillary – very smart).
Generally, I managed to pick my way through this group and the majority of the
ID disasters were saved for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pyrgus</i>
(with a handful helpfully set aside for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Erebia</i>
too, in the interests of fairness), such disasters (I’ve convinced myself), are
a natural part of getting to grips with the awe-inspiring variety of
butterflies in the Alps, and well worth the effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tit Frit in the land of the Tit Frit</td></tr>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-11853318738449723742016-12-03T14:51:00.002-08:002016-12-06T13:05:05.758-08:00Alpine Amble - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGAM60c-mVH8diAjujV5Y3Ip9gCxZ5PtIvYcVVngmN46efQ2F0lhb3tG3e4FSwCvvT-Knlfg3nBmn_ReYVV4iHJTx911D0RGgfnBsxmSV-haYhW_pN1-JhIFLm40UjU3X1vXqnpLxWHc/s1600/Mazarine+Blue+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Grindlewald+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPM1Tf647Z8kugSXx_cctGT0a1yCxibQPGIokr9l0WMedcWif4vPK_Fyy4thxsi2MHJhcMAxRVrtjYxv7QqmI49pSbrGStv0-A-9DjZ238FS0kcn9gfU2tcP5p4A3cdpvKGVksl_4wfA/s1600/Day+3_27.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPM1Tf647Z8kugSXx_cctGT0a1yCxibQPGIokr9l0WMedcWif4vPK_Fyy4thxsi2MHJhcMAxRVrtjYxv7QqmI49pSbrGStv0-A-9DjZ238FS0kcn9gfU2tcP5p4A3cdpvKGVksl_4wfA/s400/Day+3_27.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<u></u><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmauW4YYvGpZwbTrPStceCJ7LyAamOBwBnQrFndUyioEnSOTkV6FZxvzhSjyCphcilLIMV7F5rcV0CKZF0vhkPJ2neLekmeUcQI-36mlRh8YWOQOdE3EyrBDayh2sRz-d8RPZ8wCiLETg/s1600/Day+3_8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmauW4YYvGpZwbTrPStceCJ7LyAamOBwBnQrFndUyioEnSOTkV6FZxvzhSjyCphcilLIMV7F5rcV0CKZF0vhkPJ2neLekmeUcQI-36mlRh8YWOQOdE3EyrBDayh2sRz-d8RPZ8wCiLETg/s320/Day+3_8.JPG" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Autumn draws to a close and the long nights draw in,
times become hard for butterfly enthusiasts, you can eke out the rest of the
season, and kid yourself there’s still life left with reckless November Red
Admirals, or tired, morbid Speckled Woods, or distract yourself with birds and
Brown Hairstreak eggs as a stop-gap before the first Orange Tips next April.
Truly, winter is a trying time of year. This is oversimplifying the case a bit,
since serious devotion and field skills improve our understanding of our
butterflies’ winter doings more and more each year (check out Matthew Oates’
Purple Emperor larval doings: </span><a href="http://www.thepurpleempire.com/Resources/Emperor%20Season%20Without%20End.pdf"><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">http://www.thepurpleempire.com/Resources/Emperor%20Season%20Without%20End.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">,
and Pete Eeles’ White Admiral ones: http://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=120)
, this is the great thing about butterflies, there’s always another layer of
complexity and understanding to unlock.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The point is however, that there are fewer butterflies
around, and coping strategies are therefore required, one such, is
reminiscence. This July, by way of a light at the end of the examination
tunnel, I spent three weeks hiking in Switzerland, along the Via Alpina’s Green
route (</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.via-alpina.org/en/page/246/the-green-trail">http://www.via-alpina.org/en/page/246/the-green-trail</a><span style="color: black;">), with a long-suffering friend. The idea is to walk from refuge to refuge across Switzerland (we used tents, more because of cost than any purist walking notions), on a rather challenging route, generally involving a 1000m ascent and corresponding descent each day. It’s a famously impressive part of the world, taking you through the Bernese Oberland, past chocolate box towns (think Murren), rushing waterfalls (think Reichenbach, of Sherlock Holmes fame), and of course, high alpine meadows rich in butterflies. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnUmjbecYNrIdbwapDDAbznE_B2iyOVyJUc-HnsqrqrnJy21IB9u52wetbnR7FZ-ZLmXUt1B8b2oB38FjW0SswxDo2f9Ba3413c-OTKX29z_jlXPDZQhpBMnkfgo5PrqnHphYHU2vggk/s1600/Day+9_10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnUmjbecYNrIdbwapDDAbznE_B2iyOVyJUc-HnsqrqrnJy21IB9u52wetbnR7FZ-ZLmXUt1B8b2oB38FjW0SswxDo2f9Ba3413c-OTKX29z_jlXPDZQhpBMnkfgo5PrqnHphYHU2vggk/s400/Day+9_10.JPG" title="" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High altitude meadows - land of the Gland'</td></tr>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the course of the trip, we chalked up somewhere in the
region of 100 species, many flying in awe-inspiring abundance, in equally
awe-inspiring settings. For me one of the most exciting groups are the
lycaenids, seen in much greater diversity than here in the UK, they’re
striking, obvious, and pose few of the ID challenges that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Erebia</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pyrgus</i> often
raise. The most exciting for me was the Glandon Blue, a really hardcore species
that ekes out a living flying among the peaks (we never saw one below 1700m) at
low densities (wherever there were large numbers of puddling blues, there would
only ever be one or two Glandons), and thus has eluded me for a while. They’re
small, and nippy, and appear very dark in flight, but are stunning up close,
with a really unusual set of diffuse underside markings.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r9mHlze89qPR0U6bVMYNWNY6FBmu0BMFmeoDuFOE7xcHgVl7Fg8J6c5434tOkgzur5emAlMjgwzX1nSgotaKa1Xa6G1I0Ja2lIGtYxjVzTcaGEftZDvbvAOVb0dfzwWcimwNVnWk0_Q/s1600/Glandon+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Elm+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6r9mHlze89qPR0U6bVMYNWNY6FBmu0BMFmeoDuFOE7xcHgVl7Fg8J6c5434tOkgzur5emAlMjgwzX1nSgotaKa1Xa6G1I0Ja2lIGtYxjVzTcaGEftZDvbvAOVb0dfzwWcimwNVnWk0_Q/s320/Glandon+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Elm+10.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glandon in Glandon country.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XRnPhqhSNEL1qMdJOUZTx7621Onn2D1chbEbuDmTbogxX2iHaulWo773wwId6EE52W9UfBRFbzVzJ-TvutAWDCXx3hahdXNsHpCju9rFUyaDLs3Ul2y5CiefRQisPPGO3ADwCP2frZE/s1600/Glandon+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Elm+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XRnPhqhSNEL1qMdJOUZTx7621Onn2D1chbEbuDmTbogxX2iHaulWo773wwId6EE52W9UfBRFbzVzJ-TvutAWDCXx3hahdXNsHpCju9rFUyaDLs3Ul2y5CiefRQisPPGO3ADwCP2frZE/s320/Glandon+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Elm+4.JPG" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Glandon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CCWBHLGbP9L4D_FU3k6J7Rgn34bMxOcyWSjjUtLpiSD128jcKtzVE3im4KFNyUpTaJHLQN-ZJhvcUXB7RwRFgih3_9DbnE9_UxNtJq8wF2IOW1GAZ4uJcvzuDyjSSZH4aiEvFzh5tlY/s1600/Glandon+Blue+-+Nr+Zermatt+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CCWBHLGbP9L4D_FU3k6J7Rgn34bMxOcyWSjjUtLpiSD128jcKtzVE3im4KFNyUpTaJHLQN-ZJhvcUXB7RwRFgih3_9DbnE9_UxNtJq8wF2IOW1GAZ4uJcvzuDyjSSZH4aiEvFzh5tlY/s320/Glandon+Blue+-+Nr+Zermatt+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typically anti-social Glandon sneaking into the corner of a party <br />
of puddlers.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seemingly copying the Glandon Blue’s underside, but setting
it off with a rather more extravagant upperside (at least in the males), the
Alpine Blue was another denizen of (slightly less) high altitudes, and while
flying at similarly low densities, it was rather more widespread. These were
joined by another new species for me, the Cranberry Blue, seen only a couple of
times around boggy areas where the foodplant (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vaccinium uliginosum</i> in the Alps) grew.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUyvKTu2LItO3KYsqxeZBP_Ln_l24ffd1SCmeXrazv8U-pDvfsXhMF98551C8nv2x1Zr-2pMWfvq0Ho6uOr0stp7InL3NR4Bh4SUhqcgv850zd5ebcyB_43srr0HY3U84-2TmWzzZRjA/s1600/Alpine+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Foopass+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUyvKTu2LItO3KYsqxeZBP_Ln_l24ffd1SCmeXrazv8U-pDvfsXhMF98551C8nv2x1Zr-2pMWfvq0Ho6uOr0stp7InL3NR4Bh4SUhqcgv850zd5ebcyB_43srr0HY3U84-2TmWzzZRjA/s320/Alpine+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Foopass+3.JPG" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alpine Blue</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTC_brQbik_OJY11781LzeIh6nLxpALr9PUYBMQPIkHcLpomihH2uR3sLoh0L0xAPHASCLfR9aKbvyUmROQVdmDKDMAh_IIZuoEP2uk4UFnhBNWTw5t7txrY3K4xiFNbnvVSubl-JDpE/s1600/Cranberry+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbTC_brQbik_OJY11781LzeIh6nLxpALr9PUYBMQPIkHcLpomihH2uR3sLoh0L0xAPHASCLfR9aKbvyUmROQVdmDKDMAh_IIZuoEP2uk4UFnhBNWTw5t7txrY3K4xiFNbnvVSubl-JDpE/s320/Cranberry+Blue+-+Day+11+-+Nr+Weistannen.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cranberry Blue</td></tr>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">E</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ven more tied to their foodplants were Geranium Arguses, invariably seen perched on or around the flowers of Meadow Cranesbill (don’t know why I never looked for eggs). Sharing a second name and perhaps an underside with the Geranium Arguses, (but little else) was the much rarer Silvery Argus, I was delighted to chance upon a single female in a boggy clearing.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauri_OKHZiAGdZL3QstcdRXCtJFabKxsRqB4ZRMzVuFViHbi9QIFTWEEL2LmWo9ee65o9pnOldDRrbMLdwqJRUwhsqotGTRZBmHw8wAGotzcNj1mYJ-DCR9EtPFE34yjlBPiYObbGnaE/s1600/Geranium+Argus+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Murren.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjauri_OKHZiAGdZL3QstcdRXCtJFabKxsRqB4ZRMzVuFViHbi9QIFTWEEL2LmWo9ee65o9pnOldDRrbMLdwqJRUwhsqotGTRZBmHw8wAGotzcNj1mYJ-DCR9EtPFE34yjlBPiYObbGnaE/s400/Geranium+Argus+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Murren.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geranium Argus, strangely enough, on Geranium.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjME4dP4J8B-pZktXYj_5jT66bMB4Tbri7egCmE3Q8XrA2QdSPsqGccvB7Inx1_pO5rz493cucNWJ1Gj5wxluBqz_5kNgzQWd5D8Ap4av4hvnu3KvKQkLyazgOuotIBkcxPRJ7BESol7k0/s1600/Silvery+Argus+-+Nr+Zermatt+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjME4dP4J8B-pZktXYj_5jT66bMB4Tbri7egCmE3Q8XrA2QdSPsqGccvB7Inx1_pO5rz493cucNWJ1Gj5wxluBqz_5kNgzQWd5D8Ap4av4hvnu3KvKQkLyazgOuotIBkcxPRJ7BESol7k0/s400/Silvery+Argus+-+Nr+Zermatt+5.JPG" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silvery Argus - set apart by the delicate<br />
pale blue wash</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mazarine Blues, despite no longer gracing the meadows of our
fair isle, were one of the commonest blues, flying in small numbers pretty much
everywhere, right up to about 1800m. Females depositing their sea-urchin like white
eggs on clovers were seen several times, as well as a male harassing one still
drying her wings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGAM60c-mVH8diAjujV5Y3Ip9gCxZ5PtIvYcVVngmN46efQ2F0lhb3tG3e4FSwCvvT-Knlfg3nBmn_ReYVV4iHJTx911D0RGgfnBsxmSV-haYhW_pN1-JhIFLm40UjU3X1vXqnpLxWHc/s1600/Mazarine+Blue+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Grindlewald+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGAM60c-mVH8diAjujV5Y3Ip9gCxZ5PtIvYcVVngmN46efQ2F0lhb3tG3e4FSwCvvT-Knlfg3nBmn_ReYVV4iHJTx911D0RGgfnBsxmSV-haYhW_pN1-JhIFLm40UjU3X1vXqnpLxWHc/s320/Mazarine+Blue+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Grindlewald+3.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mazarine Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFsEJU2xx_yKkFi8-Jf9YymMY1EFcpS4D7vQmZ0DysCZqGsd1wsGSbVKr8Yni_gZ5DAp-BG_UxxEARZucznkXKqP0ycvY4tY3y8qF9H4nuyQPOED3xQqjYcbAC8MwaF0PQGaSYgwTRTBg/s1600/Mazarine+Blue+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Grindlewald+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFsEJU2xx_yKkFi8-Jf9YymMY1EFcpS4D7vQmZ0DysCZqGsd1wsGSbVKr8Yni_gZ5DAp-BG_UxxEARZucznkXKqP0ycvY4tY3y8qF9H4nuyQPOED3xQqjYcbAC8MwaF0PQGaSYgwTRTBg/s320/Mazarine+Blue+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Grindlewald+4.JPG" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mazarine Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Commoner still than Mazarine Blues, were Small Blues, which
were fairly ubiquitous, forming their little leks in small hotspots,
particularly at higher altitudes. Here, the foodplant, Kidney Vetch was found
thriving on rocky soils, very frequently with their eggs peppered liberally
among the flowerheads. They were particularly fond of mud-pudddling, and on
several occasions, made the greatest possible sacrifice for this predilection,
when a careless foot or quad-bike tire ploughed over the little aggregations
that formed in damp spots. Rather more sinisterly, survivors did not seem to
take the hint, and would often be seen feasting among (and even on) the corpses
of their fallen companions, a stark reminder of the life and death struggle
that confronts one of the most fragile-looking of European butterflies every
day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_faKYzbYc5wd6O4bD53F7Q-V2fXXkqXmbKWNp5OjPvFA-jSMkiqcR5SIcqeFTfeAWFeay6W1V7RCnzG55NYlUMGcIM8S25XcXTw7e-IfgVDxIMLNNk1OnTzeEtV4vpHtURQBa4AySCIg/s1600/Small+Blue+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_faKYzbYc5wd6O4bD53F7Q-V2fXXkqXmbKWNp5OjPvFA-jSMkiqcR5SIcqeFTfeAWFeay6W1V7RCnzG55NYlUMGcIM8S25XcXTw7e-IfgVDxIMLNNk1OnTzeEtV4vpHtURQBa4AySCIg/s320/Small+Blue+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+3.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small is beautiful</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwTJuQWfo8ZtX3k-X1fN7ifOC-Li5KDQx-07JccGI9B59NS7V_WQc4RCMRfLTZbZspJJsQV16BE3Vbzg7s_4YUHzKrUQ77WtEDPMLflTEyg32Q2rCEwcaoqVNnaZTQQCzkEJSqCXK4P0/s1600/Small+Blues+-+Day+4+-+Nr+Schiltalp+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwTJuQWfo8ZtX3k-X1fN7ifOC-Li5KDQx-07JccGI9B59NS7V_WQc4RCMRfLTZbZspJJsQV16BE3Vbzg7s_4YUHzKrUQ77WtEDPMLflTEyg32Q2rCEwcaoqVNnaZTQQCzkEJSqCXK4P0/s320/Small+Blues+-+Day+4+-+Nr+Schiltalp+2.JPG" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feasting on the bodily fluids of spent comrades. <br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Like the Small Blues, male Coppers were often seen staking
out territories in sheltered spots, one to each glade. These weren’t too well
represented across the walk, with just Sooty, Purple-Edged and Scarce seen
(Violet, Large and Purple-Shot can also be found in Switzerland). Sooty was the
commonest, in pretty much every flowery habitat up to about 1800m, Purple-Edged
was frequent in boggy areas in little colonies, and Scarce was strangely patchy
– it was abundant towards the end of the walk, but completely absent elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnmczZPiwvgOimy11JOFKQWnnXEiBKapbac83l0ZDBQQlx5-ptb6OhKT9BD36Juxzk3ryQx3XMr1Q6kxq_j0f1htKF3UNfixiUpLM0wrTmjhTzFSr5vGaj2YFxFDSFZYI3ke7rSmARYs/s1600/Scarce+Copper+-+Nr+Zermatt+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnmczZPiwvgOimy11JOFKQWnnXEiBKapbac83l0ZDBQQlx5-ptb6OhKT9BD36Juxzk3ryQx3XMr1Q6kxq_j0f1htKF3UNfixiUpLM0wrTmjhTzFSr5vGaj2YFxFDSFZYI3ke7rSmARYs/s400/Scarce+Copper+-+Nr+Zermatt+9.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scarce Copper (male)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gSfoe_ETKHRy8WZY4hC1PY_tOfYY557RPtXscQ5OYQHcR2sP30NCjYvbdu2z0ElLQv6HvnvhHMjKlfDflK8vXQSryPeEozIQlJEeEIBZWXh08o8Y6rXmYpjbmJeHInUtrBo4yzIYYyA/s1600/Sooty+Copper+-+Day+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gSfoe_ETKHRy8WZY4hC1PY_tOfYY557RPtXscQ5OYQHcR2sP30NCjYvbdu2z0ElLQv6HvnvhHMjKlfDflK8vXQSryPeEozIQlJEeEIBZWXh08o8Y6rXmYpjbmJeHInUtrBo4yzIYYyA/s400/Sooty+Copper+-+Day+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sooty Copper (male)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsq9pHEyxAteZsaPUXGr4ebCU7dlFu9RjENI2-PR4CCB6LckIt81hWmwjBfR-2pXBnSrkLNmNSOxyXZCVdqUWp0axzFIwBYNcWZTmqMRXqEkEe9Z3-73RFCb0yG_3TRrgsgkEDa9skh8/s1600/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Nr.+Ed%2527s+Chalet+14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsq9pHEyxAteZsaPUXGr4ebCU7dlFu9RjENI2-PR4CCB6LckIt81hWmwjBfR-2pXBnSrkLNmNSOxyXZCVdqUWp0axzFIwBYNcWZTmqMRXqEkEe9Z3-73RFCb0yG_3TRrgsgkEDa9skh8/s320/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Nr.+Ed%2527s+Chalet+14.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic eurydame-type male PEC - what it 'should' be.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The lack of quantity of copper species was certainly made up
for by their quality, these are royalty among lycaenids, the Sooty Copper a
black prince, smoky, somehow lighter and more wraith-like on their larger wings
than the petulant, angry fireballs of their Scarce and Purple-Edged relatives.
All three species feed on relatives of docks, and come in their own
limited-edition forms in the Alps: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">subalpinus</i>
for Sooty (much darker than lowland forms, lacking orange on the underside), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">montanus</i> for Scarce (males with a
thicker black forewing, and females a tad washed out), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eurydame</i> for Purple-Edged, males lacking the trademark purple
upperside colouring, and females a uniform brown apart from darker cell spots,
while both sexes lack any really yellow underside markings. The latter proved a
real point of interest, I’ve only ever seen them in the Alps <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- all smart <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eurydame </i>specimens, and was expecting to see much more of the same,
but some didn’t seem to have read Tolman and Lewington, with one male sporting
really impressive purple markings, and plenty of females with a yellow flush on
the forewing uppersides. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6neROITJEy-7NPKPkLCWCKXEu5YdVMvNXqqfA-5byZOCwtGAqtRMKVcAEt1yMT6cjlVaGOt6Xd3yTA5uCj27_bu8yQQ3UC7KxJKbph1mAMmIkffx91RmHYTwI8cMP6GHHSPh17thEJiQ/s1600/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6neROITJEy-7NPKPkLCWCKXEu5YdVMvNXqqfA-5byZOCwtGAqtRMKVcAEt1yMT6cjlVaGOt6Xd3yTA5uCj27_bu8yQQ3UC7KxJKbph1mAMmIkffx91RmHYTwI8cMP6GHHSPh17thEJiQ/s320/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Day+10+-+Nr+Elm+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hippothoe-type male PEC - note strong purple iridescence,<br />
what it 'shouldn't' be.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgB28jrwoufuqSbvLFQPhFWsueMUhPZcwLzhtXl2dg7pbH4VhgZVbF_iraH860brFwJLAwoxBTFxp7hCT8AXw-QZ9BhEdfFOSKuZDVnapmWdJIh-sFhCG6QoZTNgVqtXBAGNA-ngetIGc/s1600/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Murren.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgB28jrwoufuqSbvLFQPhFWsueMUhPZcwLzhtXl2dg7pbH4VhgZVbF_iraH860brFwJLAwoxBTFxp7hCT8AXw-QZ9BhEdfFOSKuZDVnapmWdJIh-sFhCG6QoZTNgVqtXBAGNA-ngetIGc/s320/Purple+-+Edged+Copper+-+Day+5+-+Nr+Murren.JPG" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strongly-marked PEC underside, more <br />
hippothoe like.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Variety, both within and between species is very much the
order of the day in the rich tapestry of life that is the Swiss lepidoptera,
and nowhere was this more obvious than at the large gatherings of mud-puddling
lycaenids that formed on hot days. Blue wings, blue skies, and white peaks will
live long in the memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnYGqtdF6VJFrmUvhyoQtErUiCPhaYg7n43xbpDieJ-yRCWnZphVI5PV96rWEuTb21X-xrb6JkcMKCMLWs8MfFhWTXM21SijVgs32a0r97G5jKD9ZgvFa8pwb-E5D0DtoKVjaxp1E_7g/s1600/Blues+-+Nr+Zermatt+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnYGqtdF6VJFrmUvhyoQtErUiCPhaYg7n43xbpDieJ-yRCWnZphVI5PV96rWEuTb21X-xrb6JkcMKCMLWs8MfFhWTXM21SijVgs32a0r97G5jKD9ZgvFa8pwb-E5D0DtoKVjaxp1E_7g/s640/Blues+-+Nr+Zermatt+4.JPG" width="425" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-27482921569355488992015-12-29T14:43:00.001-08:002016-12-06T08:47:56.208-08:00Challenge on Nature Photography Part 6<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the things that characterises the common or garden
naturalist, is their obsession with what seems, on the face of it, trivial,
small details that separate species or make them unique and interesting, it’s
these details which give them a richer understanding of the natural world
around them, and give its study its enormous depth and interest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I am no different, and I’m particularly delighted by
butterflies and moths, and their ecology and life cycles, but also, with that
classic naturalist’s love of the trivial, their scientific names, having done a
bit of Latin and Greek at school, ostensibly useless, dead subjects, it’s nice
to find a purpose for all those ‘wasted’ hours in the classroom and tease out
the meanings of the mighty binomial system that defines everything living on
earth, combining this with photos is always a winner, and so this post will be
the latest part of my flagging challenge on nature photography.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xSh8huuuh7ciDnPEHNU0QHX_r1tuSaePMeknyvFxnRtT347S4T8xaa9gURZ15Wc0vh7qoKOQ5XNBdPSD1hyphenhypheneW3VcblcrL7hn1tSEdLIaytf5Clc3GeGQ9v9jIiZcYQe1fdC2-1jo_SI/s1600/Green+Hairstreak+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xSh8huuuh7ciDnPEHNU0QHX_r1tuSaePMeknyvFxnRtT347S4T8xaa9gURZ15Wc0vh7qoKOQ5XNBdPSD1hyphenhypheneW3VcblcrL7hn1tSEdLIaytf5Clc3GeGQ9v9jIiZcYQe1fdC2-1jo_SI/s320/Green+Hairstreak+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The Beautiful eyebrow of the bramble.'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First up is a favourite spring species, Green Hairstreak (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Callophrys rubi</i>), flying on moorland,
downland and light woodland across the UK from April to June, it is, like most
hairstreaks highly territorial and males often engage in vicious dogfights from
favoured perches along tree-lines. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Callophrys</i>
means ‘beautiful eyebrow’ (kallos – beautiful, and phrys – eyebrow, spliced
together), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rubi</i> means ‘of the
bramble’, a bit of a misnomer, since Green Hairstreaks are polyphagous and feed
on foodplants from several plant families, not just bramble, but others,
including Gorse, various legumes, and bilberry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A close relative of the Green Hairstreak is the Purple (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Neozephyrus quercus</i>), which tends to be
a bit more elusive, favouring the tops of oak trees during July and August<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- check the crowns at about 6:00 on warm
evenings, and you should see these silvery butterflies, like the Green
Hairstreak, engaging in frequent territorial dogfights. A loose translation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Neozephyrus quercus</i> is something like
‘young west wind of the oak’, where ‘Neos’ is greek for young or new, Zephyrus
is the Greek god of the West wind, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quercus</i>,
of course, is oak. Interestingly, in Greek Mythology, Zephyrus was married to
Iris (the god of the rainbow), who is commemorated in the Purple Emperor’s
scientific name – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apatura iris</i>,
perhaps this hints at the way the two species share habitats, both having an
affinity for oaks, the Hairstreak as a foodplant, and the Emperor as master
trees where males congregate.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFW9CDvIyvysIyFQOy8O1QLOgahc8_RjKsWxFYy1LcxPoZsVKfMbU2w1dtAuv1NJwGAoIUkbnBMy7GrNWNqOS0BHS7z7X9nxJ9PESNFy-Vmw2Wx8XwR6ve36bG1VpPY66kCDpea7bAYY/s1600/Purple+Hairstreak+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFW9CDvIyvysIyFQOy8O1QLOgahc8_RjKsWxFYy1LcxPoZsVKfMbU2w1dtAuv1NJwGAoIUkbnBMy7GrNWNqOS0BHS7z7X9nxJ9PESNFy-Vmw2Wx8XwR6ve36bG1VpPY66kCDpea7bAYY/s320/Purple+Hairstreak+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The Young west wind of the oak' (on an oak, of course)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another branch of the Lycaenidae is the blues, including the
aptly named Small Blue, which, measuring in at just 20mm, is Britain’s smallest
butterfly. Its scientific name (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cupido
minimus</i>) also picks up on its small stature (Small Blues could be forgiven
for feeling downtrodden) with ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minimus</i>’
the Latin for very small, and cupid the tiny love god of Roman mythology.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Keeping with the small theme, Small Skippers get the label <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thymelicus sylvestris</i>, where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thymelicus</i> was a dancer in ancient greek
drama known for a strange, erratic dance, picking up on the Small Skipper’s
bouncing flight style, whilst <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sylvestris</i>
means ‘inhabiting wild places’ – so we have the skipper of the wildlands!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Large skipper (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ochlodes
faunus</i>) also receives a wild name tag, with ‘Faunus’ another name for the
god of mysterious wild places – Pan/Bacchus, and ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ochlodes</i>’ meaning turbulent, relating to the territorial behaviour
of male Large Skippers, which often sit motionless, with their wings held at 45
degrees before attacking anything that dares to enter their territory, so this gives
us ‘the angry wild thing’ in a rough translation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Returning to the blues, the Large Blue’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maculinea arion</i> picks up on its life
cycle (the story of the Greek musician <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">arion</i>
provides a neat allegory for its adoption by ants as a larva – see this post for
more: http://mothsandmusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/challenge-on-nature-photography-part-2.html ) and its colouring, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maculinea</i>
means ‘many-spotted’, referring either to its underside, with the black spots
on a silvery field, or its upperside, with the strong black forewing markings
which make it so unique among British butterflies (I haven’t quite decided
which). It’s smaller relative, the Silver-Studded Blue (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plebejus argus</i>) again gets its underside examined, with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">argus</i> a nod to the many-eyed giant of
Greek mythology, and the spotting on this butterfly’s underwing, and ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plebejus</i>’ meaning ‘plebeian’ – it sounds
rather damning now, but it was the name given to ‘the common people’ in ancient
Rome, and suggests that this exquisite heath-dweller is a pretty widespread
species (if only!)</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_PGxk_ijcDVka4bySNxNdpNf7XnYL_wbOeMI2Q_KH3oPLbzipchsY0O5pRYhMq29gnfpncfBtdnfo4rHCOeQU1n7mxGdTCXqT0sj2Q5W494qbj4ufb4Decu-F4LH7_400T_RwKzVG_A/s1600/Large+Skipper+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_PGxk_ijcDVka4bySNxNdpNf7XnYL_wbOeMI2Q_KH3oPLbzipchsY0O5pRYhMq29gnfpncfBtdnfo4rHCOeQU1n7mxGdTCXqT0sj2Q5W494qbj4ufb4Decu-F4LH7_400T_RwKzVG_A/s320/Large+Skipper+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The Angry wild thing' - sticking its tongue out at <br />
passers by.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A <span style="font-family: "calibri";">common theme in these names, should, by now be making itself
obvious, many of them refer to Greek mythology, they fete butterflies as
god-like, ethereal beings, indeed, in ancient Greek, the same word is used for
both soul, and butterfly (psyche), these creatures appealed to both the
ancients, and more modern taxonomists on a very spiritual level. An interest in
butterflies is not a strange delight in the trivial; it is more complex than
that, as these 2000 year old roots will testify. They hint at the place of
butterflies, and the natural world (at the risk of melodrama), at the centre of
the way we live, and teach us a lesson, that now, more than ever, we should
learn to live by. The modern, urban world, and the more primal, natural world
are not mutually exclusive, the two are intertwined, nature governs our economies,
be it through water purification, soil formation (or as we’ve seen, flood
defence), and we must not by slow to embrace it and work with it, now, more
than ever, an holistic approach is the future.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-53412848293192823542015-12-12T11:01:00.000-08:002016-12-06T08:50:23.449-08:00Challenge on Nature Photography Part 5<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The interconnectedness of the natural world is one of the
things that makes it so appealing to Naturalists down the ages, I for example,
like butterflies, and since they have to feed on something, my interest in
plants has grown, and since Orchids are impressive plants with weird names, and
often, even weirder Biology, I’m interested in them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLr9aGzzOxCeKyxUyDtRrR6KPwpVaGtSZgRPz_hhx9wU8lxIrxEqeT-gz4rCUTwe7tkDQptYfqH-sO2eignQ_MFYmGli5LDACC8irWYJXEwVmaJiZD0QDrmvZ20VsdxzRQxL4mXI9F64/s1600/Common+Spotted+Orchids.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLr9aGzzOxCeKyxUyDtRrR6KPwpVaGtSZgRPz_hhx9wU8lxIrxEqeT-gz4rCUTwe7tkDQptYfqH-sO2eignQ_MFYmGli5LDACC8irWYJXEwVmaJiZD0QDrmvZ20VsdxzRQxL4mXI9F64/s640/Common+Spotted+Orchids.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Spotted Orchids in abundance in West Somerset</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’ve always thought that butterfly-watching can come across
as a bit strange, but perhaps orchid-hunting is even more so, in this bizarre
hobby, you enter a clandestine world of ‘top secret’ locations, ‘gen’, hybrids,
homozygous recessives and ‘vars’, and in many cases, drive across the country
to see a plant that won’t run away, and will no doubt be in exactly the same
place next year. Yet its magic, the magic of the hunt for the new, rare plants,
and the many strange places that they grow never fades, I’m hooked, and so, for
the fifth part of my excruciatingly slow ‘Challenge on Nature Photography’,
it’s time for these charismatic plants to take the stage!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbTVSd5nISS5ZGkwRvCyIAUnBMuPqkXMKvC8e7xa0EOS2wT98LmnvHLFx22mHktRiU5cWIAPQDrYjiuoz6xuJsv7f3ubwTelitm5DKH6-soXp78rGYB3EMWyVnVKW6sju017W33gTO3w/s1600/Early+Purple+Orchid+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbTVSd5nISS5ZGkwRvCyIAUnBMuPqkXMKvC8e7xa0EOS2wT98LmnvHLFx22mHktRiU5cWIAPQDrYjiuoz6xuJsv7f3ubwTelitm5DKH6-soXp78rGYB3EMWyVnVKW6sju017W33gTO3w/s400/Early+Purple+Orchid+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early Purple Orchids forming a dense clump through<br />
vegetative reproduction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First up, is the Early Purple Orchid, it’s a bit of a
generalist, growing in woodlands across the UK,(often, but not always under
Hazel), but also chalky grassland, and like many orchids, it exhibits a fair
bit of variation in colour, from pure white, to quite a deep purple-pink. It’s
fairly common on ‘the patch’ in Somerset, and, as its name suggests, flowers
fairly early in the year (April-May).</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGKuwrW8-jGmLBcbuDPk_XHzHE4E1OCMlRWZu7lYED3TIa457H8UZWLbPIaCgqUUGIj6RfY1QWLAqV6Lg83-AYBYB9z2Vkg1malHc8-mX7z9nHlLp_DSW3IJYz6pnm_KTPBBIQygGQ30/s1600/Common+Twayblade+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGKuwrW8-jGmLBcbuDPk_XHzHE4E1OCMlRWZu7lYED3TIa457H8UZWLbPIaCgqUUGIj6RfY1QWLAqV6Lg83-AYBYB9z2Vkg1malHc8-mX7z9nHlLp_DSW3IJYz6pnm_KTPBBIQygGQ30/s400/Common+Twayblade+1.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A statuesque Common <br />
Twayblade.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another common species, is the aptly named Common Twayblade,
(it’s common, and the tway-blade refers to its two opposing leaves from which
the flower spike grows), a subtle beast which eluded me during my early days of
Orchid-hunting, but once seen once, popped up pretty much everywhere, from my
local Railway embankment, to a flower-rich local Common, to 1800m up a French
mountainside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So far, not so weird, the Bird’s Nest Orchid however, is a
much more mysterious creature, lacking chlorophyll with which to carry out
photosynthesis, it’s a rather insipid brown-yellow plant, and a saprophyte -
totally dependent on a fungal ‘partner’ (perhaps not the best term, the fungus
gets totally ripped off), from which it obtains the nutrients needed for
growth. The fungus itself is then dependent on a tree (often Beech, sometimes
others, such as Hazel) with which it swaps nutrients for carbohydrates. I had
always suspected that this strange plant was lurking somewhere in the old beech
woods near my home, and was delighted to find several hiding in plain sight in
a search this spring.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkk_qkblfUSJTgHRhEOHgxvnhYhOcCcyaNGZ84MBd-w2Ixln3FnBkH5Dl_Y1EbsBgYbt9-i6GR6ay-7_Em4WIfTPEoa17KxPqsRZKfHWe2yqXREdRmG-jbB2AKY7teLSpkLQfTX35ELTw/s1600/Bird%2527s+Nest+Orchids.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkk_qkblfUSJTgHRhEOHgxvnhYhOcCcyaNGZ84MBd-w2Ixln3FnBkH5Dl_Y1EbsBgYbt9-i6GR6ay-7_Em4WIfTPEoa17KxPqsRZKfHWe2yqXREdRmG-jbB2AKY7teLSpkLQfTX35ELTw/s400/Bird%2527s+Nest+Orchids.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 Bird's Nest Orchids lurking on the patch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the other end of the specialisation spectrum, are the
Dactylorhiza species, classic ‘spikes’ in a range of loud pink colours they
often grow in large numbers in unimproved grassland of one sort or another, in
my part of the world, Heath Spotted, Common Spotted, and Southern Marsh Orchids
are the common species.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_nnhMiMUGJTS_Nktkj9wb72jxfIc2Qs13FswB-CcBR8gAsymaDxUB5CjMVTlx3-p-njlpQ6hqKOQhwxIIL-zXyBrBExhhsVPVsk3WrAmCqgOW9zXIuIOMKcIX-6-bxVODLkKZtmNGnE/s1600/Heath-Spotted+Orchids.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_nnhMiMUGJTS_Nktkj9wb72jxfIc2Qs13FswB-CcBR8gAsymaDxUB5CjMVTlx3-p-njlpQ6hqKOQhwxIIL-zXyBrBExhhsVPVsk3WrAmCqgOW9zXIuIOMKcIX-6-bxVODLkKZtmNGnE/s400/Heath-Spotted+Orchids.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An impressive display of Heath Spotted Orchids</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> could go on, with the stunning Bee Orchid, and the endless
quirks and variations its self- pollination throws up, the Ghost Orchid, and
its mysterious flowering every decade or so, or the Lady’s Slipper and the
cloak and dagger intrigue that surrounds its last redoubt oop north, but there
are 56 species of Orchid native to the UK (including one extinction, and
another recent colonisation), as well as 8 others of dubious status, so I can’t
really cover them all here without writing a book (there are several excellent
ones out there, Harrap’s ‘Orchids of Britain and Ireland’, and locally, Chris
Gladman’s Orchids of Somerset), I also haven’t seen very many of them, further
turning such an endeavour into a dull, photo-less desert of a blog post. In
short though, there’s a lot to be said for these stunning plants, they’re not
just frivolous natural quirks, and their parasitic relationships, mysterious
patterns, pollination, and indeed rarity, can tell us a lot about evolution,
genetics, and habitat and climate change in the UK. If you fancy learning more
about them, the books I’ve mentioned are a great starting point, and the
Natural History Museum’s Orchid Observers project is a great way to get
involved in their conservation and study….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">http://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/citizen-science/orchid-observers.html</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoq1OkCwII0Oj0jU0RMNElMnNg6n1CIsC0kJNC_FHKL6FTLLNHyvxNqM_MbASnM0jFmVF1XYaPfRFv4yiSE3Sa8frHFltS45ayulUXST-TjQa-hWBHruJk_KeT-zJubLBWYSAAQnHEoE/s1600/Bee+Orchid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzoq1OkCwII0Oj0jU0RMNElMnNg6n1CIsC0kJNC_FHKL6FTLLNHyvxNqM_MbASnM0jFmVF1XYaPfRFv4yiSE3Sa8frHFltS45ayulUXST-TjQa-hWBHruJk_KeT-zJubLBWYSAAQnHEoE/s400/Bee+Orchid.JPG" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Bee Orchid looming majestically<br />
in Large Blue country at Collard<br />
Hill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-76077703184659929542015-12-06T12:42:00.000-08:002016-12-06T08:51:20.421-08:00Challenge on Nature Photography Part 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCURf0yG3S0ISCxNXzapnWF2rIzuQPFC9CEqxwzn1xkGr3bFjvinA8Ou7fwdOG3mqoY9EVyOPmgwcNNajO0MMztUGTMecTVIT0VjLNEcvAY233sYeoBNBCDLfgZo-WIW6VmI4eEkUZqUo/s1600/Orange+Tip+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCURf0yG3S0ISCxNXzapnWF2rIzuQPFC9CEqxwzn1xkGr3bFjvinA8Ou7fwdOG3mqoY9EVyOPmgwcNNajO0MMztUGTMecTVIT0VjLNEcvAY233sYeoBNBCDLfgZo-WIW6VmI4eEkUZqUo/s400/Orange+Tip+9.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> <span style="font-family: "calibri";">My fourth photo for my slow (but I assure you, fully
intended to be completed) ‘challenge on nature photography’, is of two roosting male Orange
Tips (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anthocharis cardamines</i>), it's a particular favourite of mine, taken this Spring, and was highly commended in this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards (<a href="http://www.bwpawards.org/static/2015/young-winner-2015.html">http://www.bwpawards.org/static/2015/young-winner-2015.html</a>). For
birdwatchers, the first sign of spring might be a singing Chiffchaff, or the
first Swallows on the wires, for Botanists, the first bulbs, maybe Snowdrops or
Daffodils, but for butterfly-watchers, this tangerine – tipped icon, is the
undisputed harbinger of the changing seasons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmQxBg3DPTgpiCDa7w_1Orj0H5juIlqerachdbGNeg6K01F_DvM3ODo4sA-0UEKu4QJygykch44yD-7Lp0S6uCDB6vUcSnzdrkFFoOE8xLdIT0n9C_GLbiHZEgadNjAWAWov1NMKyLms/s1600/Orange+Tip+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmQxBg3DPTgpiCDa7w_1Orj0H5juIlqerachdbGNeg6K01F_DvM3ODo4sA-0UEKu4QJygykch44yD-7Lp0S6uCDB6vUcSnzdrkFFoOE8xLdIT0n9C_GLbiHZEgadNjAWAWov1NMKyLms/s320/Orange+Tip+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A close up of the combination of yellow and black scales that give<br />
the Orange Tip underside its mottled green colouring.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Generally, it’s the males that emerge first with the
eponymous orange wing tips, followed by the females with black ones.
Interestingly, the markings of male Orange Tips give them a double-barrelled
approach to preventing predation, the bright wing tips are an example of
aposematic colouring – that warns predators of the foul taste of the butterfly
(thanks to toxins it absorbs from its foodplant as a caterpillar), thus
persuading them to go elsewhere for a quick bite, whilst the underside of the
hindwings exhibit ‘crypsis’, with their mottled green (actually a mixture of yellow
and black scales) markings giving Orange Tips brilliant camouflage when at rest
(particularly when on cow parsley, which is all they seem to roost on in the
garden), allowing them to escape detection and predation.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iQQIrOeZD-8LdB5kc5OTiSuF7cN90z8y2Pd8zQN8Cxaz3EXj6am0totP4MXLgJ_FsBDQv4kchk69FmCsajtSsisCuAbEPZxpi7EWkDlwQZic6hf_E7GRh0bvIyQRjl-j5rF-fwTbYbo/s1600/Orange+Tip+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iQQIrOeZD-8LdB5kc5OTiSuF7cN90z8y2Pd8zQN8Cxaz3EXj6am0totP4MXLgJ_FsBDQv4kchk69FmCsajtSsisCuAbEPZxpi7EWkDlwQZic6hf_E7GRh0bvIyQRjl-j5rF-fwTbYbo/s320/Orange+Tip+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Females are a more retiring butterfly than the
brilliantly-coloured males, and are generally only seen when being harassed by
a male, and giving the distinctive raised-abdomen butterfly equivalent of the
middle finger, or when flitting from foodplant to foodplant on an egg-laying
run. Eggs are laid on crucifers, most often Garlic Mustard and Cuckoo Flower
but Orange Tips are fairly Catholic in their tastes, and I’ve seen them laying
on that famous super food: Kale (does it work wonders for Caterpillars too?),
and even Oilseed Rape. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Neonicotinoid pesticides that are regularly applied to the
latter as a seed dressing have recently been linked to hefty declines in many
British butterfly species, particularly grass-feeders, and some of the Orange
Tip’s close pierid relatives, which will also lay on crucifers and Oilseed
Rape. So far, Orange Tips seem to have escaped unscathed, but it’s vital that
more research is done into the effects of a group of chemicals increasingly
seen as a silent killer in our countryside, if you fancy helping with this, you
can donate </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">here: </span><a href="http://butterfly-conservation.org/48-10581/neonicotinoid-pesticides-linked-to-butterfly-declines.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://butterfly-conservation.org/48-10581/neonicotinoid-pesticides-linked-to-butterfly-declines.html</span></a>.</div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For now, anyway, Orange Tips remain relatively easy to find
in our gardens, parks, and boggy meadows – long may it last!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSdJGjmfvpATADRlasvZjTlBhHX9Ckr4dbHGlgKbZku90Svn9ZgmBPC0UeBUED-g0pe7ViogQJ2RK0KvEAr9swzHQY_bam8QgaX4m3t7pQdCvyFNFkRBwp-ziiOXV6SAqsaTpMW43Ns4/s1600/Orange+Tip+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSdJGjmfvpATADRlasvZjTlBhHX9Ckr4dbHGlgKbZku90Svn9ZgmBPC0UeBUED-g0pe7ViogQJ2RK0KvEAr9swzHQY_bam8QgaX4m3t7pQdCvyFNFkRBwp-ziiOXV6SAqsaTpMW43Ns4/s400/Orange+Tip+8.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot the Orange Tips! - There are 7 in this photo, and there was another just out of shot!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9EbrFU9yGJaTAqwyMZp88iFy9k8ecWdaXagV2G9bxMglzqla0Rqx9M3a13mfEcHNOW4pcQrutJYND8trKhj_Kq2vgybQRgq3s-I20IpwEYJnBV5htQP4ozR_RfSKEDq4v-lsRN6LhtE/s1600/Orange+Tip+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9EbrFU9yGJaTAqwyMZp88iFy9k8ecWdaXagV2G9bxMglzqla0Rqx9M3a13mfEcHNOW4pcQrutJYND8trKhj_Kq2vgybQRgq3s-I20IpwEYJnBV5htQP4ozR_RfSKEDq4v-lsRN6LhtE/s400/Orange+Tip+6.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you've probably realised, I'm an absolute sucker for backlit Orange Tips at roost,<br />
they just look soooo nice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-jQBXF-2JI_a6Z9Dwo4OETdiDyfzs7J5gf-pjBa60MYALEc70OvZW7InmsIXKTB-TZHmTXUWbZxwkTQgJAHSZfggdYFcddPqrCmh358pztSQGcHJfRN762i9pmzI-xN7RAg7TFQTdwxc/s1600/Orange+Tip+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-44558824678276235072015-11-28T13:00:00.005-08:002016-12-06T08:52:34.861-08:00Challenge on Nature Photography Part 3<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLscK_x7q3XKp10XEvHdbXdlqvuCYB9o3WnRplVSQvjnl9rIitDugjaoBTkxa4EDBZGYnX6l2-o7xxle5y1pn8h8N6ts8M6tK9TuM0kwR6w0_fEl06VVozMJNDD8eLlt992PUcvz1lCKE/s1600/Common+Blue+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLscK_x7q3XKp10XEvHdbXdlqvuCYB9o3WnRplVSQvjnl9rIitDugjaoBTkxa4EDBZGYnX6l2-o7xxle5y1pn8h8N6ts8M6tK9TuM0kwR6w0_fEl06VVozMJNDD8eLlt992PUcvz1lCKE/s400/Common+Blue+5.JPG" width="310" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My third photo for the ‘Challenge on Nature Photography’
(sadly the last couple of days have been rather busy, so these photos haven’t
been posted when they should have been), is of 2 Common Blues. It was taken in
June this year, in an out-of-the –way spot on ‘the patch’, an excellent site
for this species, with the great drifts of Bird’s Foot Trefoil that turn it
into a yellow sea come May sustaining the many adults with their nectar, and
the larvae with their leaves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE4rQFVZGX9YfE5oDvSY5o91eYFwJfiXLrCsFdlybG5gVBy6JOLLCj7SXP3GkjQtXB5_kMPcfrnQ1hy6IEtSrKlUNl3dC0HOIvp0x2EIR5Sc_v_h36bIXSRCDyaoQrlyF4M1mFz6VEmOE/s1600/Common+Blue+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE4rQFVZGX9YfE5oDvSY5o91eYFwJfiXLrCsFdlybG5gVBy6JOLLCj7SXP3GkjQtXB5_kMPcfrnQ1hy6IEtSrKlUNl3dC0HOIvp0x2EIR5Sc_v_h36bIXSRCDyaoQrlyF4M1mFz6VEmOE/s320/Common+Blue+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s heartening to be able to find good numbers of a
butterfly for which the name ‘Uncommon Blue’ seems to be growing increasingly
appropriate on the patch, after it reached an all-time population low in the
washout summer of 2012, and despite showing signs of recovery in 2013 and 2014,
is still by no means ‘common’. I’m a big believer in the field of dreams
philosophy ‘If you build it they will come’, and, with the Common Blue’s
precipitous declines in mind, I’ve tried ‘do my bit’ for this delicate
creature, and grow its foodplant each winter to plant out in the garden, on an
area of poor sandy soil created after some building works. The idea is that
this will (when grown alongside other species of nectar-rich wildflower like
Knapweed) provide breeding habitat for the roaming adults which occasionally
end up in the garden, and shore up their populations locally.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimggD1qWhMJZzD0bVvDiV6kvELr9siaSsZE0y2Td1Af1YzNUFtuFxzTw_uX8eLNo-k-uiocTVK2UxiAm9MOpcyneZXCJG30JsHGjLaAQgt8rTcuZYrh1OWpKGGQlmBMnhGo4yBmmeGxSw/s1600/Common+Blue+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimggD1qWhMJZzD0bVvDiV6kvELr9siaSsZE0y2Td1Af1YzNUFtuFxzTw_uX8eLNo-k-uiocTVK2UxiAm9MOpcyneZXCJG30JsHGjLaAQgt8rTcuZYrh1OWpKGGQlmBMnhGo4yBmmeGxSw/s320/Common+Blue+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A female Common Blue ovipositing in the garden.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So far it’s been a great success, with females putting in an
almost daily appearance during August, and well over 50 eggs laid on the
succulent, green carpets of foodplant that have resulted from my efforts. The
efforts themselves have been fairly minimal, soaking the Bird’s Foot Trefoil
seeds in October, planting them in normal garden soil the next day, watching
them germinate about a week later, and then planting out the seedlings next
spring, it’s easy and effective – I’d encourage anyone with (or indeed without)
an interest in Butterflies to do the same!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLixmBTW9ENpWJh6E4FB7YltRPg57iPMD8yH-DlryOx9QFrFXE_mRQSGSdqauoxeNYMxKl0QrFY0RxbpKRT2lNJSeFVyd0ZVnOCKkjX39W8x9-URa-m5Ubs0eqB-EZjGL68NnWvpdrz4/s1600/Common+Blue+Egg1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLixmBTW9ENpWJh6E4FB7YltRPg57iPMD8yH-DlryOx9QFrFXE_mRQSGSdqauoxeNYMxKl0QrFY0RxbpKRT2lNJSeFVyd0ZVnOCKkjX39W8x9-URa-m5Ubs0eqB-EZjGL68NnWvpdrz4/s320/Common+Blue+Egg1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Common Blue ovum on Black Medick.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27sOL42PVJBVKIWuwvwprPB8Y_SJaKwWn54PNkBE_I6jmxIAiKl4dE-eZUf41TY64jp_FFTmQgiXx8jyp4ANboGd1URO-h6j-mlqN_qGJWw6yeJLoRGl1H-ofwDEdex2oDdRpHuBZxpo/s1600/Common+Blue+Larva1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27sOL42PVJBVKIWuwvwprPB8Y_SJaKwWn54PNkBE_I6jmxIAiKl4dE-eZUf41TY64jp_FFTmQgiXx8jyp4ANboGd1URO-h6j-mlqN_qGJWw6yeJLoRGl1H-ofwDEdex2oDdRpHuBZxpo/s320/Common+Blue+Larva1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A final instar Common Blue larva.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Common Blue eggs are most often laid on short, nitrogen-rich
growths of foodplant (the kind produced from grazing by rabbits, or seedlings),
before hatching a week or so later to produce a small cream-coloured first
instar larva. Growing, and passing through several more instars, it becomes
greener, before forming a pale, sickly-green pupa from which the adult emerges
after 2 or 3 weeks. Larvae from eggs laid in late summer will hibernate in leaf
litter or grass, before resuming feeding again in the spring, and pupating in
April.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh2j3htBit5ytO-VqxklM0OXML2TFGMWHWp6nKycITEnTnEMUJiG9nMsRMDPyeQ0fljdZsMHqs8jbIAFqf1vYpTVgfKThl5HOOY1db8GDKASTkw4eHUxBS9CYvt1VRF0CJzKtGIalzJw/s1600/Common+Blue+Pupa1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh2j3htBit5ytO-VqxklM0OXML2TFGMWHWp6nKycITEnTnEMUJiG9nMsRMDPyeQ0fljdZsMHqs8jbIAFqf1vYpTVgfKThl5HOOY1db8GDKASTkw4eHUxBS9CYvt1VRF0CJzKtGIalzJw/s320/Common+Blue+Pupa1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Common Blue pupa.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The adults often fly in fairly large colonies in suitable
habitat, and are well-known for forming communal roosts; with discrete bunches
fluttering like silvery flags in the breeze. The main benefit of this social
approach to sleeping, is the phenomenon known as ‘Prey dilution’ – safety in
numbers. Basically, if a marauding Robin comes along, an individual butterfly
is less likely to be eaten as part of a group than when it roosts alone. It’s
also thought that the actual number of attacks on butterflies roosting in
groups is less than those alone, though this has been observed in Heliconids, a
tropical family of aposematically-coloured species, where the spectacle of many
butterflies with bright warning colours provides a more powerful repellent signal
than a single individual – so perhaps can’t be applied to less bright, (and
presumably delicious) Common Blues.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Habitat loss has sadly been the main driver in the decline
of Common Blues, with Britain now having lost 98% of its wildflower meadows;
it’s not hard to see why. This, compounded with a string of bad summers has
been enough to set this species back significantly, but perhaps, in a warming
climate this will be one of the few that benefits, with increased temperatures
enabling increased activity and breeding success. It’s certainly a possibility,
but could it also be tempted into the climate trap recently thought to have
snared the Wall Brown? When, in warmer summers it attempts a doomed third brood
that reduces numbers the following year - a possibility too. The future’s a
mystery for the Common Blue, but let’s hope it’s a part of it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyO5ZK5PoXrScVfGTBkqmo2ugzZiNTJcjMOkUCfYxtyYE0_MfbhZXW90Zgqh2PhmoYc_94mqKtBQpDhEdlJ2A6BAyEIT0e-RJCd0PY8RfAVoHomAK1KfMv3ndXyeywdxkso9kjyEicJ58/s1600/Common+Blue+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyO5ZK5PoXrScVfGTBkqmo2ugzZiNTJcjMOkUCfYxtyYE0_MfbhZXW90Zgqh2PhmoYc_94mqKtBQpDhEdlJ2A6BAyEIT0e-RJCd0PY8RfAVoHomAK1KfMv3ndXyeywdxkso9kjyEicJ58/s400/Common+Blue+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u>References<o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
</span><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Finkbeiner S., D., et al. (2012). ‘The Benefit
of being a social butterfly: communal roosting deters predation. Proceedings of
the Royal Society B. 10(1098). Available at <a href="http://visiongene.bio.uci.edu/Adriana_Briscoe/Publications_files/Finkbeiner_rspb.2012.0203.full.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">http://visiongene.bio.uci.edu/Adriana_Briscoe/Publications_files/Finkbeiner_rspb.2012.0203.full.pdf</span></a>,
[accessed 28/11/15].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Barkham P. (2015). ‘Butterflywatch: Can the blues
be in clover once more?’. Guardian [online]. Available at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/06/butterflywatch-barkham-common-blue-adonis-silver-studded-meadows-loss"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/06/butterflywatch-barkham-common-blue-adonis-silver-studded-meadows-loss</span></a>,
[accessed 28/11/15].<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Van Dyck, H., et al. (2014). ‘The lost
generation hypothesis: could climate change drive ectotherms into a
developmental trap?’. Oikos. 10(1111). Avaliable at <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/oik.02066/abstract"><span style="color: blue;">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/oik.02066/abstract</span></a>,
[accessed 28/11/15].<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span> </span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-78307896074765193422015-11-25T13:26:00.000-08:002016-12-06T08:53:01.038-08:00Challenge on Nature Photography - Part 2<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeQFdIJTHXru-1rI_W5jZvOvOoQYkEWFQftIQzrcXnxRxnaOfVibaZw_8xopRSawo4M5b9NFhuPv3Bc6kX77_dr7hzqIY41U7eg-C4AiMImZ5CRLPAczRrwQztzq8PRXaQK0fNjPzcIo/s1600/Large+Blue+91.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeQFdIJTHXru-1rI_W5jZvOvOoQYkEWFQftIQzrcXnxRxnaOfVibaZw_8xopRSawo4M5b9NFhuPv3Bc6kX77_dr7hzqIY41U7eg-C4AiMImZ5CRLPAczRrwQztzq8PRXaQK0fNjPzcIo/s400/Large+Blue+91.JPG" width="326" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Today’s photo for the Challenge on Nature Photography (see
yesterday’s post for an explanation), is of another iconic butterfly species,
the enigmatic Large Blue. I’ve always felt honoured that such a rare and
sought-after species lives a short drive from my home, up on the Polden hills,
and as such, every year I make the pilgrimage to Collard Hill (the flagship
site for this species, it does fly elsewhere), to pay my respects to this
mythic butterfly, and help the National Trust show visitors the ‘star of the
show’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Why’s the Large Blue so rare then? Like many Lycaenids
(‘gossamer-winged butterflies’, in the UK: Hairstreaks, Coppers and Blues), for
part of its life cycle, it forms an association with ants (it’s a
myrmecophile!), though, sadly for the hard-working ants, this isn’t the
traditional symbiosis<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- where the
lycaenid larva provides sugary secretions for the ants, in exchange for
protection (though it’s thought to have evolved from it), in fact, it’s a bit
of a one way street.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Female Large Blues, roaming the slopes on limestone
grasslands in Somerset and Gloucestershire (and some other places) lay their
eggs singly on developing thyme flowers. After a week or so, the egg hatches,
and a rather unprepossessing hairy, pink larva emerges. For a couple of weeks,
it feeds on the thyme flowers, growing in size, and passing through several
skin changes, so far so normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUqgojpc-azZws9M4ROUMUazlFmVUJCeoqxo6ChoOsmNZIK0BXamkRgV7gjhMYnvjmKTpflHHMHBwU1WsotZd-M80oZGyjdw-uvstE1b6HXxrI5JlVT2A9nUOJmrk6sEazLkR3vOkhb4/s1600/Large+Blue+92.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUqgojpc-azZws9M4ROUMUazlFmVUJCeoqxo6ChoOsmNZIK0BXamkRgV7gjhMYnvjmKTpflHHMHBwU1WsotZd-M80oZGyjdw-uvstE1b6HXxrI5JlVT2A9nUOJmrk6sEazLkR3vOkhb4/s320/Large+Blue+92.JPG" width="188" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The fun then begins when the larva throws itself off the
thyme flowers onto the ground (normally during the late afternoon), where it
hopes to be found by one particular species of red ant – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Myrmica sabuleti</i>. Upon discovery, ants will then tap the larva so
that it produces a sweet substance from its ‘newcomer’s gland’ on the 8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
abdominal segment. Sadly, this is about all the ants get from the larva, which
then tricks them into thinking it’s an errant ant grub, causing them to rush it
back to the safety of the nest. Without so much as a thank you, the larva then
proceeds to munch its way through the ant brood, dining on their soft tissues,
all the while secreting chemicals similar to those of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M. sabuleti</i> so as to enhance the deceit. This continues until, having
grown fat on its protein rich diet, it towers, Jabba the Hut-like over its
hosts, and is ready to pupate. This it does in a cell near the surface of the
ant’s nest, making clicks that mimic those of the Red Ant queen (to ensure
constant attention), before emerging from the nest after 3 weeks, protected by
an army of red ant attendants, and expanding its wings to take its first
flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Interestingly, the Large Blue’s scientific name – Maculinea
arion (Phengaris arion to some) commemorates this remarkable life cycle. Arion
was a Greek musician who was kidnapped by sailors who wanted to steal the
prizes that his instrumental talents had brought him at a competition in
Sicily. Arion, requesting one final song before his promised death, and such
was the sweetness of his voice that he attracted several Dolphins to the prow
of the ship. He threw himself from the prow onto one of the Dolphins, which
carried him to safety. The whole story provides a nice allegory for the Large
Blue’s life cycle – Arion is the caterpillar, the Dolphins are the ants, his
beautiful voice is the larva’s sugary secretions, the boat he throws himself
from the Thyme flower, and the shore to which he is carried the ant’s nest –
neat eh?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXSTBM3P_zgSqhVq-C7N4RGCqlzEhkJeWgjvIL9Z7HlLjqhml-G4ejmgbTY0_hieb1hGfFvXT2Z5N6FlX6pqnqJN-z5UNCsZFu7bhq2dbEvI1YTMgJfZzFXqvAzRHvnCcxyBJL1sVOeo/s1600/Large+Blue+94.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXSTBM3P_zgSqhVq-C7N4RGCqlzEhkJeWgjvIL9Z7HlLjqhml-G4ejmgbTY0_hieb1hGfFvXT2Z5N6FlX6pqnqJN-z5UNCsZFu7bhq2dbEvI1YTMgJfZzFXqvAzRHvnCcxyBJL1sVOeo/s320/Large+Blue+94.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Anyway, the survival of Large Blues is clearly controlled by
the presence of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Myrmica sabuleti</i> (the
only species which it is successfully adopted by, others will kill the larva,
since the chemicals it secretes do not mimic their own). Unfortunately, M.
sabuleti has very specific habitat requirements – warm south-facing slopes with
sward of 1-2cm, generally on some sort of species rich alkaline
(chalk/limestone) grassland. This is a rare habitat, largely dependent on
finely-tuned grazing practices, and so M. sabuleti and the Large Blue are only
really found on land carefully managed with their needs in mind.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When these needs aren’t met, extinction soon follows, and
sadly, exactly this happened in the mid 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Century, when, thanks
to a changing farming practices and myxomatosis cutting through British rabbit
populations in the 1950s, many once ideal Large Blue sites became choked with
the kind of rank, grassy sward that is this species’ nemesis. Fortunately, a
pioneering reintroduction project has seen this amazing butterfly return from
the dead and fly on limestone grassland across the south west once more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The reintroduction is a brilliant example of science-based
conservation at its best, before its extinction, the amazing ecology of the
Large Blue was finally untangled by scientists, paving the way for the most
successful large scale insect reintroduction <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ever</i> that it’s return has been. The research didn’t stop there
though, and Jeremy Thomas (the man responsible for the earlier untangling) has
demonstrated a fascinating twist in the Large Blue tale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaRAW-6ApsVA0bAsv8ZyXGD-DZfz3FlWVXuyWVBSz-3a7nWrMp5hdS1DuICV_zpVlUg_zuVzE8FNqSdisOH_bSoMHQ8kCdDvVNWmHDon76QPPX2QL0TlOZZCshACJ06ywDeoJOh8KaYM/s1600/Large+Blue+93.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaRAW-6ApsVA0bAsv8ZyXGD-DZfz3FlWVXuyWVBSz-3a7nWrMp5hdS1DuICV_zpVlUg_zuVzE8FNqSdisOH_bSoMHQ8kCdDvVNWmHDon76QPPX2QL0TlOZZCshACJ06ywDeoJOh8KaYM/s320/Large+Blue+93.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As well as Thyme, the Large Blue uses Marjoram as a foodplant,
and when ants attack this plant’s roots, it secretes a chemical called carvacol
as a defence. This chemical is pretty nasty stuff if you’re an ant, and is
generally an effective repellent for the marjoram, one species, however, has
learnt to detoxify it, you guessed it, Myrmica sabuleti. Thus, the presence of
carvacol around the Marjoram alerts female Large Blues to the presence of
Myrmica sabuleti, and potential ‘foster parents’ for their offspring. This
causes them to lay their eggs on the plant, and the caterpillars to engage in
their usual parasitic relationship with the nest below. It’s a neat little
system that’s advantageous for the Marjoram (the exhorbitant demands of the
Large Blue larvae generally kill off the ant’s nest) and the Large Blue (it has
guaranteed childcare), and so provides one of the first examples of
insect-plant symbiosis (a you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours relationship)
– fascinating stuff!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Large Blue’s amazing life cycle, rarity, and beauty are
a winning combination for butterfly watchers, and it’s not difficult to see why
so many lepidopterists make the pilgrimage to Collard Hill (in Somerset) and
Daneway Banks (in Gloucester) to see it. Its reintroduction provides a
compelling example of the success of a more ambitious approach to conservation,
it may just be an insect, but perhaps the kind of support and following that
this charismatic insect has won will give re-wilders hope, I for one would like
to start small – Large Copper in the Cambridgeshire fens please!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYZLtDWWh7jd0NtwkoLTGoQsUZSM4EymfxIGqH_msPArwzniWz2C-CDQYiMoELoGLCAHemIMM4k1V_WvdtNDX3NLtFbhJui5vRy7dX7HuUW4JvwCBAGr3cQMcWUA4rxX652n6M6giXHs/s1600/Large+Blue+90.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidYZLtDWWh7jd0NtwkoLTGoQsUZSM4EymfxIGqH_msPArwzniWz2C-CDQYiMoELoGLCAHemIMM4k1V_WvdtNDX3NLtFbhJui5vRy7dX7HuUW4JvwCBAGr3cQMcWUA4rxX652n6M6giXHs/s400/Large+Blue+90.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Large Blue - fluttering over Somerset's grasslands once more!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-48397844528247333122015-11-24T13:34:00.001-08:002016-12-06T08:53:11.504-08:00Challenge of Nature Photography - Part 1<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This week I’ve been nominated by Sean Foote for the ‘Challenge
on Nature Photography’ (basically posting a nature photo a day and explaining
the story behind it) – Sean’s a brilliant naturalist from Portland, in Dorset
(check out his blog here: </span><a href="http://theportlandnaturalist.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://theportlandnaturalist.blogspot.co.uk/</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
) who I was lucky enough to spend some time with this summer. I’d like to say
that we exchanged a great deal of knowledge on all matters natural history, but
in reality, it was mostly my jaw growing slack in amazement as he identified
Micro moth after micro moth with an ease that I didn’t imagine it was possible
for mortal man to possess – I learnt a lot!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zcAPVHAGkfXfJtfGyiDky0UfijFQUx3G7TYCD-XkOgN_w06LRL-kK4m0NVdN6SwAcFwCefUo5udyQiYeTXSuc9j_eshmXmGX9bWhbeY-kj2AFFEP70ej5UrhoikFKDhieqb0ORE-Zkk/s1600/Apollo92.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zcAPVHAGkfXfJtfGyiDky0UfijFQUx3G7TYCD-XkOgN_w06LRL-kK4m0NVdN6SwAcFwCefUo5udyQiYeTXSuc9j_eshmXmGX9bWhbeY-kj2AFFEP70ej5UrhoikFKDhieqb0ORE-Zkk/s400/Apollo92.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Anyway, my first photo is of a butterfly called the Apollo
(Parnassius apollo), and the story behind the photo, is, for me, a long and
painful one. I first caught up with this enigmatic and beautiful creature
during a holiday in the south of France in 2012, and despite several hours of
frantic pursuit in thirty degree heat, never got close enough for a photo.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Haunted by my failure, and frustrated by how close I came to
an audience with this magnificent beast (one actually flew past my face, so
close that I could hear the rustling of those enormous papery wings), I was
desperate for a second chance. It was, therefore, with great delight, that I
embarked on a holiday to the Alps in 2014, deep into the heart of Apollo
country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">They often say that those who do not remember History are
doomed to repeat it, and so it was for me, when I decided to take my only
butterflying opportunity of the trip to seek my quarry once more with temperatures
in the high twenties, and once again, the Apollos, emboldened by the heat,
refused to land. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having to admit defeat once more galled me, but like a
lepidopterist Captain Ahab with a white and red –winged Moby Dick, I refused to
give up, and so it was that 2015 saw me returning to that same woodland glade
in the Alps. Having learnt from my mistakes, I set aside a cloudy afternoon to
finally put the Apollo obsession to bed, and, third time lucky, the Apollos, like
good little ecotherms, were forced by the cloud to bask on warm rocks to stay
active, presenting me with excellent photo opportunities, and a job well done.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Htv24TILP6-dAbb6hbPASgCgAsFw0uiYxsPgUzIg5ktWFNfQJMDMvAYJJQ9RpY65gTUN6qCU4UakWMiv_ogE78Z2MggPruV009-pfshxOwiQIL_JXPlUCo055hO8EcxQH68d8KJMTK0/s1600/Apollo90.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Htv24TILP6-dAbb6hbPASgCgAsFw0uiYxsPgUzIg5ktWFNfQJMDMvAYJJQ9RpY65gTUN6qCU4UakWMiv_ogE78Z2MggPruV009-pfshxOwiQIL_JXPlUCo055hO8EcxQH68d8KJMTK0/s400/Apollo90.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When you’ve seen an Apollo in the wild, it’s easy to
understand why they’re so gripping, like an alpine Purple Emperor, they seem
perfectly suited to their domain, skimming, almost effortlessly on gossamer
wings over verdant meadows. With a grace unmatched by any other butterfly that
I’ve seen (even, dare I say it, the Scarce Swallowtail), and huge, snowy wings,
they are the quintessential Alpine butterfly, and certainly deserving of their
name, with all its divine connotations.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Sadly, they’re now endangered across much of their European
range (spanning most of the continent’s higher areas), thanks to the habitat
change that human encroachment is causing in Alpine areas. To compound this
beautiful creature’s misery, like many mountain species preferring cooler
climes, it’s likely to be adversely affected by climate change.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Fortunately though, the obvious charisma of the Apollo is
beginning to attract efforts to conserve it, and the future, for now, seems
secure – long may it remain so, so that others can be frustrated, amazed and
delighted by it too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ygaM3jHI1nDiPcL8RlDbpPH3BMqrmPk0O0pb4Ii_LFCXstzsUft2S39Fc7WlD_kUF_I_UeSVZREKgPuPvrVISbNosuH86xlV77eJGAQR4Pmu2fqwW4EbPLqhyvPL9HOXknjG7Nyj2Ks/s1600/Apollo91.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ygaM3jHI1nDiPcL8RlDbpPH3BMqrmPk0O0pb4Ii_LFCXstzsUft2S39Fc7WlD_kUF_I_UeSVZREKgPuPvrVISbNosuH86xlV77eJGAQR4Pmu2fqwW4EbPLqhyvPL9HOXknjG7Nyj2Ks/s320/Apollo91.JPG" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apollo in Apollo heartland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-76529233689666660702015-11-22T12:26:00.002-08:002015-11-22T12:26:47.599-08:00Convergent Evolution<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Moth trapping has been fairly successful this autumn, though
the dearth of migrants has put a dampener on things. For some reason, after
several years of trapping, I still expect to be buried by a swarm of Death's
Head Hawk Moths whenever I hear the hum of the MV bulb on warm October
evenings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As it is, on the migrant front, I've had to make do with a
Vestal and a couple of Small Mottled Willows (not to be sniffed at, but equally
well, not Palpita vitrealis), and so, with nothing more exciting to entertain
me, my mind began to wander...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">To what precisely? A really nice natural phenomenon called
'Convergent Evolution', it's fairly common in the animal kingdom (and no doubt
elsewhere), and is basically when distantly related creatures, capitalising on
similar ecological niches, evolve similar adaptations independently. Good
examples are the way flight has popped up in insects, birds and bats -
distantly related creatures, all with the same useful adaptation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In a broad Darwinian sense, there is only one problem that
each species must adapt to, that is, the problem of surviving long enough to
pass on ones genes. Many Scientists argue, that since any life that evolves
anywhere will always face this one problem, and natural selection will always
produce optimal solutions to a problem, the evolution of intelligence
(supposedly the optimal solution, as opposed to being able to reproduce every
20 minutes like Bacteria), as seen in humans, and various </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">other animals, is
inevitable.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_RUI51mmZN2vkQ1G_EjxPlhbQ-arIYUVXZHrL6A233dSuXGCY70TC-jPAHy5gx3JQhZFsI9BqXgIGA-uneJLcjD3WPmlfVPa_t7bzQ2SwhvpN-hk4tRxJNXVq59nKdAVJcjIc_hvjB4/s1600/MDJ4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_RUI51mmZN2vkQ1G_EjxPlhbQ-arIYUVXZHrL6A233dSuXGCY70TC-jPAHy5gx3JQhZFsI9BqXgIGA-uneJLcjD3WPmlfVPa_t7bzQ2SwhvpN-hk4tRxJNXVq59nKdAVJcjIc_hvjB4/s320/MDJ4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merveille du Jour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0oL1MIxgoiP_kR5mhbpKYFUUK-9jY5aNpWOnSkEI08-QRGzglQyBrKoyqXxq9s6h1LWI0_D7bnP88cMAE5b93qKwHUzQpz2p7z1TyUgpE_lsqafZIPJ1l_nEwF7YaTb1aGd1zflpDZoM/s1600/A+L2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0oL1MIxgoiP_kR5mhbpKYFUUK-9jY5aNpWOnSkEI08-QRGzglQyBrKoyqXxq9s6h1LWI0_D7bnP88cMAE5b93qKwHUzQpz2p7z1TyUgpE_lsqafZIPJ1l_nEwF7YaTb1aGd1zflpDZoM/s320/A+L2.JPG" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acleris literana<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is a bit of an over simplification of the argument, but
gets the general gist of it. But what does this have to do with moths?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The fairly distantly-related Acleris literana (a micro moth
which flies from August to May), and the famous Merveille du Jour (marvel of
the day in French) both of which I caught in the garden during October, exhibit
a magnificent green marbled colouring that allows them to blend almost
seamlessly into any lichen-covered substrate - a cracking example of convergent
evolution!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Presumably, since both feed on Oak, and therefore inhabit
nice Oak Woodlands with lots of Lichens, being able to hide on the abundant
lichens whilst resting during the day proved an excellent way to avoid
predators and survive to reproduce, and so was selected for and evolved in both
species.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Fascinating!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004324128376657891.post-13049927805020443082015-11-22T10:35:00.004-08:002015-11-22T14:48:20.860-08:00On Tits<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As someone whose main interest is in Butterflies and Moths,
the onset of winter is a time of planning for next year, frustration at the
incessant Somerset damp, and generally not getting as much fresh air as I
should do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, there is one
thing I always look forward to. Tits!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiltXn9A73F14RLA5LILc1X7Ec7TCCdRwwyfvobYKYDPYFaepY6_eG0FE56wu3KQb3_Vb-Ea2JV7d54rPQoxq1Bq1nS6fx66AIg34ybWURRsC2i41U0_uxWeao93H71VxEZ0Djy3hOEIw/s1600/Blue+Tit+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiltXn9A73F14RLA5LILc1X7Ec7TCCdRwwyfvobYKYDPYFaepY6_eG0FE56wu3KQb3_Vb-Ea2JV7d54rPQoxq1Bq1nS6fx66AIg34ybWURRsC2i41U0_uxWeao93H71VxEZ0Djy3hOEIw/s320/Blue+Tit+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Tit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ha. Ha. Ha. The jokes about these diminutive birds, are many
and boring, it’s a rite of passage for any birdwatcher, upon confessing their
strange hobby to a new acquaintance to see said acquaintance’s eyes light up, a
cunning smile suddenly appearing on their face, as, in faintly nasal tones,
perhaps with a knowing wink or nudge, they say:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">‘So you like tits then?’ before bursting into uncontrolled
fits of laughter. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You laugh too, humouring the new acquaintance, blushing at having to suffer this classic ornithological gag for the nth time.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">To me, this idle dinner table banter obscures the true
majesty of these creatures, who could doubt the smoky beauty of the humble Blue
Tit’s Asian counterpart – the Azure Tit (one for the WP wishlist), or the
impressive adaptability of the Great Tit, recently found to sing at higher
frequencies in cities to overcome the low frequency, everyday hubbub, of human
life?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Sadly, we’re only blessed with 10 regularly-occurring species
of Tit in the Western Palearctic, all of which feed on insects and nest in
holes in trees, or well-placed nest boxes. It’s worth noting that 3 other birds
rejoice in the monosyllabic moniker: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
Long-Tailed, Penduline and Bearded Tits, though they aren’t members of the true tits
family – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paridae</i>, of which I’ve seen
6 species, including the outrageously quiffed Crested Tit, and rather more
understated Sombre Tit. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At this time of year, like many passerines, Tits start to
gather into discreet flocks, and suddenly, these under-appreciated creatures
become greater than the sum of their parts. Anyone who has seen these roving
mobs bouncing along wood edges cannot fail to be struck by the purposefulness
of their movement. In scenes reminiscent of a highly trained militia clearing a
building, checking every nook and cranny for insect prey (just not the Brown
Hairstreak eggs – please!), their daily foraging takes on an air of strange
menace.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kBhyphenhyphenwyK-3_ypMzlNL0vYrGtExDnBnGoUDH2rBF3FpHaSCRQt5E6m-UKV49JYSJmo2KMGei5EkAq2vpXwA0pPphdinKXxmt5VNy-FQEprIoQMSuLAQpAHQNxmh0zvJiLAe6UFJ0YJyeI/s1600/Birdfeeder+Sequence2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kBhyphenhyphenwyK-3_ypMzlNL0vYrGtExDnBnGoUDH2rBF3FpHaSCRQt5E6m-UKV49JYSJmo2KMGei5EkAq2vpXwA0pPphdinKXxmt5VNy-FQEprIoQMSuLAQpAHQNxmh0zvJiLAe6UFJ0YJyeI/s320/Birdfeeder+Sequence2.JPG" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile Blue and Great Tits.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite this, these menacing bands do have a sensitive side, and sometimes even take in refugees. That is
to say, wandering passerines like Firecrests and Siberian Chiffchaffs
occasionally pop up with them, enjoying the safety that many pairs of eyes, and
those classic shrill tit alarm calls provide.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In short, Tits, despite the name (which, incidentally, is
thought to be Scandinavian in origin, possibly from the Icelandic: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">titlingur</i>, meaning Sparrow), deserve our
respect, they’re beautiful, plucky, and many of them even have the virtue of
being quite common.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Perhaps winter isn’t so bad!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">References<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Jha, A., (2009). ‘City birds sing higher than
country cousins, scientists find’. Guardian, [online]. Available at </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jun/03/great-tit-city-bird-song"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jun/03/great-tit-city-bird-song</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
, [accessed 22/11/15].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Crochet P-A., Joynt G. (2011). ‘AERC list of
Western Palearctic birds. December 2011 version’. Available at </span><a href="http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/userfiles/file/Birdwatch/Checklist%20of%20Western%20Palearctic%20birds%201.pdf"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/userfiles/file/Birdwatch/Checklist%20of%20Western%20Palearctic%20birds%201.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,
[accessed 22/11/15].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Harper D. (2015). ‘Online Etymology Dictionary’.
Available at: </span><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tit"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tit</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">,
[accessed 22/11/15].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Will Langdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15725240947652886389noreply@blogger.com0