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buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 17 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

And a moth from yesterday:




Six Spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae) feeding on Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris). A good spot by one of our number.

Henry

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 17 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Self Heal is having a bumper year round here. I shall keep an eye out for the moths.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 17 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You did well to get the picture of the purple emperor; they are very hard to photograph. We get those, silver washed fritillaries, white admirals, speckled woods and a few others in the woods. I have an abiding memory of one of our more mature Volunteer group members rushing around trying to get a picture of a silver washed when none of them would stay still. Haven't seen any yet, but sure they will be around soon if not just hiding from me, or me being in the wrong place, as they tend to use the rides and open areas.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 17 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Oh I've had one of those in our garden before Buzzy. They are quite a funky moth.


buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 17 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
Oh I've had one of those in our garden before Buzzy. They are quite a funky moth.



I think that's a Five Spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii), but still funky.

Henry

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 17 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Pah! What's one spot amongst moths

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 17 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It may be just "one spot" to you, but if mothologists can't tell what species a moth is just by looking at it, they have a tendency to bump it off and dissect its genitalia, something no moth wants to happen to it.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Jun 29, 17 6:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Burnet moths like ragwort and you can see the stripy black and gold caterpillars on the plants. No idea how many spots they have though as they are just plain stripy at that stage.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Thu Jun 29, 17 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
Burnet moths like ragwort and you can see the stripy black and gold caterpillars on the plants. No idea how many spots they have though as they are just plain stripy at that stage.

The stripey black and gold caterpillars on Ragwort are those of Cinnabar Moths, which are a bit like Burnet moths but have a red stripe along the front of the forewing, and aren't iridescent like Burnets.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 17 6:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sorry, I knew that but got confused.

Son tells me that we had lots of silver washed fritillaries around while we were away as it was hot and dry. Not sure if they will be flying much as it is now cooler and damp. We had a couple of moths or butterflies settled in the charcoal dumpy sacks yesterday and had to remove them before we could dig the charcoal out to bag it.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sun Jul 02, 17 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Saw a silver washed fritillary yesterday, and one of our volunteers had been chasing one to get it to close its wings so he could check it wasn't a dark green fritillary. It didn't oblige. I should point out that he must be in his 80s now, so the butterfly easily got away, although he is very persistent.

Finally identified the plant we have been looking at for the last couple of months. We think it is wall lettuce, which we have never seen in the wood before. No idea how it got there, but there is quite a lot this year. I may not have been identifying it before, as the flowers are held on the stalks like nipplewort, but have a lot fewer petals, so think I would have noticed that.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 17 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

This week was definitely another butterfly day.

We found lots of White Letter Hairstreaks (Satyrium w-album) including this pair making baby hairstreaks and being quite brazen about it:




There seemed to White Letter Hairstreaks on every bramble bush'

We also saw lots of Silver Washed Fritillaries, Ringlets, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns. Some Marbled Whites, and some of us (not me)saw Black Hairstreaks, and one lucky one saw a Purple Hairstreak. There were also Commas and Small Tortoiseshells.

We then moved to a different part of the same wood in the hope of seeing Dark Green Fritillaries. I saw one in the distance which was probably a Dark Green, but too far to be certain.

Wedid find a nice clump of Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) though:




Henry

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 17 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

nice snaps, ta .

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 17 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Oh, I almost forgot. At the second stop I nabbed a Roesel's Bush Cricket in my sweep net. Several people photographed it in the folds of the net, but as I tried to stop it climbing out, it crawled on to my hand. It sat there for a while as more photographs were taken. Then it began to nibble my hand gently, and finally gave it a nip hard enough for me to say "OUCH!!!"

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Jul 04, 17 6:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our volunteer was trying to see if the butterfly he was seeing was a silver washed or dark green fritillary. It wouldn't shut its wings though. Nice pictures Buzzy. I am not sure that I have ever seen a hairstreak. I will have to look them up to see where they live. Unreasonable of the cricket to bite you, I mean you only caught it in a net.

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