Photo Blog

I love observing nature through the changing seasons both in my Norfolk wildlife garden and the surrounding countryside. I blog about wildlife gardening as well as about Norfolk butterflies, wildflowers and other flora and fauna that I come across. Bookmark my Norfolk nature photo blog to keep up to date with my photographic adventures.

An Aberration!

A Small Tortoiseshell aberration semiichnusoides butterfly showing merged costal black spots and white marginal streaks instead of blue studs on the forewing and missing the orange band on the hindwings

Our hot late June summer weather didnt last too long, and perhaps could be deemed an aberration in its own right, but it also seems to have had a major impact on our caterpillars while they metamorphosed into butterflies.

I got curious when I spotted this unusually marked Small Tortoiseshell butterfly and discovered a strange world of genetics and temperature driven body chemistry!

It takes about 4 weeks for a caterpillar to metamorphose into an adult butterfly in a fascinating “black box” process that science still knows surprisingly little about.

The term for a butterfly with these atypical variations in markings is “an aberration”, which stems from the latin aberrationem, literally meaning “a wandering”. First used in the 1590s, the modern meaning of “a deviation from the normal type” is attested by 1735.

It turns out that both genetics and abnormal weather (and perhaps even the two in combination) can play a role in triggering these deviations. Aberrations are caused when something interrupts the usual pattern of markings during their development inside the butterfly’s chrysalis. One hypothesis is that sudden temperature “shocks” (in either direction) may trigger melanin release (a dark pigment) to increase or decrease.

Another possibility is the activation of rare inherited “recessive” DNA genes (a gene that requires both parents to have it to be activated) that are atypical because they hinder the chances of an individual finding a mate, or even surviving under normal conditions. They continue however to be carried in the population because they may perhaps aid survival in abnormal conditions.

One example of this is the better known aberration - the dark brown“Valezina” form of the Silver-washed fritillary quite often seen now at Holt at Foxley Woods. Valezina, due to its dark colouration is more able to fly and find nectar in unusually cool temperatures than its typical bright orange counterpart, but which may then be at a disadvantage when it comes to finding a mate and reproducing due to being less readily recognised.

Whether the sudden temperature change we saw at the end of June activated a dormant gene relating to surviving with abnormal weather or coincidentally acted directly on melanin production remains one of the fascinating mysteries of nature.

Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae (normal type) vs Small Tortoiseshell (aberration semiichnusoides). Both butterflies are likely to be siblings as they were hosted as caterpillars on my nettle bed and appeared fresh on the same day together.

Which White? - A Photographic Identification Guide to White Butterflies

How To Identify White Butterflies

One of the hardest common butterfly species to identify accurately are white butterflies, especially when first starting out. It can be awkward to compare distinguishing features of butterflies using guide books, where each butterfly species usually has its own separate dedicated section. This article uses side-by-side “real-life” comparison photos of “confusion” species taken from similar angles, including images of faded individuals, to help “get your eye in” and identify which white butterfly you saw.

In the UK, the “Whites” family Pieridae actually encompasses 5 white and 2 yellow butterflies. They can be tricky to identify because from a distance many of the white butterfly species look very similar, often fly at the same time, in the same habitat and even in some cases use the same caterpillar host plants. I’ve omitted the Wood White here as its extremely rare. Being the smallest and flimsiest of the Pieridae family, it’s very local and not resident in Norfolk.

Its All About The Closed Hindwing

Probably the best method for identifying Pieridae butterflies is to start with the underneath of the hindwings. First, use any patterns to eliminate or identify Green-veined Whites, Orange-tips, and Brimstones and then look at the upper side of the forewing to differentiate between the Large White and Small White. Of course, this relies on getting a good look or photo from both angles and butterflies don’t always oblige!

On closer inspection, the underside of the hindwings of “white” butterflies are anything but! The Green-veined White butterfly has a beautiful powdery green-grey veining (when viewed close up, these are actually a combination of black and yellow scales) set on a milky background whereas the Orange-tip butterfy sports a bold, mottled dark green-yellow wing underside pattern against a crisp white base.

The greenish-white leaf shape of the Brimstone female is also uniquely distinctive, the lemon yellow of the male Brimstone even more so, not to mention their vivid reddish maroon-coloured antennae and shoulder rim.

The Green-veined White butterfly has green-grey powdery markings along its closed underwing veins on a cream coloured background

Female Brimstone butterfly on leaf

The female Brimstone is greenish white, with a leaf-like appearance, an overall “boxier” shape and bright maroon antennae and shoulder.

The Orange-tip butterfly has dark green-yellow mottling on its underwings against a cool white.

Both Large and Small White butterflies have largely plain, creamy coloured underwing and a similar wingshape.

Identifying Small White And Large White Butterflies Using The Underside Of Their Wings

Despite their names, size is often a poor differentiator between Large White and Small White butterflies. Even though the average wingspan of a Large White is, at c60mm, markedly larger than the circa 45mm wingspan of the Small White, Green-veined White and Orange-tip butterflies, this can be difficult to gauge in the field. To add complexity, the sizes of the two genders can differ significantly.

At first glance, the underneath of the hindwing of both Large White and Small White butterflies appears a plain, warm cream or ivory tone. The veins are pronounced but lack differentiating features. However, though care needs to be taken when attempting to distinguish the Large White and Small White from the underside of their hindwings, it is often possible.

Usually, the butterfly’s dark upperside wingtip marking bleeds through to the underside of the rear wing, appearing as a darker yellowish-grey or ochre colour than the rest of the underside of the forewing, so its shape and size can be used as a differentiator (in a nutshell “Larger black wing tip = Large White”). In the Large White I often think of the marking shape as looking like a shark’s fin or a boomerang. Caution is required because this bleed-through can sometimes be difficult to see from certain light angles and may be faint in aged specimens where the dark markings have faded.

In female Large Whites sometimes you can also sometimes see the distinguishing larger dark wing spots on the underside of the forewing, particularly in the second brood where these become even more marked. But again, caution is necessary because the angle of the closed wing position at rest does not always leave these fully visible and spots on a second brood Small White female can also be somewhat pronounced.

The good news is that a butterfly single small spot showing through and a plain cream hind wing underside is almost certainly a male Small White butterfly, since male Large Whites lack a spot and females of both species have double spots.

The Large White has a darker “shark fin” bleed through of its black corner marking that runs in an arc halfway down the far edge of its wing. Here Its black forewing spot is almost entirely obscured by the hind wing position. .

The Small White has a fainter bleed through of its grey wingtip that here appears buttery yellow and is restricted to the very tip. The male's single spot is smaller and less pronounced.

"Tips" To Identify White Butterflies From Their Upper Forewing Markings

From above, male Orange-tips are of course immediately identifiable due to their unmistakeable bright orange wing band. Female Green-veined Whites are also evident due to their powdery-grey veining.

From this perspective, identifying the Large White is usually straight forward because it has a comparatively larger and much blacker upper wingtip edging that is clearly visible from this viewpoint. This runs in an arc down to about midway along the far end of the forewing in a boomerang-like shape.

By contrast, the Small White’s dark wingtip mark is fainter and more of a brown-grey than black. It runs further up the side of the wing than along, reaching only about a third of the way along the far edge of the wing, with the corner points forming an isosceles triangle rather than an equilateral one. A little care may be needed in identifying aged Large White specimens as the wingtip markings may have also faded to more of a brown-grey - the shape and size is the key differentiator.

In female Large Whites you can also use their double black postdiscal forewing spots as an extra identification aid. Again these are much blacker and significantly larger than the fainter brown-grey ones of the Small White female, bear in mind that in the second brood these can sometimes be quite pronounced so a little caution needs to be taken with this feature.

The Orange-tip male is unmistakeable seen from above due to its vivid orange banding on the upperside of the forewings.

The Large White male has a larger blacker wingtip that arcs halfway across its upper forewing rear edge in a ”boomerang” shape and lacks forewing spots.

The Small White has a narrower wing tip marking that does not extend far along the far edge of the wing. The male has a small spot that is brownish-grey.

The Green-veined white female can be readily identified by clearly visible grey-green powdery vein dusting along its upperside forewing veins.

The Small White female has a pair of brown-grey upper forewing spots, these can be more pronounced in second brood individuals.

The Large White female has twin very large black spots as well as the bigger stronger black wing tip marking than the Small White.

Use Wing Shape To Identify Or Eliminate A Suspect

There is the greatest potential for confusion between Small White males, Green-veined White males and Orange-tip females, which are all of a similar size and have more subtle wing markings.

The easiest suspect of these to eliminate is usually the Orange-tip female. The rounded rear wingshape creates a letter “B” when basking which can be a distinctive feature even when seen in flight.

“Spot” The Butterfly’s Forewing Markings

The overall wing colour of the female Orange-tip is a cooler white hue than the Small White. The wing tip marking is also a cooler grey colour and the rim has a checkered / feathered appearance on both wings. This is particularly evident on the forewing tip set against the grey area.

The position of the spots on the upperside of the butterfly’s forewing can also help. In an Orange-tip the spot is positioned much closer to the side edge of the forewing than in the other white butterflies. Lastly, you can sometimes also even see bleed-through of the Orange'-tips striking underside mottling on the top side of the underwing.

Green-veined Whites are one of the more variable of UK butterflies. It can range from being almost pure white with no black spots at all and a barely visible vein dusting, right through to being a dusky cream or beige with strong and wide dusty green-grey vein markings and heavy double spotting in females. As in other butterflies, markings tend to be paler in the spring brood and heavier in later summer broods.

A pitfall to watch out for is that faintly marked Green-veined White males can be problematic to distinguish from a male Small White, particularly early in the season. However, even when barely visible, the veining usually breaks up the upperside grey forewing tip marking to give it a lined or broken apppearance.

The female Orange-tip also has grey wing tips but these have a checkered edging. It is a cooler white and has a rounded wingshape with a feathered appearance.

The Green-veined White also has a pointed forewing shape. Its upperside wing markings are highly variable and can be very faint.

This male Green-veined White has a very plain upperside and superficially looks like a Small White with a single spot. Close inspection reveals the green-grey dusting along the underside of its underwing veins and a broken appearance to its grey forewing tip mark.

Male Small White has more pointed forewing shape and flattened off rear wing shape than the female Orange-tip. It also has a warmer hue.

Male Small White nectaring on Lavender showing its narrower wing tip markings which are smoother than a male Green-veined White.

Female Orange-tip butterfly showing wing edge grey spot and rounded wings

Female Orange-tip butterfly at an angle showing cool-grey coloured forewing. Also the dot position close to the wing edge, checkered wingtip edging and rounded wing shape as identifiers.

Behaviour and Habitat

Behavior can also sometimes aid differentation - the Orange-tip female is a relatively weak and wafty flier generally staying close to the ground and resting frequently on plants. It is often found near ponds and along hedgrow-lined lanes where host plants Cuckoo Flower and Hedge garlic are to be found. The Green-veined White is widespread. Although, according to Lewington it too prefers damper habitats and woodland rides it is frequently seen in gardens where it has a fondness for nasturtiums as a host plant, much to gardeners dismay. The Small White, and especially the Large White by contrast are more vigorous fliers and generally wider ranging.

Identifying White Butterflies in Context

Below are some side-by-side contextual photos of the three main confusion species: Small White male, Orange-tip female and a Green-veined White male, to help get a feel for the gist or “jizz”, that is the character of a butterfly when viewed from a distance. Ultimately it’s best to get record shots of both the top and underwings for a confident identification.

Large White vs Small White Butterfly In Context

Large White female in context. It has bold black or dark grey wing tips. The female also has two large black spots on the wings.

Small White in context. It has fainter, browner grey wing tip markings that cover less area than the Large White.

Small White vs Male Green-veined White Butterfly In Context

Male Green-veined White in context. Though faint, you can still see some vein dusting on the upper wing running through the grey wingtip.

Small White in context. From a distance Small Whites can look similar to a male Green-veined White. They are creamier in colour and the dark wing tips are more even and consistent, and no vein markings.

Female Orange-tip vs Green-veined White Butterfly In Context

Orange-tip female basking. The checkered wing rim and rounded wingshape aid identification.

Green-veined White female with faded grey powdery veining and wing-tip markings still apparent.

Side on Views

Usually from this angle there is enough of both the underside underwing marking and the upperside forewing tip shape and shading to distinguish all of the whites. Here are some photographic examples.

Orange-tip female butterfly on grass flowerhead tip. Even with a faded grey wingtip the spot placement, rounded wingshape and a hint of the underside all contribute to a confident ID.

Although this male Green-veined white lacks any upper wing spots or veining the underwing underside is strongly veined and a marked cream hue.

The female’s black spot is misleadingly suggestive of a Large white but the narrow isosceles triangle shape of the dark wingtip indicates a Small White. The black would need to extend along the wing edge as far as the spot to be a Large White.

As well as the clearly greenish-veined underwing underside, you can also see faint darker veining and the white gaps breaking up the upper forewing tip grey marking of this female Green-veined white.

Both the “shark fin” bleed through extending well across the far wing edge and black spots are evident on this female Large White due to the light and wing angle.

This similarly lit view of a Large White female shows how much further along the wing the “boomerang” black wingtip edging goes.

Identifying Yellow Butterflies

Two of our “White” or Pieridae family butterflies are actually yellow and one doesn’t even live here permanently! The Clouded Yellow is a frequent summer migrant whereas the Brimstone butterfly is a long-lived, single-brooded resident butterfly. It is often among the first butterflies seen in spring when it emerges from hibernation as an adult. The different yellow hues and wingshapes should allow for straightforward differentiation between the two butterflies.

The Clouded Yellow is pretty much unmistakeable, with a distinctive custard or canary yellow colouring, and a contrasting wide, deep black band running along the upper side of both wings which is a distinctive and characteristic in flight. In profile, look for the black spot on the upper forewing underside and a white spot on the underside of the hindwing and especially its unique, wonderful emerald-green eyes.

Male Brimstones are instead a largely uniform vivid lemon yellow, while the females are a muted pale mint green hue. Brimstones are best identified by their scalloped wingshape, which lends them a chunky appearance in flight. The front of the forewing tapers to a hook, while the rear wing is teardrop shaped, enabling them to camouflage themselves as leaves when hanging upside down. Both females and males have distinctive maroon-coloured antennae and shoulders.

The Clouded Yellow is a custard colour has rounded wingshape with a black spot on the underwing

The male Brimstone butterfly is a bright lemon yellow hue, has scalloped wings and maroon antennae.

Female Brimstone is a muted mint-white colour and has scalloped, deeply veined wings that resemble a leaf.

And One Interloper…

Despite its appearance, the Marbled White butterfly isn’t technically speaking in the “Whites” family of butterflies at all. Instead it’s classed in the “Browns” or Satyrinae family, a sub family of the “Nymph” or Nymphalidae family. It also isn’t officially resident in Norfolk…yet.

Recently, one or two individuals have been sighted on grassland and chalky areas in the county so it could well be gradually following the same North Easterly pattern of expansion into the county seen among some other butterfly species, perhaps aided by the odd accidental, or even illicit, release. Marbled Whites are readily distinguished from other true “Whites” by its black-brown and white checkered pattern, which is clearlyy visible from above and underneath.

Marbled White butterfly - top view

Marbled White butterfly - three quarter view

Non Visual Characteristics Can Also Eliminate A Suspect

Distribution

The Wood White is very local, remains nationally very rare, is not resident in Norfolk so is not addressed here. Due to its small size and wing shape it would only likely be mistaken for a female Orange-tip butterfly but it lacks any spots on the upper side of its wings.

The Marbled White remains very unlikely to be seen in Norfolk as the county is, for now, tantalisingly just beyond its home range. The other native White butterflies are widespread across the county.

Being a migrant, the Clouded Yellow can pop up anywhere but is seen less often, except in years when weather conditions are exceptionally favourable, which can lead to an influx. Sightings are frequently made later on in summer near fields of Lucerne or legumes which are its host plants.

Flight Times / Phenology

Below are tables showing the first, mean and last sightings of each White species over the five years to 2019. (At time of writing more recent data was not available). Phenology is of somewhat less help than in some other families, but there are a couple of exceptions.

Brimstones are reliably the early bird of the family, emerging from hibernation as early as the end of January, fading by July before their offspring emerge in late July or August. This generation are then on the wing until entering hibernation in late autumn, occasionally emerging in winter on very mild days.

The Small White, Large White and Orange-tip appear next in a cluster, all typically flying from mid March, usually followed a week or two later by the Green-veined White. The migrant Clouded Yellow butterflies are usally brought to us by favourable windstreams later in Spring these individuals then breed to produce a second generation which emerges from the end of June. There is however some speculation that it may be starting to breed in the more southern counties of the UK.

The Small White and Large White and Green-veined White are all double-brooded, with a second generation typically flying from July through into Autumn. According to Lewington, in warm years a third brood of the Green-veined White can be seen.

By contrast, the single-brooded Orange-tip has the narrowest flight period, being seen on the wing from the end of June usually no later than mid July, although occasionally the odd individual has been spotted in August and September. The Clouded Yellow is a robust butterfly and the homegrown adult generation can usually be seen into mid to late Autumn in clement years.

Table of First Sightings of Pieridae Butterflies in Norfolk. Averages are a five year arithmetic mean to 2019.

Table of Last Sightings of Pieridae Butterflies in Norfolk

Table of Last Sightings of Pieridae Butterflies in Norfolk. Averages are a five year arithmetic mean to 2019.

Host Plants

The White butterfly family predominantly use plants in the Crucifer or Cabbage family, Cruciferaea. Although individual preferences do vary, there is considerable overlap so other than perhaps for the Brimstone butterfly, plants don’t really serve as clues for identification.

The Large White is notorious among gardeners for its taste for cultivated Brassicas as a caterpillar host plant, however it will also use Nasturtiums, Tropaeolum majus, Wild Mignonette, Reseda lutea, Wild Cabbage, Brassica oleracea, Oil Seed Rape, Brassica napus and Sea Kale, Crambe maritima as well, many of which make good diversionary or sacrificial plants on an allotment bed.

The Small White is something of a crossover, it shares its larger cousin’s taste for Wild Mignonette, Wild Cabbage and Nasturtiums and has an individual preference for Hoary Cress, Lepidium draba. But it also uses Charlock, Sinapis arvensis, Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata and Hedge Mustard, Sisymbrium officinale, which are all eagerly utilised by the Green-veined White and Orange-tip butterflies.

Meanwhite the latter pair also share a preference for Cuckoo Flower, Cardamine pratensis, Water-cress, Roripa nasturtium-aquaticum, Large Bittercress, Crucifer amara. The Green-veined White has also been known to use Wild Cabbage, Wild Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum and, in gardens, even Nasturtiums and Alyssum, Alyssum maritimum.

Lastly, the Orange-tip’s secondary preferences tend to be Turnip, Brassica rapa, Hairy Rock-cress, Arabis hirsuta and at a pinch ornamental garden flowers Honesty, Lunaria annua and Dame’s Violet, Hesperis matronalis, although according to Butterfly Conservation survival is thought to be poorer on these.

Although the Brimstone butterfly is a wanderer and often seen nectaring in gardens, it actually relies on Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) as its caterpillar host plants, so the loss of traditional native hedgerows can negatively impact it.

Clouded Yellow butterflies by contrast rely on Legumes as their host plants, favouring Clover, Trifolium spp. and Lucerne, Medicago sativa but also sometimes using common Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus.

Resources 

My own photographs and in-the-field observations

Butterfly Conservation Society -  Species information and factsheets:

R. Lewington - Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland

A. M. Riley - British and Irish Butterflies

All images taken by and © Kiri Stuart-Clarke. All rights reserved

Grow Garlic Mustard for Butterflies

Many gardeners don't realise that Garlic Mustard, alliaria petiolata, is an important host plant for both Orange-tip and Green-veined White butterflies so innocently pull it up right as the butterflies are laying on it. This is a tragedy for the butterflies, but also a shame because Hedge Garlic, as its also called, is an attractive wildflower in its own right with beautifully scalloped fresh lime-coloured leaves, dainty white jasmine-like flowers and can look wonderful against a south facing wall.

May proved an eventful month, and not exactly for the best of reasons…

Orange-tip butterfly ovipositing on Hedge Garlic / Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata, in my wildlife garden

One wildlife gardening project that I've been working on for a long time, in fact more or less since I moved in almost ten years ago, was how to get Orange-tip butterflies, Anthocharis cardamines, to breed in my wildlife garden. At first I planted Cuckoo flower, Cardamine Pratensis, the Orange-tip's best known primary host plant and the one they are always associated with. It tried it in my then new bog garden and by my pond margins, but the site proved too sunny and dry and Cuckoo flower failed to establish there.

Then I learned a less well known fact: Orange-tips also have a second primary plant, Hedge Garlic, Alliaria petiolata, also known as Garlic Mustard or Jack-by-the-hedge. This is a very different plant, larger, with beautifully scalloped lime green leaves, small Jasmine-like leaves, and it's even edible. It's a wanderer of part-shaded leafy lanes and hedgerows and is often used by butterflies as a more abundant alternative. Now that sounded alot more promising.

But for some reason I still struggled. Hedge Garlic is a biennial that behaves much like a foxglove. At first the Hedge Garlic didn't return, so I tried a variety of positions, all seemingly unsuccessful. Then I had an unexpected breakthrough, a self seeded patch popped up in, of all places, my gravel trap, not in part shade as everywhere advises, but southfacing and in full direct sun, exactly where the butterflies need it to be to lay on it. It seemed super happy there with damp feet and poor soil and went from strength to strength.

Finally, another three years on, I had a large clump running across the whole wall in a sunny position. Then this year Eureka! I spotted a female Orange-tip honing in on the patch, checking the flower tips out for prior eggs and then ovipositing some eggs in the bracts of several flower tips. I even managed a grab shot with my camera. I was euphoric and simply over the moon, I'd finally cracked it!

Two days later I took my camera out onto the patio preparing to photograph the eggs looked up and shrieked in horror. The gardener had been that morning, taken some initiative and “tidied” the whole wall! It turns out that not many people know that Hedge Garlic is a Orange-tip host plant.

Devastated, I spent the evening rummaging through the compost bin. Remarkably I saved about a dozen eggs and even more incredibly all bar one of those hatched. Despite various challenges rearing such minuscule hatchling, a few caterpillars were successfully released back into the wild on replacement host plants.

How Gardeners can Help Orange-tip Butterflies

Gardeners can help Orange-tip butterflies in three ways: Firstly by allowing self sown wild Hedge Garlic to grow in their garden, secondly by checking any Garlic Mustard they do need to weed out for butterfly eggs and relocating either the plants or the actual stems with eggs to a safe alternative host plant and lastly by proactively growing a patch of Hedge Garlic in a suitable sunny spot .

How to Transfer Orange-tip Eggs when Weeding Garlic Mustard

Orange-tip butterflies are most likely to have laid their egs on plants in a predominantly sunny aspect. If you do need to weed out a patch of Garlic Mustard then first check the undersides of the flower buds and bracts for eggs. The eggs are usually proud and bright orange so although small tend to be quite visible. If you find any, either pot up the plant, move it to a convenient spot and look after it. Otherwise clip the section with the egg on and then tie it high, as close to the flower tip bracts as possible onto another plant stem that is without an egg and that will be left in situ (or if wild, definitely won't be strimmed in road verge management). Tie the section securely, but without damaging the host plant stem, using fine wire or a non-fibre-shedding thread, if possible leave a route for the caterpillar to migrate avoiding contact with the tie altogether. The caterpillars are so miniscule on hatching they can even get caught in microfibres from polycotton just as in a fine spider web.

Lastly, its important to only put one egg onto each plant, or at least each flowering stem if the plant is a very large second year one. This is because the Orange-tip caterpillars are opportunistic cannibals and will eat each other if they cross paths.

Growing Garlic Mustard as a Butterfly Host Plant

Growing Garlic Mustard can actually help two spring butterfly species, as it is also the caterpillar host plant for another attractive white spring butterfly, the Green-veined White. The caterpillars however are not in competition with each other as the Green-veined White caterpillars eat the leaves of the plant whereas the Orange-tips feed on the seed pods.

Garlic Mustard is very easy to grow from seed in autumn or you can buy young plants from online wildflower providers like Naturescape in spring. Other native plant suppliers are available, do order youor Hedge Garlic early to catch egg laying season.

You will need to grow a generous clump in a sunny area (The butterflies don't generally oviposit on plants in shade) and grow them somewhere you can leave the plants all year even after they die back as many, though not all, caterpillars stay and pupate on the plants. Keep an eye out for ovipositing females and then look for the orange eggs regularly. Eggs are pale yellow day 1, turn bright orange on day 2 then fade to dull brown a day or two before hatching after about 7 days.

If you have grown Garlic Mustard in pots then you can optionally check over the flower heads and buds for predators, (moneyspiders with fine webs, aphids and ladybird larvae were all lurking in wait for mine) evict the predators and transfer the pots into a netted butterfly habitat to reduce predation. At time of writing 90cm butterfly habitats can be ordered online for about £15 from places like Bugzarre.

You can also grow Cuckoo flower, the Orange-tip butterflies’ other primary host plant, if you have a pond margin or bog garden of course. Orange-tips will occasionally lay on other crucifer wildflowers such as Charlock as well as Dames Violet and Honesty but larval survival is generally considered poor on these latter plants.

Garlic Mustard or Hedge Garlic is an attractive wildflower in its own right and deserves a place in every wildlife garden

Female Orange-tip butterfly nectaring on Hedge Garlic, Alliaria petiolata, flowers

Day 2 Orange-tip butterfly egg

Orange-tip caterpillar - 1st Instar or Moult

Orange-tip caterpillar - 2nd Instar or Moult

Orange-tip caterpillar 3rd Instar or Moult

A Painted Lady Summer

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui nectaring on white Buddleia. Will 2019 be a record-breaking Painted Lady summer?

As the Butterfly Conservation Society’s annual three week long Big Butterfly Count draws to a close, the UK looks set to have enjoyed the magical, once-in-a-decade phenomenon called a “Painted Lady summer” when the apricot- and black-marked species arrives here en masse.

The last such event occured in 2009, when some 11 million Painted Ladies, known as Vanessa cardui, arrived on our shores and there is speculation that 2019 could be a record-breaking year.

But how is it that a butterfly that doesn’t survive our winters and isn’t even permanently resident in the UK manages to congregate here in such numbers?

The Painted Lady, a member of the large and colourful Nymphalidae butterfly family, is a poweful flyer and long distance migrant. During its migration it can achieve an impressive speed of almost 30 miles per hour and fly some 100 miles in a day. In fact, it’s 7,500 mile round trip migration from North Africa as far north as the arctic circle is even longer than that of the famous Monarch butterfly, which travels up and down the North American seabord.

Freshly emerged, second generation Painted Lady nectaring on a budding Common Knapweed flower

Despite its flying prowess, like the Monarch butterfly, Vanessa cardui traverses its intercontinental route multigenerationally and, having only a 2 week long life span, takes about 6 generations to complete it.

Each season the butterfly flies northwards from the desert fringes of North Africa to reach mainland Europe and then on to the UK, reaching Britain in late March. Here the newly arrived lepidopteran immigrant lays eggs on Marsh and other Thistles, Viper’s Bugloss, Mallow and Nettles. After about a month-and-a-half later the next generation emerges (46 days according to devoted turn of the century lepidopterist F. W. Frohawk).

These native-born Painted Ladies then lay a brood of their own, which, further supplemented by arrivals from both Europe and Scandinavia, significantily boosts numbers towards late summer. Some of these butterflies will commence the return migration southwards as the seasonal conditions turn.

So what makes the once in a decade “Painted Lady year” of mass abundance occur? Experts believe that the butterfly’s migratory instinct may be triggered by population density (leading to competition for egglaying sites and food sources) and in exceptional years, unusually good food availability and favourable weather conditions foster population booms. This in turn triggers mass North- and Easterly-bound migrations, often with hundreds, even thousands of butterflies reaching landfall along the UK’s East and South coastline, some arriving from Europe, others from Scandinavia and some even directly from Africa in favourable windstreams.

As well as Thistles for egg laying, depending on its generation, adult Painted Lady butterflies will nectar on a wide range of plants. These include Knapweeds, Buddleia, Trefoils, Hawkweeds, Heather, Privet, Ivy, Bugle and Clovers, so planting these species, and tolerating that annoying thistle or two (you can always deadhead later to stop the patch growing!) increases the likelihood of you attracting this orgeous, intricately-marked butterfly into your garden and enjoying your very own Painted Lady Summer.

Laying the Ghost of Iris to Rest

Purple Emperor's caterpillar host plant is the Willow tree family. It prefers the Common Sallow (Grey Willow, Salix Cinerea) but will also use Great Sallow (Goat Willow, Salix Caprea) and Crack Willow (Salix fragilis)

In last July's blog I wrote of my bitter disappointment at my foiled attempt to see the most celebrated British butterfly, the Purple Emperor, while discovering that, in the famous words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home".

To rub salt into the wound, 2017 proved to be an amazing season for Apatura iris and a particularly bad year to be benched. Right as my blog was published, Purple Emperors were, remarkably, seen for the first time in the Sheringham/Beeston area on the North Norfolk coast. They will need to be recorded for five consecutive years however to be classed a Norfolk resident.

I spent the year conserving my energy and biding my time, yet all the while the memory of the trip I hadn't made to see the King of butterflies in a peak season linged in the recesses of my mind, surfacing occasionally to niggle away at me. His majesty had ensnared me after all, at least a little.

Come late June and I had some leave left at work. The timing looked on paper to be perfect, but after a bumper year last year, I fretted that the early super-cold snap might have affected them. What if the population had collapsed, or this year's weather proved unfavourable?

White Admirals look similar to Purple Emperors but are smaller, lack the orange markings and purple iridescence

My first week off was an anti-climax, dry but coolish, windy and unsettled. No reports showed and I felt fidgety, restless and frustrated, fearing that my timing was off and I would have another run of bad butterfly luck.

Suddenly the temperatures rose, the long predicted heatwave actually appeared and reports started to trickle in. I grasped my last chance to take the trip and headed towards a less visited Wood in Northamptonshire, close to the Purple Emperor's stronghold at Fermyn Woods.

I experienced butterflies of the tummy variety as I drove up the deserted, deeply rutted dusty track at my destination. I'd been running a little late and the temperatures were soaring. Emperors are notoriously active in the afternoons and apparently once charged up rarely come down from the canopies. Was I already too late?

As I got out of my car my spirits lifted. A large black and white butterfly immediately swept past the car door zooming along, low above the ground at a high rate of knots. Could it be that easy? Had I already seen my target? Was it a female Purple Emperor or the smaller also black and White Admiral? I'm not sure I will ever be certain whether that was really my first sighting. The flight was fast and powerful, though I definitely didnt catch a flash of purple.

Nonetheless it proved a good omen, as I had barely entered fifty yards into the woods when I found an elderly Black Hairstreak and an unusually confiding White Admiral basking by the side of the path.

Just a few yards further on I suddenly spotted a fellow Emperor hunter photographing a sizeable butterfly "puddling" (taking up salts from mud) on the ground. The richly marked russet-orange underwings were unmistakeable - this was was no White Admiral!

Female Purple Emperor, lacking the purple iridescence, perched on a Sallow branch feeding on aphid honeydew

Purple Emperors also take in trace salts from the ground, animal droppings and other pungent substances, a behaviour known as "mud-puddling"

The Purple Emperor continued  to probe the ground with its proboscis, wings stubbornly closed, for some minutes. Then suddenly it snapped its wings open vigorously, catching the sun's rays.

The light glanced off the Purple Emperor's wings obliquely and a flash of iridescent purple appeared from nowhere. His Majesty resplendent in his imperial cloak. Just as quickly the sparkling colour vanished and reverted to black as the butterfly rotated further round towards the sun. Mission accomplished.

The Purple Emperor's iridescence is only visible at certain angles to the sun's rays

For around an hour or so the Purple Emperor and at least one Purple Empress wafted up and down the track in their finery, alternately mud-puddling and looping up high in a figure of eight around what seemed to be a pair of "Master" trees, one an Oak, one a Common Sallow.  I was also treated to the sight of a female Purple Emperor perched up in the more attractive setting of a Sallow tree, apparently feeding on honeydew. Shortly after one o'clock I enjoyed my last figure of eight looping fly past and both I and his Majesty parted ways and headed off to attend to the rest of the day's business.

It all seemed so strangely easy in the end that I actually felt a little nonplussed. Why all the fuss, I wondered? Wasn't Iris famously elusive? Where was the challenge, the mystery?  Maybe there was none and my scientific research had paid off, maybe I had simply been lucky or maybe, just maybe, fickle fate had at last taken pity on me and requested Iris to grace me with his royal presence in a random act of kindness.

Whatever the answer, I drove home at peace, with the ghost of the Purple Emperor past of 2017 that had never been seen, well and truly laid to rest.

Purple Emperor "mud-puddling" with its wings open

 

 

A Purple Streak

The colour purple became my leitmotiv during early July. It is the season of the purple butterflies and therein lies a tale of mystery and obsession...

The Oak tree canopy is a habitat for both Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak butterflies, which both feed on aphid honeydew

The Oak tree canopy is a habitat for both Purple Emperor and Purple Hairstreak butterflies, which both feed on aphid honeydew

Two very different, yet equally enigmatic, purple butterfly species are on the wing towards the end of June into mid-July. Though very different in fame and stature, both share two things in common: a fondness for the heady heights of mature Oak tree canopies in deciduous woodland and a strong reputation for elusiveness and ability to evade the gaze of even the most determined of butterfly seekers.  

Since being drawn into the world of butterflying I've discovered that, since time immemorial, avid butterfly chasers have gone temporarily a little doolally at this time of year. The hysteria is all over a certain famous, purple-cloaked member of the royal family who is not, officially at any rate, currently resident in Norfolk - the magnificent Purple Emperor. 

Known affectionately to his acolytes as "his Majesty" or sometimes simply "Iris", the Purple Emperor is neither Britain's largest butterfly (our very own Norfolk Swallowtail),  nor the rarest (the once extinct, recently reintroduced Large Blue), nor even the brightest (arguably the Silver-washed Fritillary) so this seemingly bizarre Purple Emperor obsession had been puzzling me for some time. Just what quality is it that bewitches them all? Is it the dramatic colour purple? Their reputed vigorous flight and aggressive behaviour? Or some other mysterious factor altogether ....?

After an inspiring talk by renowned butterfly conservationist and Purple Emperor advocate Matthew Oates at Norfolk Butterfly Conservation's AGM back in 2016, I became intrigued and not a little bewitched myself. In a bid to sate my curiosity and discover the obscure reason for the Purple Emperor's celebrity status for myself, I started planning a field trip to visit his Imperial Majesty's haunts, mature Oak and Sallow woodland rides.

Alas fate was not on my side,  despite attempts to make visits to Fermyn Woods in Northants, Wood Walton Fen in Cambridgeshire or Theberton in Suffolk, life events have intervened and scuppered my plans well and truly for this year. Perhaps Iris is to be my new five year nemesis butterfly, who knows. 

With my ability to range much curtailed, I was crestfallen and deeply disappointed. But there was still the second less famous, but to me equally elusive, purple butterfly to discover: the Purple Hairstreak butterfly, Neozephyrus quercus. And it lives much closer to home.

Although much smaller, the Purple Hairstreak butterfly shares a surprising number of characteristics in common with its larger Imperial cousin. As suggested by its Latin species name "quercus" it too favours mature deciduous oak woodland and so is also highly elusive (and under-reported) as a result to its habit of dwelling up high amongst the tree canopy. There it lives on honeydew produced by aphids and only rarely descends from the "throne" for the odd sip of bramble nectar.

A Purple Hairstreak butterfly perched on an Oak tree leaf near the edge of Syderstone Common, Norfolk

A Purple Hairstreak butterfly perched on an Oak tree leaf near the edge of Syderstone Common, Norfolk

While laid up I did my research thoroughly. Purple Hairstreaks being far more widespread than his majesty, I was able to find some promising local locations in Norfolk, and had in fact already experienced my first brief glimpse of a old faded and tattered Purple Hairstreak on a dog walk at Holkham Hall one August a few years back. I took a punt on a very short run up to the nearby Syderstone Common nature reserve,  on the edge of North Norfolk coastal AONB. Its a large reserve of lowland gorse heathland, an SSSI that is famous for its Natterjack toad population, but not all that much else, in fact a previous visit had left me visually underwhelmed. This time however the reserve was transmuted into a spectacular sea of vivid fuchsia pink willowherb flowers swaying in the gentle breeze.

Essex Skipper butterfly perched on a Rosebay Willowherb flower spike

Essex Skipper butterfly perched on a Rosebay Willowherb flower spike

My fieldcraft skills must have improved somewhat as I was delighted to spot an active Purple Hairstreak quite soon into my visit. There it was, a small grey blob fluttering away right up high in the treetops, initially silhouetted against the cloudy sky. Its flight was erratic and it was hard to keep track as the butterfly flitted amongst the oak treetop and nearby birches in the mature woodland circling this now spectactularly beautiful reserve.

After spotting my Hairstreak's "Master" Oak I stayed for some time, craning my neck to try to spot this diminutive butterfly amongst the oak leaves. Eventually one dropped a little lower and permitted a quick shot before circling up high again in a cluster of nearby Birches.

On my way back to the car I spotted a beautiful young buck Roe Deer, who paused, checked me out for a little while then barked at me before trotting off back into the Oak woodland, a beautiful end to my successful visit. Although my sightings had been distant and tantalising, I had bagged my first purple.

Perhaps the abiding memory for me is not so much finally photographing my first purple butterfly, but rather Syderstone Common nature reserve itself, which was a natural habitat at the peak of its mid-summer glory and afforded a sensory firework display of wildflower delight at every turn.

Visually the abundant vibrant pink Rosebay Willowherb flower spires intermingled with creeping carpets of rich yellow Tormentil, while the heady scent of rambling native Honeysuckle hung in the air and bramble in full bloom. Every plant seemed to be alive, swaying in the breeze and dancing with a host of orange Skipper, Ringlet and Meadow Brown butterflies flitting about into the distance as far as the eye could see.

As for purple Royalty... I must now be patient, wait and bide my time till 2018 brings a whole new season and fresh opportunity for his Imperial Highness to ensnare me as subject.

We shall see...

Vivid pink Rosebay Willowherb can be spectactular when in full bloom

Vivid pink Rosebay Willowherb can be spectactular when in full bloom

A young Roe Deer buck on Syderstone Common, Norfolk

A young Roe Deer buck on Syderstone Common, Norfolk

Of Yellow Flags and Swallowtails

In an unprecedented week that saw the president of the largest Western Great Power turn his back on the Paris Accord to reduce emissions causing global climate change, I took advantage of ironically hot, sunny weather to visit Strumpshaw Fen RSPB Nature Reserve to see one of the UK's rarest and most threatened butterflies, the British Swallowtail, Papilio machaon britannicus.

British Swallowtail, found only in Norfolk, busy nectaring on native yellow flag iris flowers. Taken from at least 1.4m away on a 300mm 4/3 crop OMD.

British Swallowtail, found only in Norfolk, busy nectaring on native yellow flag iris flowers. Taken from at least 1.4m away on a 300mm 4/3 crop OMD.

The trip was an impromptu reprise of my longstanding attempts to enjoy watching this beautiful endangered Norfolk butterfly, which inspired a earlier blog post on my misadventures over several unsuccessful seasons attempting to find them at various Norfolk nature reserves. Last year, I was even interviewed as part of a BBC OneShow item on the native Swallowtail covering the story of a much more famous lepidopterist's longstanding desire to see them.

This time I was hoping for more than a record shot of this rare and uniquely beautiful butterfly, one of only 6 butterfly species fully protected by UK Law since 1992. With the weather so fair sightings had been good all week so I was daring to hope for some natural behavioural shots of it amongst native fenland flora and habitat, rather than perched upon the pretty Sweet William in the renowned Doctor's flower garden.

After a pleasant chat with a Welsh couple now close to completing a multi year hunt to see all of Britain's 59 native species, I had not  ventured far into the reserve before I enjoyed a wonderful encounter of a freshly emerged Swallowtail first basking low down then fluttering up with its ghostlike flight pattern onto a nearby patch of deep yellow flag iris flowers where it began to nectar frenetically. Then the inevitable happened. It was after all Strumpshaw Fen, a sunny Sunday and Swallowtail peak season: The Lepidopteran papparazzi descended.

Within minutes a host of papparazzi lenses, many far too short for the purpose, had surrounded the poor butterfly and their owners, caught up in the viewfinder, became oblivious to both other nature observers as well as the butterfly's wellbeing, and lens hoods started to encroach within inches of where the butterfly was attempting to feed up, blocking out both light and other people. I gently chaperoned and chastised as best I could to create space for the butterfly to feed and all to take turns to see, before moving on frustrated as the crowd grew too big and closed in again around the butterfly.

I reflected on how , perfectly polite people, behind the viewfinder in focussed pursuit of the perfect digital trophy shot, rapidly became so blinkered and oblivious as to unwittingly block our others and even potentially disturb the rare and protected creature they had come to see. I speculated how many had walked right past numerous other fascinating wildlife and flower species without really stopping to enjoy and appreciate them, in their single-minded mission to capture the one famous "celebrity" species. It prompted me to question the drivers behind my own past mission too, though my long lens's minimum focus always helps ensure a respectful distance.

On a bigger scale, it made me contemplate whether charities' tendency to focus on preserving single "blue chip" star species (using gallons of pesticides in the process) rather than untouched habitats is more a help or a hindrance in our efforts to help environmental recovery.

Thinking back to the Paris Accord. I wonder whether it will ultimately ever really be possible for us, collectively as the human species, to overcome our ingrained survival instinct of self interest to do "the right thing" on a big enough scale in time. I hope so. If not, then perhaps our nation's own beautiful custard-yellow Swallowtail sub-species truly is already the ghost it sometimes appears to be, fluttering amongst it's beloved milkweed and flag iris.

Taking off from a yellow flag iris flower, the British Swallowtail butterfly has been fully protected in UK law since 1992.

Taking off from a yellow flag iris flower, the British Swallowtail butterfly has been fully protected in UK law since 1992.

Meet the Skippers - A Photographic Identification Guide to Skipper Butterflies

Ssshh…Don't tell the Essex Skippers, we're in Norfolk!

These charming, vivid orange little butterflies have extended their range recently and seem perfectly happy living two counties further North than their namesake county. At this time of year they can readily be seen "skipping" amongst the hedgerow flowers and meadow grasses of East Anglia alongside their similar looking cousins, the Small Skippers and Large Skippers, sometimes in the company of the larger meadow  species such as Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet butterflies.

Skipper butterfly identification is a challenge. All three of our most common Skipper butterflies are small, similarly coloured and rather flighty, in fact the Essex Skipper and Small Skipper look so alike that the Essex Skipper was only recognised as a separate butterfly species in 1889. So just how do you tell these three oft-seen Skipper butterfly species apart?

Get a Mug Shot

The surest way to identify and tell the three most common Skipper butterflies apart is to get a photo or good look of the underside of the tips of the butterfly's antennae. The Essex Skipper has very distinctive, inky black antenna underside tips; whereas the similarly sized Small Skipper has orange-brown coloured antennae underside tips. Although the Large Skipper also generally has black tips, its antennae ends are usually more bulbous than those of the Essex and Small Skipper, these two features can’t always be relied on as definitive as they can sometimes vary. The key diagnostic antennae feature to look out for to identify the Large Skipper is that it always has “hooked” or twirly pointed antennae tips, whereas those of both the Essex and Small Skipper are stubby and rounded.

Essex Skipper has black antennae underside tips

Essex Skipper's black antennae tips are rounded or stubby

Small Skipper has orange-brown antennae underside tips

Large Skipper has pointed, twirly antennae tip ends, usually black

Skippers are territorial, living in colonies and can be quite confiding little butterflies when perching or basking. However, as their name suggests, they do have a frustrating habit of zooming vertically off their perch at the slightest movement and skipping off before we get the viewing angle we want, so here are some other perspectives and identification tips.

"Check" out their Wing Markings

The Large Skipper is most readily identifiable from its chequered pattern wing markings. As well as being larger, Large Skipper butterflies appear brighter and more robust than then smaller Essex and Small Skipper butterflies. In contrast both the Small Skipper and Essex Skipper have relatively plain orange wings. Male Small and Essex skippers can be distinguished from each other by their sex bands (see more below). Females are trickier but one other clue to aid separation, though not always a reliable indicator, is that in Essex Skippers sometimes the dark wing edging bleeds up more heavily into the wing veins. Below are two Essex Skipper photos, one with the dark banding radiating into the veins, one without.

Large Skipper's large size and contrasting chequered marking makes it the easiest of the three most common skipper butterflies to identify

Small Skipper basking with wings open

Essex skipper female, sometimes the dark borders radiate along the veins

Large Skipper's chequered wing markings displayed from side on as it drinks nectar with its proboscis

Small Skipper has plain wings when viewed side on

Essex Skipper female basking in evening light

Identifying Skipper Butterflies In Profile

The Large Skipper's chequered pattern is even visible with its wings closed so it should still be readily distinguishable when perching or roosting. Essex and Small Skippers are harder to identify in profile as neither have clear distinguishing marks on their underwings and they are of a very similar size. However, according to Lewington and other field guides, the Essex Skipper's undersides are more straw-coloured than those of the Small Skipper, which may appear more beige or buff. Be especially cautious if using this to distinguish the Essex and Small Skipper, as the look of the underwing can be affected by light conditions and indvidual variations

Essex Skipper has a more straw-coloured underwing than the Small Skipper

Small Skipper has a more buff-coloured underwing (image taken in flat light)

Large Skipper has a checkered pattern visible on its underwings

Use Wing Bands to Identify Male Essex Skippers and Small Skippers

All three male Skipper butterflies have a black gender or scent band line marking on their front wings. This can be particularly helpful in distinguishing an Essex Skipper from a Small Skipper butterfly if you're unable to view them head on. The male Small Skipper has a prominent black gender band that is long and cureved whereas the Essex Skipper's gender band is much less conspicuous, short, straigt and runs parallel to the edge of its forewing.  The male Large Skippers also have very prominant gender bands and at a distance, when fresh from emergence, might even potentially be confused with Gatekeepers due to their vivid orange colour.

Male Small Skipper has a longer, curved, more prominent gender band

Male Essex Skipper has a shorter, straight, inconspicuous sex band that runs parallel to the edge of the wing

A Word of Caution

There is always a degree of individual and regional variation in the markings and colouration on butterflies’ wings and you can find gradual blends between regional variations too. Butterfly markings can also be impacted by the weather while pupating (e.g. extremely hot weather) and fade with age, so sometimes it identification can be a careful process of elimination.

A further peril is only getting a single shot. The camera most definitely can lie, or at least mislead. Sometimes the camera angle or perspective can be deceptive and conceal a sex band or narrow antennae tips. So a diagnostic feature could be present but not necessarily visible. A lack of evidence isnt always evidence of lack, as the saying goes.

This Large Skipper has faint wing markings and its antennae end tips aren’t visible from this camera angle

By way of example, this Skipper was initially mis-identified as a Small Skipper due to a russet brown marking on the end of its antenna and a seeming absence of the twirly hooked end tips.

However a closer inspection after boosting contrast and saturation in the image revealed the very faint presence of the arc of pale checks characteristic of a Large Skipper and a darkened forewing-tip.

It appears that the hooked antennae tips were curling outwards and backwards so from this perspective both were concealed from the camera.

The moral of the story being of course that its always worth getting as many images as you can from as many angles as you can, starting far back at a distance that you know will not disturb the butterfly and moving slowly avoiding sudden jerky movements that will cause the butterfly to skip away. Even if its small in the frame you can always zoom in for ID purposes and discard the image once an ID has been made.

Non Visual Characteristics Can also Eliminate a Suspect

Distribution

Both the Small Skipper and Essex Skipper have expanded their ranges northwards. However, the Essex Skipper is still the more south-easterly of the two species, being seen as far north as the Humber and west to the Severn Estuary. The Small Skipper, like the Large Skipper can be seen even in Wales and Cornwall and as far north as Northumberland recently.

Flight Times

The Large Skipper is the early bird of the three, flying from late May, peaking in mid July and ending in late August. The Small appears next, flying from early June until early September. The Essex Skipper has the narrowest flight period, being seen on the wing from the end of June until the end of August. Bear in mind that flight times can vary significantly by region typically being later further north and also seasonally as butterflies may sometimes take advantage of favourable spring and early summer conditions or respond to adverse conditionas by emerging earlier or later.

Host Plants

All three species are single brooded and feed on various grasses such as Yorkshire-fog (Small Skipper), Creeping Soft-grass (Essex and Small Skippers) and Cock's foot (Large Skipper). Early stage larvae overwinter in the sheaths of long grasses and winter cutting and "tidying" can negatively affect populations. For more information visit www.butterfly-conservation.org

Resources 

My own records and observations in Oxfordshire and Norfolk

Butterfly Conservation Society -  Species Information and Factsheets:

R Lewington - Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland

All images taken by and © Kiri Stuart-Clarke. All rights reserved

 

Large Skipper nectaring on a creeping thistle

On the Trail of the Swallowtail

Sometimes as a naturalist and photographer, certain subjects remain so stubbornly elusive that they become a bit of a nemesis. Britain's largest and most iconic species "papilio machaon britannicus", our very own British swallowtail, was one such unlucky species for me. So much so, that it took me some five years to achieve my first photograph of this amazingly beautiful butterfly.

Our British swallowtail butterfly is actually a subspecies of the European strain that has adapted itself to use the delicate and somewhat sensitive fenland plant milk parsley as its caterpillar host plant. Once comparatively widespread in the south east, its range is now restricted to the Norfolk fens.

Many of you will know that butterflies are one of my favourite wildlife species and I'm a passionate supporter of the Butterfly Conservation Society, which does a great job of raising awareness about the threats to this beautiful animal. Though scarce, I live in Norfolk, the same county that this elusive butterfly calls home. So just how hard can it really be to see one?

Well timing is everything they say. The swallowtail is single brooded and has a relatively short flight period, from around mid May to mid June. If you add to that the need for reasonably clement weather, the window of opportunity is fairly narrow. In my defence, years one and two of my five year wash out were before I had relocated to live in Norfolk.

My natural history and local knowledge was still comparatively limited, and I was restricted solely to weekend trips to Norfolk targeted for the start of its flight period. These were planned using field guides, with the sole aim of seeing this amazing butterfly. Sadly that was just as we entered that phase where our winters were harsh, spring arrived late and the weather utterly uncooperative. Thus for two years in a row, bleak grey skies, cold temperatures and high winds put the kaibosh on my naive optimism and my target remained stubbornly and mysteriously elusive...

Year three and I relocated to Norfolk, surely now I would just stumble across one right? Cue multiple trips to Hickling, How Hill and Strumpshaw, all known Swallowtail hotspots over the course of the next three years. Yet these attempts attempts to witness the beauty of this butterfly were always ill-fated. I forget how many times I met people and heard them say frustratingly, "oh there was one just down that path there " . Of course said Swallowtail invariably had vanished by the time I reached the spot, for all my luck, the Swallowtail might have been a capricious sprite from the cast of Shakespeare's a midsummer's nights dream.

Last year life simply overtook me. My hunt started far too late in the season for success. So this year, I was determined, was to be the year of the Swallowtail. Come what may I was determined, I would find this iconic, awe-inspiring butterfly, no matter what!

Spring this year was again cool and I was nervous, conditions were far from auspicious for a prompt emergence or a bountiful butterfly season in Norfolk.

A visit to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen offered me my first fleeting, tantalising glimpse, but my bad luck struck again! Just as I arrived I glimpsed a large custard yellow butterfly swoop in...and it was, yes! ,,,.a swallowtail swooping in and aiming to land to nectar on white violet flowers at the main entrance. But even as I approached it was immediately spooked by an over-enthusiastic visitor waving his camera at it! This tourist seemed to be the incarnation of my Swallowtail nemesis, the butterfly equivalent of the "Man from Porlock" and opportunity lost. Assured by staff that they often returned, I stood stationary, sentinel-like for over an hour. Eventually a friendly gentlemen suggested another spot where he'd seen them "only a few hours before" - so off I trooped, yet to no avail. Another Swallowtail near miss, thwarted by mischance or fate, who knew and I finally started to see the funny side of it all.

Perhaps my resignation and acceptance swung it and the gods took pity on me. I had only one last day left of even remotely suitable weather between what were quite vicious storm showers and off I went one last time on my Swallowtail mission.

Back at Strumpshaw, now a familiar friend of a reserve, I ambled around the areas I'd been shown over the years, my jacket still done up against a nippy morning chill. Mercifully, the weather stubbornly refused to close in as forecast. I dawdled up and down the footpaths for about an hour, amidst cloudy intervals and cool, breezy conditions. Eventually, quite suddenly the sun won its battle against the grey and the temperature rose sharply.

Swallowtails nectar on many pink and purple flowers including red campion, as well as yellow flag iris

Suddenly, to my immense surprise and joy, an immaculate, freshly emerged swallowtail materialised from the tree canopy above, landing to nectar on some wild red campion blossoms, bouncing from flower to flower. I was taken aback by the  sheer size and presence of this impressive, majestic almost magical, butterfly with its vibrant colours and bird-sized wingspan.

At last, this bird-sized stunningly beautiful butterfly posed for me, even basking, its impressive wingspread outstretched whenever the sun vanished behind the lingering cloud to warm itself up in the spring breeze.

My five year long mission was accomplished.

This freshly emerged swallowtail basked with its wings open during cloudy intervals

 

© Kiri Stuart-Clarke 2008-2022.
All Rights Reserved.