Fluttering of life as butterflies emerge
The browns are back. Butterflies so far this season, have been in very short supply, but now the brown family have emerged from winter lockdown. Not much to look at it is true, in their khaki shades of dry parched earth. But at least there is now a fluttering of life along the lanes and dusty by-ways and in the woodland glades where we are allowed to walk.
In the everlasting sun of May I was amazed to see so few butterflies in these woods. My garden had one peacock, one red admiral, and one comma. I had been careful to leave clumps of nettles and the hop climber for these vanessids, but they seemed to have no other mate with which to share their passions. They had survived the winter hibernation so I hope their wait was not in vain.
Coppice cutters here in the nature reserve left the only buckthorn bush untouched, because that is the only food plant for miles around on which the brimstone female lays her eggs. Four of the ‘butter-coloured flies’ (as known to the ancients) were counted in the twenty-hectare reserve, one of the lowest number on record. They too had been in hibernation over winter. We supply plenty of ivy growing on mature trees for their hibernaculae. But it was a warm wet winter which can cause problems of flooding and fungus for tree-sleeping insects.
We expected swarms of orangetip butterflies as their food plant had bounced back when several hectares of hazel was harvested. These delicate pink flowers called ‘Maids of the meadow’, Cuckoo flower, fairy flower, lady’s smock, May flower, or cardamine pratensis to be certain if you will, were ready and willing to receive the butterflies and their eggs (which are laid singly to avoid cannibalism by the infant butterflies). The flowers had visits from one or two scattered males with their bright orange wing tips but hardly one female (with her black wingtip). Again, the wet winter must have flooded the ground with the larvae were living.
We had one very happy moment when a single dingy skipper appeared in the woods. This very small butterfly could be mistaken for a day-flying moth. Its larvae feed on birds-foot trefoil, the same as common blue butterfly caterpillars. Then on the same dry, species rich flower ride in the nature reserve there were two grizzled skippers mating in mid
May, a wonderful sight. These two tiny butterflies look no bigger than flies. That’s all there was.
Now the season has been saved by the good old brown family. Meadow browns will tumble about in the long grass for the next three months. Each insect only lives for up to five days, normally only three, so the hatching is continuous. Already the hedge browns have appeared, and also the ringlet, a butterfly in the brown family but with very dark almost black colouring with its distinctive’ ring’ spot, which prefers longer grass and to keep itself in deeper shade near the trees. Speckled woods are in the brown family too, and they will keep us happy literally dancing circles around each other along the glades and quiet footpaths through the summer and way ahead to autumn, so there is plenty to look forward to.