Suffolk Argus 25 Spring 2002

Suffolk

Branch Contracts Chairman

Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk 1P33 3BN (01284 705476) Membership Secretary

Beryl Johnson, 28 Medway Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P3 0QH (01473 715701)

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATlON Conservation Officers (Butterflies)

Richard Stewart, East Suffolk Rob Parker, Central/West Suffolk (addresses left) • Conservation Officer (Moths)

Tony Prichard, 3 Powling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, 1P3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder (Moths)

Newsletter Editors

Tony Prichard (address above)

Jim Foster, Lugano, The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk (01449 711484)

Tony Prichard, (address above)

Richard Stewart, 'Valezina', 112 Westerfield Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P4 2XW (01473 216518)

Secretary

Treasurer

Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk 1P7 5LP (01473 310371)

Publicity Officer (Vacant) Committee Member

Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies)

Richard Stewart, (address as above)

Stella Wolfe President

Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD (0171 938 8782) Brimstones by Beryl Johnstone

Volunteers Needed 1f you feel you could help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 715701.

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Published by the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation (The British Butterfly Conservation Society Ltd.) © 2000 all rights reserved Reg. No. 2206468 Reg. Charity No. 254937 Head Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 SQP Tel: (01929) 400209 Editors: Jim Foster Et Richard Stewart Logo: (Silver-studded Blue) Doug Hammersley Design: Stephen Ion, Cat Et Mouse design

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Spring 2002

VOLUME 2s

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Contents Editorial

3

Editorial

Butterfly Line

Safety Code

4

CopyDates

09068 884505

New Garden Survey

5

Field meetings 2001

6- 14

Moth Conservation Officer's Report for 2001

15

Purple Hairstreaks at the Priory

16

The Great Apollo Hunt

17 18 18

A Cautionary Tale Plants for the Suffolk Show A Tale of two Churchyards Hunting Hairstreaks The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies Newsletter details and general information Suffolk Branch Contacts

18-19 20-21 22 23

Back Cover

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

page two

Contributions for our newsletter should reach the Editor (address on back page) no later than: Spring

••

Christmas Eve

Summer

April Fools Day

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Any piece of writing that is considered to be of interest will be published together with line drawings/prints /photographs. The Suffolk Argus is your magazine, so please let us hear from you.

To advertise in the Suffolk Argus please contact Jim Foster on 01449 711484.

Regular Updates 8: Latest News All profits are used for the conservation of butterflies and their habitats.

Calls charged at 60p per minute at all times

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

Butterfly Hotel,

Butterfly Hotel,

A 14 Bury East Exit.

A 14 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

page twenty three

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Editorial

by Richard Stewart

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The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies

by Richard Stewart This attractive new book gives details, including colour photographs, of all 35 species recorded in Suffolk during the Millennium Survey (1995-1999).

Other important records up to Spring 2001 are also included. There are innovative new colour distribution maps comparing the Millennium Survey with the previous survey and highlighting changes since the early 1980s. New all-time list of earliest and latest records for each species. lnformation on best accessible sites for Suffolk butterflies. Sections on habitats, transects and conservation. Foreword by Michael Chinery. This continues the series of atlases published by SNS - Butterflies, Orchids, Land Et Freshwater Molluscs and Dragonflies.

Available from SNS, c/o lpswich Museum, High Street, lpswich, Suffolk lP l JQH Please make cheques payable to "Suffolk Naturalists' Society" Published by Suffolk Naturalists' Society, lpswich. 2001.

Full colour hardback. Pp. 144. lSBN 0-9508154-6-2.

Size 210 x 148mm. Price £ 10.00, pEtp £ 1.50

page twenty two

I am fairly regularly involved in questioning the image of butterflies, not just that presented in the media but even, occasionally, in conservation circles. I'm one of those people who objects to butterflies being on the periphery, a sort of incidental ornamentation to landscapes depicted on cards and in paintings. Even more objectionable is the American use, creeping into our country, of that ugly word 'Bugs' to cover a wide range of attractive and fascinating insects. Also, over the years, I have been alerted by Branch members to other more commercial concerns.

The first,via President Howard Mendel, was seen in a Beccles 'Rainbow Store', at the time run by the Anglia Regional Co-operative Society. lt was a butterfly and fish net for children and the cardboard mount had, on one side, a very detailed account of 'loads of fun for all' in catching, killing and mounting butterflies. lt was made in China and in reply to my protest I had a copy of a letter sent to a Mrs. Marsden at Kessingland, explaining that these were old stock and those left would be disposed of immediately: 'obviously we would not condone stocking a product with instructions to harm any form of animal or wildlife'.One up to the conservationists, and number two came via committee member Beryl Johnson, who saw a 'Critter Collector' in the Index display at Littlewoods in Ipswich. My objections to this dreadful small, shallow net led to promises that it would be modified or deleted from future catalogues. Success so far, and in each case quick access to the director concerned, but number three was a different proposition: a 'Butterfly Garden' from the 'Save The Children' catalogue. Rob Macklin alerted me to this, being particularly concerned at potential release of what, on the illustrated box, appeared to be exotic species. The reply 1 received translated these into the Painted Lady and I was told that suppliers of the caterpillars were Insect Lore, who had liaised beforehand with what was then the British Butterfly Conservation

Society. I still wasn't very happy, and a similar product, referred to me by Jim Foster, joint Argus editor, had its origins in a 'Golden Days' mail order catalogue enclosed in the RHS 'The Garden' magazine. Again liberation of the adult butterflies was suggested, and after my inquiries at their Clacton Officefailed to produce details of the exact species, I referred it to BC's Conservation Department, who in such cases normally purchase the item, then respond accordingly.

Since then there has been the much publicised 'butterfly confetti' involving the breeding and release of Painted Lady butterflies on wedding days, much to the annoyance of both American and British lepidopterists, especially Recorders. This is still the subject of debate.

Finally, for the time, being, I saw an item on local TV about a young girl who had won a prize to name a new species of butterfly discovered in the rainforest. She was portrayed in the news item with a net and large jar. I phoned to point out that this wasn't the image we were trying to transmit to the public, especially youngsters, and to my surprise was offered the opportunity to correct the balance, using an interviewer and cameraman. The item featured Ipswich museum butterfly collection and the newly created butterfly garden at Alexandra Park, in Ipswich.

Obviously such matters will still return to concern us, but at least the conservation message is being treated with genuine respect these days and the media are prepared to respond positively when challenged.

Enclosed with the Newsletter is the 2002 programme. We managed, in 2001, to hold every meeting except for two cancelled large events at which we had hoped to be represented. The field meetings did at times seem to be 'prepared by the Committee for the Committee' and we do hope more members can attend some this year. We have planned events to cover most of Suffolk. In addition our out of county trips should produce a number of species no longer to be found in Suffolk. Add to that the Suffolk Show, AGM, work parties and the regular series of moth evenings, and in total you have a comprehensive and diverse programme. We hope more members will come to join us this year, especially as the foot and mouth problems appear to have ended.

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Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Safety Code Aswith any other activity, there are hazards in the countryside and everyone taking part in a Field Trip or Work Party has a responsibility (duty of care), for their own safety and that of others. We try hard to ensure that our events present no greater hazard than any other walk in the countryside, but please note and act on the following:

1. Wear appropriate clothing and footwear.

1f there are unusual requirements, these are noted in the individual trip details. Stout shoes are a minimum requirement for any walk.

2. During the main summer season you may be exposed to strong sunshine for much or all of the walk. Take a hat, use suncream or protection for exposed skin. Make sure that you have adequate food and liquid to drink with you. Equally, sunshine can easily tum to cold and rain during the day. Be prepared.

3. The leader will provide a briefing on the trip before setting out, with details of any known particular hazards, and will also give advice on what to do in an emergency. Please listen carefully.

4. At the briefing, please let the leader know if:- you have a mobile telephone and are able to take it with you on the walk; you have First Aid qualifications.

5. Joining the walk is an indication of your interest in butterflies. By their nature butterflies do not remain conveniently by the main path and will offer many opportunities (temptations) for you to wander away. Take particular care to look out for hazards - rabbit holes, fallen or hanging branches, barbed wire, boggy areas, etc. Beware of wet grass, particularly on sloping ground.

Camberwell Beauty

by Mervyn Crawford 6. Children are welcome on our walks, but if under 16 must be accompanied by at least one adult for two children. 1t is the responsibility of the accompanying adult(s) to ensure that the trip is within the children's ability.

7. Dogs are normally welcome on walks, but must be kept under control. Any exceptions are shown in the individual trip details.

8. lf you are uncertain about any details of the trip, ring the leader/contact in advance. There is always a telephone number given with the trip details.

9. lf you decide to leave the event early, tell the leader.

10. Take care at all times, but ENJOY YOURSELF.

We thank Upper Thames Branch for allowing us to publish their Safety Code. Please also refer to our own Safety Notes on the back of the Events Programme 2002 - Ed.

page four

surprisingly large number of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers moving from blossom to blossom. lf you do not, then you have got the wrong bramble patch - the one you are looking for is usually very popular, in a sheltered glade, and catching the full sun. Keep looking until you have found all the Holly Blues and Skippers that were out of sight behind the blossoms, and then hunt down all the bumblebees and hoverflies and malformed berries and twigs that can conceal the muted brown of the stationary head-on WLH just a yard from your face.

After that, it is a joy. The WLH will tum to get at another blossom, and you will get a broadside view of the hairstreak shape, the white line itself, and the orange markings above the tails. lt may remain on the same blossom for five minutes, then fly six inches to the next flower head, and may still be there when you get back with the camera ten minutes later. lf you find a decent colony, there will be more nearby. 1 found six in one glade near Cavenham, and five spread out along 400m of hedgerow, but there are accounts of other people finding 50 at one spot. Now is the time you get to see them flitting off to settle in the branches, and to become familiar with their ''.jizz"; after which it becomes easier to be confident about the next sighting. Most of their colonies are stable, so you can re-visit next year - on your way to the next prospective site, of course.

When you do your search for suitablelooking· spots, why not go in May or June, at the time the larvae are feeding up. l'm told they are not too difficult to find by looking up through the leaves towards the sunlight. Part eaten leaves are a clue, but there are plenty of moths whose caterpillars feed on elm, so do not get too excited if they are long and thin, instead of the characteristic "slug" shape of the hairstreak caterpillars. Perhaps 2002 will be my year for finding WLH larvae!

White Letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

Editor: Note the White-letter Hairstreak meeting on the programme, July 6 at Dunwich Forest.

Good Hunting!

page twenty one

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Hunting Hairstreaks

by Rob Parker Hairstreaks are not found by chance; it takes a good deal of patience, not to mention planning, and a bit of luck! Knowing that five years of Millennium survey had resulted in a reduced number of White-letter Hairstreaks in Suffolk, I decided to look harder in 2000.

All I accomplished was to identify a couple of spots where suitable elms were to be found in squares adjacent to known colonies. I spent a lot of bent neck time, though, without actually seeing any, despite correct timing, good weather, and patient observation.

2001, by contrast, brought success, and has been a White-letter Hairstreak year. Either the butterflies have had a really good year, or 1 have got the knack of it! During July, 1 found three fresh sites myself, and 1 know of at least five more found by Richard Stewart and others. Here is how to go about finding some for yourself.

The first move is to visit a known site in perfect weather in order to see what they look like, and how they behave. ldeally, get a friend to show you, as the colonies are very precisely situated. Take binoculars and a folding chair, and go in the first days of July, to leave the rest of the month for the hunt.

The potential sites will need to be sorted out by looking at the elm growth in the general areas where they have been recorded in the past.

Consult Howard Mendel's book for pre 1986 records, and Richard Stewart's book for the sites recorded during 1995-99. The place you are looking for has good shelter, is probably off the road, and has Wych elm suckers growing to a height of about 15ft. lt may be a site that used to have mature elms before Dutch elm disease struck, and the presence of some diseased elm growth does not rule it out. A clearing at the edge of a copse with plenty of elm re-growth is

ideal, particularly if there is bramble in the undergrowth, as a source of nectar.

Look at your diary for July, and make as many dates available for the search as you can.

Poor weather and other commitments can gobble up the opportunities all too quickly.

Once you know that the WLH is on the wing, it is time to get around your potential sites. lf a heat wave comes along, you must resist the temptation to lie at home in a deckchair, as the most successful days are the scorchers. The butterflies sit in the sun on leaves towards the top of the elms, sometimes resting, sometimes walking about in search of their principal refreshment, honeydew left by aphids, and fly only rarely. When disturbed, or in pursuit of another insect, they lift off into a short chase, particularly if they find another WLH. At this height, they are difficult to spot, and cannot be identified with certainty unless they are obliging enough to settle where you can get the binoculars on them. ln flight, they are rather drab, less noticeable than a Purple Hairstreak, and rather smaller than the smallest of the Ringlets that do quite often get up into trees.

You may well see Speckled Woods and Holly Blues flying amongst the trees, and these need to be firmly identified, although once you have seen the real thing, you are unlikely to confuse WLH with these species. On the other hand, if you are near oaks, do beware of the Purple Hairstreaks, which do settle in elms, and have the same distinctive profile on a leaf.

Your best chance of a positive sighting comes when the WLH come down to take nectar, as a change from honeydew. This can occur as early as 10am on a hot day, unlike the Purple Hairstreaks, that usually leave it until teatime. So, what you have to look for is bramble or privet, flowering in the sun, under the elms. Very often, this dictates which side of the copse or hedge line you have to search. This can put your feet amongst the nettles as you dose in to search the bramble patch. And you will need to search quite methodically, as a bramble patch is an excellent hiding-place. First you will spot the Whites, and then any Peacocks, Red Admirals, or Commas. On closer inspection, you will begin to find the

page twenty

Butterfly Conservation developing new garden survey

by Richard Fox (Surveys Manager} Et Beverly Evans (MembershipDev. Officer} Recording and monitoring the changing fortunes of our butterflies and moths is what Butterfly Conservation does best. Many members take part in projects such as the existing Garden Butterfly Survey (coordinated by Dr Margaret Vickery), Butterflies for the New Millennium or transect monitoring. Not only does all this effort produce information that is the cornerstone of efforts to conserve butterflies and moths, but recording schemes also provide an important method of raising awareness and getting new people involved with BC's work.

We have identified a clear need for a colourful, easy, accessible project aimed at the general public and one focused on recording common butterflies and moths in gardens is an obvious choice. The survey would raise awareness, inform, stimulate and allow the public to participate directly in scientific studies. lnterest in wildlife gardening has never been higher. A recent offer of a BC Garden Butterfly lD chart in the Daily Telegraph resulted in 2000 requests, and illustrates the potentially huge audience for a high profile UK garden butterfly survey.

The new garden survey will begin in April 2002 and will be run centrally, imposing no

Small Tortoiseshell

by Douglas Hammersley additional demands on Branch volunteers. Although it is a huge undertaking, we are confident that it will attract the attention that it deserves, giving us the opportunity to communicate with many thousands of new people. lt will also build upon the Millennium Atlas in raising awareness of the plight of butterflies and their role as indicators of the health of the countryside and urban areas. Not least, it will encourage people to think about their gardens as habitat for butterflies and moths and encourage them to grow larval foodplants and good nectar sources.

The survey (which does not yet have a title) will be promoted via the media, with features and news articles appearing from April 2002 onwards.

Alan Titchmarsh, BC Vice-president and celebrity gardener has kindly agreed to be the public face of the survey, ensuring a high profile in the media. BC will also be promoting the survey at various major events next year, such as the Chelsea Flower Show and 'Gardeners'World Live' in Birmingham. The free survey pack will include information on butterfly gardening, a survey form, colour identification chart and information about other BC recording projects.

We hope that the survey will be a useful tool for Branches to engage members of the public at events, shows, talks, guided walks etc. Posters and flyers promoting the survey will be circulated to Branch committees for use at such events.

Although aimed primarily at the general public, we would be happy, of course, for any BC members to take part in this new survey. However, we are conscious of the enormous amount of work already undertaken by Branch volunteers and would not like this new project to distract from other activities. The existing garden butterfly survey, which has generated a wealth of useful information over the past ten years, will continue alongside the new scheme.

page five

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Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Thomham

Walks Sunday 29th July 2001

by Alan Johnson This event. a joint meeting with 'Thornham Walks', was an afternoon stroll around part of the Thornham Estate, near Diss.For those not familiar with this area, the 'walks' consist of 12 miles of waymarked footpaths, within the Estate, through beautiful countryside and taking visitors into ancient parkland, woodland, farmland and water meadows.

A total of twenty four people assembled in the car park on what was to be one of the hottest afternoons of the year so far, with the temperature around 30° C. Our group included several children and seven members from the Suffolk Branch.

We were met by Helen Sibley, the Estate's Countryside Ranger, who gave us a brief introduction to the Thomham Estate. We then set off on our walk, the first part of which was to take us through to the Walled Garden.

This path, initially bordered by grasses, thistles and knapweed also provided a large patch of bramble, which gave us a good opportunity to closely observe Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper. Reaching the 'Pinetum', Ringlet, Large Skipper and Green-veined White were added to our list of sightings. Next, the path passed through a wooded glade, which provided some welcome shade, also a Speckled Wood. We had now reached the Walled Garden, recently fully restored to its former Victorian glory. Here we enjoyed good eye-level views of Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Red Admiral, all nectaring on the golden daisy like flowers of Elecampane (lnula). While most of us were admiring these butterflies, one of our group had been fortunate to see a Purple Hairstreak, at low level, after it had flown down to pause briefly on a stone pillar by the garden entrance.

Moving on, our party became split into two groups, the latter being rewarded by a Whiteletter Hairstreak, on Wych Elm, near the Canal Pond. This butterfly, previously unrecorded in this 'Tetrad' was spotted by Richard Stewart and confirmed by Rob Parker, with the aid of his binoculars.

Further on, a male Brimstone obligingly posed, on a flower head, long enough for everyone to admire the greenish-yellow colouring of the underside of its wings.

We had now reached the 'Butterfly Ride', situated within the Connaught Plantation. The ride has been in existence for several years now, Butterfly Conservation being involved in the project at the invitation of Lord and Lady Henniker, owners of the Thomham Estate. The ride is only open to the public during July and August, and is a mix of shady and brighter sunnier areas. A path encircles tall grasses and plants, such as thistles, St. John's-wort and Fleabane. Here Essex Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White and Holly Blue were added to our list, also another sighting of a Purple Hairstreak.

This one had alighted on the grassy path, being narrowly missed by the boots of the leading walkers!

After recording a total of eighteen species, we had spent a pleasant and rewarding afternoon and hopefully the members of the public who joined us, enjoyed it too.

page six

Gatekeeper

by BerylJohnston ash trees, yet with plenty of light for the open area and the garden benches that invite one to linger. The grass seemed very lush and green, with plenty of plantain, some knapweed and a few clumps of scabious, but not many butterflies. There was no planted garden area, and no real focus to attract passing butterflies.

The ground surrounding the church building had been laid with gravel, and this gave it a rather sterile appearance. One hedge margin and an area of old graves had been allowed to grow to maturity, and the long grass supported a thin population of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, but there was more shade too, and Speckled Woods were present, a species not found at Hitcham. A few holly trees, and plenty of ivy produced more Holly Blues than at Hitcham, though the total species count was only six.

Sadly, the church is not kept open, because of the Henry Moore, sol was unable to check inside for signs of the Rev Kirby.

References: Russell-Gebbett, J., 1977. "Henslow Hitcham" Lavenham, Terence Dalton

of

Walters, M., 2001. "Darwin's Mentor" (in press) Salmon, M. A., 2000. "The Aurelian Legacy - British Butterflies and their Collectors", Harley Books.

page nineteen

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

A Cautionary A Tale of Two Tale Churchyards

by Richard Stewart

By Rob Parker

My discussions with others 'getting on in years' suggests that we all make a determined effort to reduce to a minimum our carrying weight on butterfly trips.

The Churchyardbutterfly surveyprompted me to take a look at two churchyardswith interesting historical entomological connections. Well known as Charles Darwin's mentor, the Rev John Stevens Henslow was the Professorof Botany at St John's College Cambridge and the Rector of Hitcham. He had a circle of naturalist friends that included the Rev William Kirby, author of "An Introduction to Entomology",first President of the Ipswich Museum, and Rector of the nearby parish of Barham. Their friendship and natural history association lasted through the 1830s and 40s, until Kirby'sdeath in 1850. What would their respective churchyards look like a century and a half later, I wondered?

'Can we leave the food in the car?' is probably one of the most common questions at the start of a meeting. ln my case this has recently extended to my camera and l tend now just to have binoculars and a small lightweight monocular. This was my undoing on 13th May 2000. l had every reason to have a camera, since l had planned to look at Green Hairstreaks on Rushmere Common then go into lpswich for shopping, including the purchase of a cable release for the camera. My excuse for leaving the camera at home was that it would be a standard fit anyway. While searching likely bushes 1 came across a Small Copper, very still and perfectly posed for a photo. What was different about it was that the usual markings were replaced by a creamy white, which covered much of the upperwings and part of the lower ones. This is the rare aberrant albino form, alba, though at the time l wasn't aware of its rarity. 1 also neglected to mark the spot properly and a camera-laden return the next day was fruitless.

Plants for the Suffolk Show Have you got any larval/nectar plants that could be suitable for sale at the Suffolk Show? lf so we would be very grateful if you could donate any to the Branch, as from past experience the sale of such plants not only generates income but also is good publicity for Butterfly Conservation.

Please contact Richard Stewart (Tel. 01473 216518) ifyou can help.

On a scorching day in July, l visited Hitcham first, and found an interesting church, some unusual graves, and strong signs of the connections with its celebrated past Rector. Set on a hillside and catching the sun, a herb garden at the porch had attracted a good variety of butterflies. Most were taking nectar at Marjoram, and a surprise there was a fresh Brown Argus sitting on an Ox-eye Dai5Y.Several areas of long grass were maintained as a conservation feature, and l discovered that one of these was the "Black Death" burial area. ln all, ten species of butterfly were on the wing, and the Browns were in good numbers. Above the churchyard, an adjacent meadow was rich in knapweed and Birdsfoot Trefoil, nicely sheltered by a long bramble bank teeming with Gatekeepers, as a reminder that churchyards are dependant on the surrounding area for their insect diversity.

That afternoon, 1 looked at St Mary 8: St Peter's, at Barham, a church well known for its Henry Moore sculpture. The churchyard is spacious, with a cedar, numerous limes, oaks and

page eighteen

Devil's Dyke

Field Trip 5th August 2001

By Iris NewberyEt Rob Parker (Joint Leaders) No lessthan 25 people assembled on 5th Aug 2001, for the joint field trip with members of the Essexand Cambridgeshire Branch more or less equalling the Suffolk contingent, and with a welcome visitor from the Hertfordshire Branch. It started warm but overcast, and we set off determined to see the Chalkhill Blues before the rain came. In the event, we had a dry, hot day, with plenty of sun, but just enough breeze to ground the butterflies in places.

Some of the group were making their first visit to the Devil's Dyke, but others knew it well, having been members of scrub clearance work parties over the years since 1987, when the Essex 8: Cambs Branch became seriously involved in habitat conservation at this wonderful linear site.

We had barely climbed to the top of the Dyke before we began to see the chalky-blue colours of the male Lysandra coridon sitting on Carline Thistles and Scabious heads. Out came the cameras, and forward progress slowed to nil for half an hour, whilst we revelled in the viewing and filming opportunities. Soon we began to spot the femal(;s, then the mating couples, and later a few mild aberrations (on the female undersides only). The grass had grown strongly, and the Horseshoe Vetch was difficult to spot, as it was no longer in flower, but it could still be positively identified by its crinkly, horseshoe shaped, seed pods. ln the spots where it was growing well, the Chalkhill Blues were in greater abundance. lf we individually stopped to count, we could see 30 or so at one time, but we did not attempt an organised count, being content to accept John Dawson's assessment that they exceeded the peak of 609 counted in 1998. We walked the 2.3km

stretch to the edge of the A 14, and found them at both ends, on both slopes, and down in the ditch, but much more abundant on the south side, and in the first kilometre in from the car park. Encouragingly, they seem to be spreading out from their stronghold of past years.

Other species flying included Common Blues, a few Brown Argus, Large, Small and Essex Skippers, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites. There were a few Peacocks, and a solitary Painted Lady.

We had to wait for single sightings of Small Heath and Speckled Wood to bring the count to 15 butterfly species.

1t was noticeable that the Suffolk members strode ahead, thinking about lunch, whilst those who knew the site moved more slowly, spending time down out of the breeze, and probably seeing more. There were plenty of plants of interest, including Autumn Gentian, the residual spikes of Lizard Orchid, and in the bottom of the ditch, which had spent much of the winter flooded, there was an unexpected crop of Dropwort. We took lunch in the "Bomber Gap", so called, because it is a break in the dyke, which was dug away during the war, when RAF bombers were taking off from the racecourse, and needed all the clearance they could get. ln this area, a high proportion of the Skippers were carrying red mites on their bodies.

The most visible moths were Six-spot Bumets, but a Ruby Tiger was found in a spider's web, and the following were also identified: Shaded Broad-bar, Latticed Heath, Dusky Sallow, Single-dotted Wave, Common Carpet, Vapourer, Yellow Shell and, after most people had left, a Silver-Y. Other discoveries included an Emperor larva, large, green and juicy at our feet, a Common Blue Damselfly,rescued from a spider's web, and a Migrant Hawker - another victim in a spider's web, and an impressive longhomed Musk beetle.

We had benefited from the knowledge of John Dawson, and enjoyed this "Jewel in the Crown" site on the Suffolk/Cambs border, but perhaps the best aspect of this successful joint day was the opportunity to share experiences with neighbouring Branch members. Let's make sure we put some more cross-border field trips in our programmes for future years.

page seven

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Moth Night at Minsmere Saturday 11th August 2001

by Tony Prichard This moth evening was run in conjunction with a bat evening as part of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation's National Moth Night event. As usual the event was heavily supported by the Suffolk Moth Group.

Even though the two groups (bats and moths) may not get on too well in the wild the combination of bat walk and moth night does seem to go well together - keeping the public amused until the moths are ready to make an appearance.

Although National Moth Night was targeted at recording the White-spotted Pinion, this event was organised before that was announced and l'd targeted the evening at recording Whitemantled Wainscot in some of the other drier areas of reedbed where we've not previously recorded the moth. The evening was rather over-subscribed with 40 people turning up which was good and bad news. Good that that many people were interested but rather a large number to manage around a moth sheet. That said, they seemed to go away happy having seen plenty of moths with a few big fluffy moths amongst them.

We managed to record a single Whitemantled Wainscot in an area we'd not recorded it from previously, which was the main intention of holding the meeting at Minsmere this year. A few more individuals recorded in this area would have given me more confidence that it is resident in this area of the reserve. Other notable wainscot moths that we recorded on the night included; Webb's Wainscot, Silky Wainscot and Fenn's Wainscot. Minsmere is well known location for these species, which prefer reed-bed habitats.

Oblique Carpet and Magpie Moth seem to

be a couple of species which did rather well this year. Having not personally seen Oblique Carpet before in Suffolk we recorded this species at three sites along the coast this year. Magpie Moth has been recorded at 13 sites this year, not including reports from recorders' home traps, which l've not received yet. This once common species, often seen in gardens, seems to have declined in much the same way as the Garden Tiger over recent years.

Since Ant-lions were discovered in this area of the Suffolk coastline we've often wondered why we have not had the species to light while trapping the area. All we needed was a little more patience as one turned up on the night. They seem to be very poor fliers so may be it shouldn't be too surprising that we've not seen more of this species.

Searching of the lights in the toilet block by several of the moth group turned up several species not recorded at the main lights, including Dark Spectacle, which just shows that reJying on one method of recording only may lead you to miss some of the species resident at the site, although this particular practice has raised a few eyebrows in the past.

Other species of interest included; Calamotropha paludella, Pediasia contaminella, Schoenobius gigantella, Tawny Wave, Flame Carpet, Sharp-angled Peacock, Dark Swordgrass, Reed Dagger and Pinion-streaked Snout.

Over 160 species recorded on the night, which at the time of writing this article was the highest number of species recorded at a site on national moth night.

The full species list for the night was;

Monopis weaverella, Aspilapteryx tringipennella, Ypsolopha dentella, Ypsolopha scabrella, Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Carcina quercana, Agonopterix alstromeriana, Agonopterix nervosa, Hypatima rhomboidella, Helcystogramma rufescens, Blastobasis lignea, Agapeta hamana, Cochylis dubitana, Pandemis cmylana, Pandemis heparana, Clepsis spectrana, Acleris variegana, Celypha lacunana, Bactra lancealana, Epinotia ramella, Epinotia nisella, Spilonota ocellana, Cydia splendana, Alucita hexadactyla, Chilo phragmitella, Calamotropha

page eight

The Great

Apollo Hunt Episode 1

by James Mann The two speciesof butterfly I most wanted to find when we moved to France were the Twotailed Pasha and the Apollo. I was fortunate to find the Two-tailed Pasha a few miles away when visiting in June 1999 prior to our permanent move in the September. We can now reliably see them from May until September.

1 researched the Apollo and found, "Pyrenees", no problem we live in the foothills.

"Generally above 1000 metres in southern Europe", no problem we can see several 2000m. plus peaks from the house. "Exposed mountain slopes with plenty of flowers", no problem apart from other areas the ski slopes are just that in summer. "Flight period May to September according to locality, altitude and season", great it gives us five months to see them, so we thought.

We decided that there was no point in going too far so on 21 July 2000 we set off for the nearest ski slopes above Prats de Mollo la Preste, just over 40 miles away on the twisty road following the valley of Le Tech river. A few miles beyond Prats de Mollo, the town, and just before La Preste, where there are thermal baths, we turned off to the right at a spot where we had met the snow line in winter and climbed and twisted our way up into the mountains along a Route Forestiere into the Reserve Naturelle de Prats de Mollo eventually arriving, just after midday, at Chalet Las Conques at a height of 1630 metres.

The Chalet advertised accommodation and food but it was closed so it was fortunate that we had brought plenty of water.

We pushed our way through a small herd of huge sandy coloured cows all sporting large bells and made our way up beside the Telebaby Las Conques, which we assumed was the

nursery slope ski-lift. There were lots of flowers and many dark brown butterflies of the ringlet family. One looked very much like a Scotch Argus but as this is out of its range it was probably either De Prunners Ringlet or the Piedmont Ringlet, all very similar.

Suddenly Anne saw a bright flash of orange some distance above and in front of us, 1 crept up on it like a cat stalking a mouse, 1 came close and there it rested with wings open showing the colour of freshly burnished copper, obviously one of the copper family. He, and several of his friends, allowed me to take photographs with both open and closed wings which enabled me to identify it as, Lycaena vigaureae, Scarce Copper. After a while the sun became hazy and the butterflies less active. We had not seen an Apollo, we slowly wandered down the ski-slope admiring the flowers and thinking, if this is a nursery slope you wouldn't get us on a normal piste in the snow.

At the end of our three-hour walk we arrived back at the Chalet Las Conques and to our delight found it open. We staggered in and ordered two Grande Cafe and Pate Sandwiches.

As we sat down just outside two huge cups of coffee arrived together with a whole fresh baguette cut up and an individual home made Pate Campagne, absolutely delicious. We decided there and then to come back next summer to enjoy a few days of their Full Board at the equivalent of £20 per night or should that be day.

We sat enjoying the absolute peace, the only sounds being the birdsong and the gentle tinkling of the cowbells when my eyes fell upon the reserve notice board and there on it was a picture of yes, an Apollo. 1 rushed over and read the text; sadly it was not about our reserve but about the Reserve Naturelle de Jojols over the mountains and above the valley of the river Tet. This was some twelve miles away in a straight line over the peaks but four or five times as far by the shortest 'road' route.

We had had a lovely day exploring the mountains and seeing some new butterflies and flowers. We did not see an Apollo but now we know where to find them, or do we?

page seventeen

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Purple Hairstreaksat the Priory

by James Mann June 27th 2001, it was a rather cloudy day but we were aware that in four days time the two great holiday months for France would begin and that all the holiday motorists from the rest of Europe, making for the Spanish Mediterranean, would drive along the N9 past the front of our house.

We decided to have a day of peace and quiet.

We drove over the plain from the river Tech to the river Tet, then turning back on ourselves, we climbed along the hillside above the valley of the Tet arriving some 23 miles on at an altitude of 2000ft at the Priory Serrabona. Serrabona is Catalan for "The Good Mountain."

To retain the quiet at the priory the car park is situated some 400 yards before and below the buildings. As we left the car a Great Banded Grayling came to greet us and flew round our heads, this we took as a good omen.

Records mention the existence of a church on the site as early as 1069 and in 1082 it was decided to install a group of canons from the order of Saint Augustine and to build a priory.

At the time this was still part of Spain. The main material for the buildings is finely cut blocks of slate, with the arches of the external cloisters and the internal gallery and its supporting arches of local rose marble. The columns, capitals and arches are carved with over 600 motifs of lions, griffons, eagles, centaurs, sagittarus, monkeys and stags and are symbolic of the time.

Outside the vast gardens were terraced with walls of the same finely cut slate to form level areas and create productive gardens for the priory.

Building was not hurried in those days, the construction taking 70 years and it being consecrated in 1151. 1t remained as a thriving community until its disbandment in 1593. The last Prior was buried here in 1612. ln 1659 under the Treaty of the Pyrenees it became part of France. 1t was eventually named as a Historic Monument in 1838, although little was done, and in 1969 it came under the umbrella of the Conseil General des Pyrenees Orientales who have carried out restoration to the buildings and are restoring the terraced gardens closest to the priory. During the intervening 400 years of neglect the buildings suffered the deterioration of time but survived remarkably well due to the high standard of the original workmanship.

The terraced gardens were left to run wild and have turned into a Holm Oak Forest. The trees are a maximum of 30ft, their height being restricted by their growing in a thin layer of earth over solid rock. We sat on the wall of the top terrace unwinding from the cultural experience of the fantastic marble carvings.

Despite the cloudy weather we saw Cleopatras, Black-veined Whites, Marbled Whites, Walls, Gatekeepers, the odd Blue and a Pearl-bordered Fritillary. We noticed several small darkish butterflies nectaring on the lavender and wondered what they were. l turned to look over the tops of the trees on the descending terraces and saw more and more of the same species at the top of the trees and realised we were looking at hundreds of Purple Hairstreaks. l had been confused by only ever previously seeing them singly or in groups of up to six.

My mind went back to standing under oak trees in Suffolk looking up and hoping to at least see one Purple Hairstreak before my neck ache forced me to give up. l realised how privileged we were to see so many Purple Hairstreaks in one place and how lucky the butterflies were that the departure of the residents of the priory had provided them with the perfect home, probably occupied by their ancestors for most of 400 years. They are living in a protected sacred area and like the priory are being preserved.

Purple Hairstreak picture by Angie Steele.

page sixteen

paludella, Chrysoteuchia culmella, Agriphila straminella, Agriphila tristella.

Agriphila inquinatella, Agriphila geniculea, Catoptria pinella, Pediasia contaminella, Schoenobius gigantella, Acentria ephemerella, Eudonia pallida.

Eudonia mercurella, Elophila nymphaeata, Parapoynx stratiotata, Cataclysta lemnata, Evergestis forficalis, Phlyctaenia coronata, Pleuroptya ruralis, Hypsopygia costalis, Synaphe punctalis, Endotricha tlammealis, Galleria mellonella, Acrobasis consociella, Trachycera advenella, Phycita roborella, Brimstone Moth, Peacock Moth, Drinker, Oak Hook-tip, Pebble Hook-tip, Peach Blossom, Common Emerald, Birch Mocha, Maiden's Blush, Tawny Wave, Small Fan-footed Wave, Dwarf Cream Wave, Single-dotted Wave, Riband Wave, Oblique Carpet, Flame Carpet, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Shaded Broad-bar, Common Carpet, Chevron, Small Phoenix, Sandy Carpet, Wormwood Pug, White-spotted Pug, Grey Pug, Double-striped Pug, Magpie Moth, Clouded Border, Sharp-angled Peacock, Latticed Heath, Canary-shouldered Thom, Early Thom, Scalloped Oak, Engrailed, Common White Wave, Common Wave, Yellow Belle, Sallow Kitten, Iron Prominent, Pebble Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Coxcomb Prominent, Yellow-tail, Black Arches, Roundwinged Muslin, Rosy Footman, Dingy Footman, Scarce Footman, Common Footman, Garden Tiger, Buff Ermine, Ruby Tiger, White-line Dart, Archer's Dart, Heart and Dart, Dark Sword-grass, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, True Lover's Knot, Small Squarespot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Nutmeg, Cabbage Moth, Dog's Tooth, Bright-line Brown-eye, Antler, White-point, Southern Wainscot, Smoky Wainscot, Common Wainscot, Suspected, Reed Dagger, Copper Underwing, Mouse Moth, Straw Underwing, Angle Shades, Dun-bar, Dark Arches, Cloaked Minor, Rosy Minor, Common Rustic, Small Wainscot, Fenn's Wainscot, Dusky Sallow, Saltern Ear, Rosy Rustic, Crescent, Twin-spotted

Wainscot, Brown-veined Wainscot, Whitemantled Wainscot, Webb's Wainscot, Fen Wainscot, Small Rufous, Rustic, Silky Wainscot, Gold Spot, Silver Y, Dark Spectacle, Herald, Straw Dot, Snout, Pinion-streaked Snout, Purple Bar.

page nine

Magpie Moth

by Mervyn Crawford

' \.-

:... ~

PeachBlossom

by Mervyn Crawford

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Fynn Valley

lfield

A circular walk along the Valley from Tuddenhamto Playford

29 August 2001

Saturday 18th August 2001

By Paul Johnson

by Richard Stewart Seven members attended, with 13 speciesbeing recorded, compared to 17 on the SNS meeting following the same route on the previous Saturday, when weather conditions were better.

Highlights were Grayling observed on a new section and a Small Heath off transect in a new area. The other species were SpeckledWood, which has widely colonised this area in the last two years, large White, Green-veined White, Brown Argus, Common and Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Wall, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown. The mechanics of walking a transect were explained at the start and the importance of having updated butterfly and other wildlife records in case this beautiful and unspoilt area was under threat in future. Other wildlife included a Toad, Green Woodpeckers, slots of what was probably a Muntjac, one Banded Demoiselle damselfly, rings of toadstools and a number of moth species as listed below and provided by Tony Prichard.

Stigmella anomalella Stigmella crataegella Parornix anglicella Phyllocnistis unipunctella Celypha lacunana Endothenia gentianaeana Agriphila straminella Agriphila tristella Pyrausta aurata Pleuroptya ruralis Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) Puss Moth (Cerura vinula) White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

The edge of a playing field in suburban Crawley may seem a somewhat improbable location from which to initiate a search for Brown Hairstreaks. Yet eight Suffolk Branch members had assembled here, interspersing the preparation of field trip paraphernalia with exchanges of banter, speculation as to the chances of locating this most reclusive representative of the British butterfly fauna, and glances towards a sky forecast to become increasingly leaden as the day progressed.

With the last traces of early morning mist now fully dissipated by the sun, we moved towards a hedge demarcating the boundary of lfield meadows. A few minutes later, the initial search for hairstreaks having proved fruitless, we had entered the meadows proper. The group dispersed, some choosing to investigate sunlit banks of blackthorn scrub, others scanning a stand of mature ash. Personal observations suggest that these trees play an important, if not pivotal, role in the ecology of the lfield Brown Hairstreak colony. However, perhaps the air temperature was lower, or the wind strength greater than we perceived, for an hour into the field trip butterfly sightings had been confined to Speckled Wood, Small Copper and a Comma sampling some blackberries which had evaded the attentions of human hands.

We moved away from the meadows and into a network of small fields. A few yards into the first of these, an exceptionally sheltered strip of pasture bordered by mature blackthorn hedges, a Brown Hairstreak was observed perched on the protruding foliage of an oak. As binoculars were raised and cameras clasped in anticipation, the butterfly undertook a short flight before depositing itself within the upper branches of a sloe.

A little further along the hedgerow and

page ten

Moth Conservation Officer'sReport for 2001

I .·-· ~

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk

by Mervyn Crawford

by TonyPrichard Recording in the early part of the year was rather hampered by foot and mouth disease restrictions, which meant that recording was largely restricted to people's gardens. This was not helped by the rather wet and cold weather conditions that prevailed for most of the period till mid-June. The moth season was rather delayed with most recorders reporting delayed appearances of most spring species.

However, from the end of June onwards the nights improved and moth numbers recorded increased as delayed spring species were appearing with summer species.

The Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth was again recorded from its Suffolk site this year.

Surveys were carried out for the Ground Lackey moth in the areas of salt marsh in Suffolk and several moth nights were targeted at recording the White-mantled Wainscot in the coast reedbeds of Walberswick, Dingle Marshes and Minsmere, with the species being recorded from all these sites.

An influx of Red-necked Footman at the end of June and early July caused some excitement as the last time this species was recorded was at Minsmere in the mid 1990's.

The Suffolk Moth Group also recorded a Silver Barred at Redgrave Fen, which is presumably a migrant, but it was in the right habitat for the moth so this may be a site worth monitoring in the future to see if the species continues to be recorded there.

A Suffolk Moth Group visit to Staverton Thicks to look for the Scarce Merveille du Jour was unsuccessful and given the favourable weather conditions and the coverage of the wood it is unlikely that the moth if found in the wood is present in good numbers. However, l've since received reports of a site in the county for the species where it was recorded in the mid 1980's so we will be investigating this area in the future.

National Moth Night this year was held at Minsmere RSPB Reserve, which was well attended with over 50 people present. Although the National Moth Night target species was supposed to be White-spotted Pinion, this moth night had been arranged prior to this announcement and we were targeting Whitemantled Wainscot in areas of the reserve where we previously have not recorded the moth.

Everyone, including 40 members of the public, seemed to enjoy the evening. For a change there were plenty of moths around the sheet when we were running a public event.

Two other moth nights held by the branch this year were at Wolves Wood and Dunwich Heath. The former suffering from very poor weather. The moth night at Dunwich Heath was more successful with around 20 members of the public attending and the lights attracting good numbers of large showy moths.

Although the butterfly season maybe largely finished the mothing season will continue into November with plenty of moth recording still be done.

page fifteen

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Habitats - Common species A selection of habitats are available on the nursery or near by land. The principal types can be characterised as follows:

Grasslandand Scrub - This best describes the areas of common land that border on to the Nursery. Vegetation includes many grass species with gorse and young trees e.g. oak. Areas of the common can become very dry in summer with a risk of fire while others are damp even tending to be boggy in places. Typical species Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Common Blue, Orange-Tip and Green-veined White

Hedges and field margins - Banks and ditches have a range of grasses and flowering plants while the hedges contain Bramble, Blackthorn, Elm, Hawthorn, Honeysuckle, lvy and Rose.

These areas are typically cut once a year in July or August. Typical species - Small Skipper, Gatekeeper, Orange-Tip, Small White, Holly Blue, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown.

Road Verges - Grass cut one or two times per year with hedges near by. Other species include Nettles, Cow Parsley and Thistles. Typical species include Small Skipper, Green-veined White, Orange-Tip, Peacock, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and Small White.

Arable crops and fallow land - In general butterflies are only seen in transit across the cereal crops, typically barley. Fallow areas can be equally poor if weeds are properly controlled but butterflies can be seen feeding if weeds such as Thistles take hold. Typical species are strong fliers e.g. Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Large White and Small White.

Field and pot grown nurserystock - We grow large numbers of herbaceous perennials many of which provide plentiful nectar sources. Many species visit our plants to feed but they are unlikely to be allowed to breed amongst the crop plants although they can readily retreat to the field margins for this. Weed control is both through residual ·herbicides and tractor and hand hoeing. This is generally very effective but opportunities do occasionally present for butterflies to exploit weeds in crops. Species often seen feeding on cultivated plants include Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper and Holly Blue.

The following genera appear to be especially popular feeding sources for butterflies: Agapanthus Anchusa Aster Ca'tananche Geranium Liatris Orisanum Sedum

Agastache Asclepias Calamintha Centranthus Geum Nepeta Phlox Stokesia

Lesscommon species Small Copper, Brown Argus, Wall, Small Heath, Large Skipper and Common Blue are seen occasionally feeding on crops near the common land. Commas are occasionally seen in late summer, often in association with the arrival of migratory species such as Painted Lady and Red Admiral. A rare visitor is the Clouded Yellow which has been seen both feeding on cultivated plants and in association with infestations of clover in neglected areas of the nursery.

Speckled Woods are seen in a sheltered lane while Brimstones are occasionally seen moving through the nursery. Holly Blues appear to be more common than Common Blues. The Essex Skipper may occur as well as the Small Skipper but it has proved hard to get a positive identification this year. Ringlets appear to be more common this year.

page fourteen

another hairstreak, on this occasion settled low.

The opportunity for such close inspection reveals Thecla betulae to be a fine insect, reaching its peak as the number of other butterfly species on the wing wanes and the liveries of their remaining representatives fade.

Condense the golds, yellows and reds of autumnal leaves into the area of a postage stamp and you have its underwing. However, this analogy does not extend to a description of the body and legs, for these structures are pallid and monochromatic, yet strikingly metallic in appearance. Under the strong illumination of the midday sun, the latter effect is accentuated to the extent that the butterfly appears to have emerged from a delicate galvanisation process as opposed to an earth bound pupal case.

We eventually exited the field, momentarily distracted by the amber flash of a Brown Hairstreak flying at speed over the bushes. Small Heaths were recorded along the arid margin of an arable field whilst Speckled Woods were our regular companions as we moved deeper into the rural tranquillity. As conversation began to turn inexorably towards the subject of lunch, we were diverted by the outline of a butterfly flying about a sloe. We watched this female Brown Hairstreak for some time, noting a distinct pattern to her behaviour entailing the elevation of body temperature (through exposure of the dusky upperwings), an egg laying sortie, further thermo regulation, and a brief flight to the next potentially suitable blackthorn stem. Further observation explained the butterfly's apparent need to regularly increase its body temperature; although we were sta.nding but a few metres away, and her colours contrasted sharply with the dark stems, she would frequently be lost from view such was the depth to which she penetrated the scrub in order to oviposit.

We dined in the shade afforded by the broad canopy of an oak. Behind us sprawled Gatwick; populous, bustling, in a constant state of flux. Stretching before us a landscape perhaps fundamentally unchanged for a century or more, yet evolving discreetly to the metronomic beat of the passing seasons. ln the foreground a Meadow Brown fluttered above

the grass, whilst a Purple Hairstreak had descended from its arboreal perch in a lazy, spiralling flight reminiscent of a falling leaf. A few yards further on we detected an immaculate Brown Hairstreak, in this instance simultaneously engaged in frustrating attendant photographers and investigating low blackthorn stems through its curious, yet particular, perambulation.

Moving back towards our rendezvous point, we encountered a further Brown Hairstreak; her wings were fully outstretched in an attempt to absorb warmth from a sun becoming increasingly obscured by cloud, perhaps steeling herself for a final egg-laying mission. As we turned away, a group of deer traversed the field in a series of exhilarating movements, the ebullience of their bounds seemingly at one with our own pleasure.

Species List; Small White, Small Copper, Purple Hairstreak, Brown Hairstreak, Comma, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper.

page eleven

Purple Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Walberswick Area Sunday 2nd September 2001

by Alan Johnson This event, the penultimate one in our 2001 Programme, was a joint meeting with the Ipswich and District Natural History Society, eight members of both organisations meeting at the Hoist Covert car park, on the outskirts of Walberswick. The weather was rather cloudy and overcast, with a fresh westerly wind, but fortunately not cold, all rather reminiscent of a generally dismal year to date.

While waiting for the 'off, our first sightings were made - Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Small White butterflies along the field margin adjacent to the car park, also a Migrant Hawker dragonfly circling a pine tree.

We had decided to have two separate walks for the day's event, the morning one skirting Hoist Covert, to join a path in a southeasterly direction through the reeds, to the junction of several footpaths, near to the burntout remains of the windmill, which once pumped water into the Dunwich river. We followed the river for approx. 3/4 mile before returning on a higher-level path bordering Oldtown Marshes. This 'higher-level' (approx. 510 metres above sea level!) gave us good views seawards, also down across Westwood Marshes towards Dunwich Forest. The area is part of the Walberswick Nature Reserve, established to safeguard the mosaic of heathland, woods, marshes, mudflats, saltings and grazing meadows.

Items of interest noted were - Silver Y moth on Honeysuckle, Speckled Wood on a Bramble leaf, Meadow Brown on Hawkweed, Gatekeeper on Nettle. Small White on Bramble flower, Green-veined White on Fleabane, Red Admiral flying over reeds, also both male and female Common Darter dragonflies.

A clump of small Oak trees played host to a large agitated 'pack' of un-identified

dragonflies, an estimated 70-100 in number. On these Oak trees, two types of gall were noted, large numbers of Knopper Galls and some Artichoke Galls. The abnormal growth of the latter, resembling a small Artichoke, is caused by the Gall Wasp Andricus fecundator, the tissue inside the galls providing nutritious food for the developing larvae ..

Our final morning sightings were made in the grassland adjacent to Lodge Road, before returning to the car park, a Small Heath on Ragwort, Grayling and Large White.

Duly fortified by our picnic lunch, we then set off on our second, and afternoon walk, which took us across Walberswick Common, to follow the route of the old Halesworth to Southwold railway line. One location was checked for the blue-spotted aberrant form caeruleopunctata of the Small Copper, seen during a 1998 visit by Richard and Marie Stewart, but nothing was seen this time. Along the old cutting an abundance of heather and gorse on the banks provided a brilliant splash of colour. Here we noted - Small Copper, Common Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown butterflies, also the Hoverfly Volucella pellucens, which lingered long enough for Rob Parker to provide a positive identification. We continued on around the common, again admiring numerous patches of heather and gorse, eventually arriving at Walberswick Church. Here the churchyard was 'surveyed' and several Red Admiral butterflies were seen nectaring on the white flowers of a Buddleia.

These were to be our last butterflies of the day and on arrival back at the car park, a tally of eleven species was produced, not bad for September, but no Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock or Comma.

page twelve

Meeting at Howard Nurseries, Wortham Saturday 8th September 2001

Occurrence of butterflies at Howard Nurseries Ltd An extract from the literature provided by Paul Howling of Howard Nurseries Ltd. for the Branch meeting The following species have been sighted in the last five years on the nursery. Those highlighted in bold have been seen in 2001 :

by Richard Stewart With the addition of latecomers, there were fifteen present on a sunny but also very blustery day, which kept the temperature down and reduced the numbers of butterflies.

We were all welcomed with refreshments and introduced to the Howard family and other workers, including our leader, Paul Howling.

Inside one of the Nursery buildings an illustrated display of butterflies recorded on site had been prepared, plus a leaflet of habitats and species, and general information about the Nurseries.

Initially we were taken on a walk through the massed flowering beds of cultivated plants, with marjoram, phlox, sedum and Michaelmas daisy being just a few of the many nectar sources available. The best concentration of butterflies was in a more sheltered area close to the road, which drew envious comments from members when it was realised these were in process of being dug up and disposed of. A trailer ride took us into other habitats and eventually to a field of phlox adjacent to Burgate church, which was also explored.

Species seen were; Small and Large White, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Common Blue, one Meadow Brown, at least three Painted Lady, at least thirteen Red Admiral (these were a wonderful contrast when nectaring on Aster variety King George), and undoubtedly the star of the show, the fifty plus Small Tortoiseshell, possibly the best one site count in a single day for this species, which is currently having problems in many parts of the country.

We thank the Howards and Paul Howling for their hospitality and hope to return either singly or collectively next year, as several areas showed great promise for colonies of Purple and White-letter Hairstreak.

Small Skipper Large Skipper Brimstone Small White Green-veined White Brown Argus Holly Blue Painted Lady Peacock Speckled Wood Gatekeeper Ringlet

page thirteen

Essex Skipper (?)

Clouded Yellow Large White Orange-Tip Small Copper Common Blue Red Admiral Small Tortoiseshell Comma Wall Meadow Brown Small Heath

RedAdmiral

by Douglas Hammersley

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Walberswick Area Sunday 2nd September 2001

by Alan Johnson This event, the penultimate one in our 2001 Programme, was a joint meeting with the Ipswich and District Natural History Society, eight members of both organisations meeting at the Hoist Covert car park, on the outskirts of Walberswick. The weather was rather cloudy and overcast, with a fresh westerly wind, but fortunately not cold, all rather reminiscent of a generally dismal year to date.

While waiting for the 'off, our first sightings were made - Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Small White butterflies along the field margin adjacent to the car park, also a Migrant Hawker dragonfly circling a pine tree.

We had decided to have two separate walks for the day's event, the morning one skirting Hoist Covert, to join a path in a southeasterly direction through the reeds, to the junction of several footpaths, near to the burntout remains of the windmill, which once pumped water into the Dunwich river. We followed the river for approx. 3/4 mile before returning on a higher-level path bordering Oldtown Marshes. This 'higher-level' (approx. 510 metres above sea level!) gave us good views seawards, also down across Westwood Marshes towards Dunwich Forest. The area is part of the Walberswick Nature Reserve, established to safeguard the mosaic of heathland, woods, marshes, mudflats, saltings and grazing meadows.

Items of interest noted were - Silver Y moth on Honeysuckle, Speckled Wood on a Bramble leaf, Meadow Brown on Hawkweed, Gatekeeper on Nettle. Small White on Bramble flower, Green-veined White on Fleabane, Red Admiral flying over reeds, also both male and female Common Darter dragonflies.

A clump of small Oak trees played host to a large agitated 'pack' of un-identified

dragonflies, an estimated 70-100 in number. On these Oak trees, two types of gall were noted, large numbers of Knopper Galls and some Artichoke Galls. The abnormal growth of the latter, resembling a small Artichoke, is caused by the Gall Wasp Andricus fecundator, the tissue inside the galls providing nutritious food for the developing larvae ..

Our final morning sightings were made in the grassland adjacent to Lodge Road, before returning to the car park, a Small Heath on Ragwort, Grayling and Large White.

Duly fortified by our picnic lunch, we then set off on our second, and afternoon walk, which took us across Walberswick Common, to follow the route of the old Halesworth to Southwold railway line. One location was checked for the blue-spotted aberrant form caeruleopunctata of the Small Copper, seen during a 1998 visit by Richard and Marie Stewart, but nothing was seen this time. Along the old cutting an abundance of heather and gorse on the banks provided a brilliant splash of colour. Here we noted - Small Copper, Common Blue, Small Heath, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown butterflies, also the Hoverfly Volucella pellucens, which lingered long enough for Rob Parker to provide a positive identification. We continued on around the common, again admiring numerous patches of heather and gorse, eventually arriving at Walberswick Church. Here the churchyard was 'surveyed' and several Red Admiral butterflies were seen nectaring on the white flowers of a Buddleia.

These were to be our last butterflies of the day and on arrival back at the car park, a tally of eleven species was produced, not bad for September, but no Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock or Comma.

page twelve

Meeting at Howard Nurseries, Wortham Saturday 8th September 2001

Occurrence of butterflies at Howard Nurseries Ltd An extract from the literature provided by Paul Howling of Howard Nurseries Ltd. for the Branch meeting The following species have been sighted in the last five years on the nursery. Those highlighted in bold have been seen in 2001 :

by Richard Stewart With the addition of latecomers, there were fifteen present on a sunny but also very blustery day, which kept the temperature down and reduced the numbers of butterflies.

We were all welcomed with refreshments and introduced to the Howard family and other workers, including our leader, Paul Howling.

Inside one of the Nursery buildings an illustrated display of butterflies recorded on site had been prepared, plus a leaflet of habitats and species, and general information about the Nurseries.

Initially we were taken on a walk through the massed flowering beds of cultivated plants, with marjoram, phlox, sedum and Michaelmas daisy being just a few of the many nectar sources available. The best concentration of butterflies was in a more sheltered area close to the road, which drew envious comments from members when it was realised these were in process of being dug up and disposed of. A trailer ride took us into other habitats and eventually to a field of phlox adjacent to Burgate church, which was also explored.

Species seen were; Small and Large White, Speckled Wood, Small Copper, Common Blue, one Meadow Brown, at least three Painted Lady, at least thirteen Red Admiral (these were a wonderful contrast when nectaring on Aster variety King George), and undoubtedly the star of the show, the fifty plus Small Tortoiseshell, possibly the best one site count in a single day for this species, which is currently having problems in many parts of the country.

We thank the Howards and Paul Howling for their hospitality and hope to return either singly or collectively next year, as several areas showed great promise for colonies of Purple and White-letter Hairstreak.

Small Skipper Large Skipper Brimstone Small White Green-veined White Brown Argus Holly Blue Painted Lady Peacock Speckled Wood Gatekeeper Ringlet

page thirteen

Essex Skipper (?)

Clouded Yellow Large White Orange-Tip Small Copper Common Blue Red Admiral Small Tortoiseshell Comma Wall Meadow Brown Small Heath

RedAdmiral

by Douglas Hammersley

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Habitats - Common species A selection of habitats are available on the nursery or near by land. The principal types can be characterised as follows:

Grasslandand Scrub - This best describes the areas of common land that border on to the Nursery. Vegetation includes many grass species with gorse and young trees e.g. oak. Areas of the common can become very dry in summer with a risk of fire while others are damp even tending to be boggy in places. Typical species Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Common Blue, Orange-Tip and Green-veined White

Hedges and field margins - Banks and ditches have a range of grasses and flowering plants while the hedges contain Bramble, Blackthorn, Elm, Hawthorn, Honeysuckle, lvy and Rose.

These areas are typically cut once a year in July or August. Typical species - Small Skipper, Gatekeeper, Orange-Tip, Small White, Holly Blue, Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown.

Road Verges - Grass cut one or two times per year with hedges near by. Other species include Nettles, Cow Parsley and Thistles. Typical species include Small Skipper, Green-veined White, Orange-Tip, Peacock, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and Small White.

Arable crops and fallow land - In general butterflies are only seen in transit across the cereal crops, typically barley. Fallow areas can be equally poor if weeds are properly controlled but butterflies can be seen feeding if weeds such as Thistles take hold. Typical species are strong fliers e.g. Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Large White and Small White.

Field and pot grown nurserystock - We grow large numbers of herbaceous perennials many of which provide plentiful nectar sources. Many species visit our plants to feed but they are unlikely to be allowed to breed amongst the crop plants although they can readily retreat to the field margins for this. Weed control is both through residual ·herbicides and tractor and hand hoeing. This is generally very effective but opportunities do occasionally present for butterflies to exploit weeds in crops. Species often seen feeding on cultivated plants include Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small Skipper and Holly Blue.

The following genera appear to be especially popular feeding sources for butterflies: Agapanthus Anchusa Aster Ca'tananche Geranium Liatris Orisanum Sedum

Agastache Asclepias Calamintha Centranthus Geum Nepeta Phlox Stokesia

Lesscommon species Small Copper, Brown Argus, Wall, Small Heath, Large Skipper and Common Blue are seen occasionally feeding on crops near the common land. Commas are occasionally seen in late summer, often in association with the arrival of migratory species such as Painted Lady and Red Admiral. A rare visitor is the Clouded Yellow which has been seen both feeding on cultivated plants and in association with infestations of clover in neglected areas of the nursery.

Speckled Woods are seen in a sheltered lane while Brimstones are occasionally seen moving through the nursery. Holly Blues appear to be more common than Common Blues. The Essex Skipper may occur as well as the Small Skipper but it has proved hard to get a positive identification this year. Ringlets appear to be more common this year.

page fourteen

another hairstreak, on this occasion settled low.

The opportunity for such close inspection reveals Thecla betulae to be a fine insect, reaching its peak as the number of other butterfly species on the wing wanes and the liveries of their remaining representatives fade.

Condense the golds, yellows and reds of autumnal leaves into the area of a postage stamp and you have its underwing. However, this analogy does not extend to a description of the body and legs, for these structures are pallid and monochromatic, yet strikingly metallic in appearance. Under the strong illumination of the midday sun, the latter effect is accentuated to the extent that the butterfly appears to have emerged from a delicate galvanisation process as opposed to an earth bound pupal case.

We eventually exited the field, momentarily distracted by the amber flash of a Brown Hairstreak flying at speed over the bushes. Small Heaths were recorded along the arid margin of an arable field whilst Speckled Woods were our regular companions as we moved deeper into the rural tranquillity. As conversation began to turn inexorably towards the subject of lunch, we were diverted by the outline of a butterfly flying about a sloe. We watched this female Brown Hairstreak for some time, noting a distinct pattern to her behaviour entailing the elevation of body temperature (through exposure of the dusky upperwings), an egg laying sortie, further thermo regulation, and a brief flight to the next potentially suitable blackthorn stem. Further observation explained the butterfly's apparent need to regularly increase its body temperature; although we were sta.nding but a few metres away, and her colours contrasted sharply with the dark stems, she would frequently be lost from view such was the depth to which she penetrated the scrub in order to oviposit.

We dined in the shade afforded by the broad canopy of an oak. Behind us sprawled Gatwick; populous, bustling, in a constant state of flux. Stretching before us a landscape perhaps fundamentally unchanged for a century or more, yet evolving discreetly to the metronomic beat of the passing seasons. ln the foreground a Meadow Brown fluttered above

the grass, whilst a Purple Hairstreak had descended from its arboreal perch in a lazy, spiralling flight reminiscent of a falling leaf. A few yards further on we detected an immaculate Brown Hairstreak, in this instance simultaneously engaged in frustrating attendant photographers and investigating low blackthorn stems through its curious, yet particular, perambulation.

Moving back towards our rendezvous point, we encountered a further Brown Hairstreak; her wings were fully outstretched in an attempt to absorb warmth from a sun becoming increasingly obscured by cloud, perhaps steeling herself for a final egg-laying mission. As we turned away, a group of deer traversed the field in a series of exhilarating movements, the ebullience of their bounds seemingly at one with our own pleasure.

Species List; Small White, Small Copper, Purple Hairstreak, Brown Hairstreak, Comma, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper.

page eleven

Purple Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Fynn Valley

lfield

A circular walk along the Valley from Tuddenhamto Playford

29 August 2001

Saturday 18th August 2001

By Paul Johnson

by Richard Stewart Seven members attended, with 13 speciesbeing recorded, compared to 17 on the SNS meeting following the same route on the previous Saturday, when weather conditions were better.

Highlights were Grayling observed on a new section and a Small Heath off transect in a new area. The other species were SpeckledWood, which has widely colonised this area in the last two years, large White, Green-veined White, Brown Argus, Common and Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Comma, Wall, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown. The mechanics of walking a transect were explained at the start and the importance of having updated butterfly and other wildlife records in case this beautiful and unspoilt area was under threat in future. Other wildlife included a Toad, Green Woodpeckers, slots of what was probably a Muntjac, one Banded Demoiselle damselfly, rings of toadstools and a number of moth species as listed below and provided by Tony Prichard.

Stigmella anomalella Stigmella crataegella Parornix anglicella Phyllocnistis unipunctella Celypha lacunana Endothenia gentianaeana Agriphila straminella Agriphila tristella Pyrausta aurata Pleuroptya ruralis Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) Puss Moth (Cerura vinula) White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

The edge of a playing field in suburban Crawley may seem a somewhat improbable location from which to initiate a search for Brown Hairstreaks. Yet eight Suffolk Branch members had assembled here, interspersing the preparation of field trip paraphernalia with exchanges of banter, speculation as to the chances of locating this most reclusive representative of the British butterfly fauna, and glances towards a sky forecast to become increasingly leaden as the day progressed.

With the last traces of early morning mist now fully dissipated by the sun, we moved towards a hedge demarcating the boundary of lfield meadows. A few minutes later, the initial search for hairstreaks having proved fruitless, we had entered the meadows proper. The group dispersed, some choosing to investigate sunlit banks of blackthorn scrub, others scanning a stand of mature ash. Personal observations suggest that these trees play an important, if not pivotal, role in the ecology of the lfield Brown Hairstreak colony. However, perhaps the air temperature was lower, or the wind strength greater than we perceived, for an hour into the field trip butterfly sightings had been confined to Speckled Wood, Small Copper and a Comma sampling some blackberries which had evaded the attentions of human hands.

We moved away from the meadows and into a network of small fields. A few yards into the first of these, an exceptionally sheltered strip of pasture bordered by mature blackthorn hedges, a Brown Hairstreak was observed perched on the protruding foliage of an oak. As binoculars were raised and cameras clasped in anticipation, the butterfly undertook a short flight before depositing itself within the upper branches of a sloe.

A little further along the hedgerow and

page ten

Moth Conservation Officer'sReport for 2001

I .·-· ~

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk

by Mervyn Crawford

by TonyPrichard Recording in the early part of the year was rather hampered by foot and mouth disease restrictions, which meant that recording was largely restricted to people's gardens. This was not helped by the rather wet and cold weather conditions that prevailed for most of the period till mid-June. The moth season was rather delayed with most recorders reporting delayed appearances of most spring species.

However, from the end of June onwards the nights improved and moth numbers recorded increased as delayed spring species were appearing with summer species.

The Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth was again recorded from its Suffolk site this year.

Surveys were carried out for the Ground Lackey moth in the areas of salt marsh in Suffolk and several moth nights were targeted at recording the White-mantled Wainscot in the coast reedbeds of Walberswick, Dingle Marshes and Minsmere, with the species being recorded from all these sites.

An influx of Red-necked Footman at the end of June and early July caused some excitement as the last time this species was recorded was at Minsmere in the mid 1990's.

The Suffolk Moth Group also recorded a Silver Barred at Redgrave Fen, which is presumably a migrant, but it was in the right habitat for the moth so this may be a site worth monitoring in the future to see if the species continues to be recorded there.

A Suffolk Moth Group visit to Staverton Thicks to look for the Scarce Merveille du Jour was unsuccessful and given the favourable weather conditions and the coverage of the wood it is unlikely that the moth if found in the wood is present in good numbers. However, l've since received reports of a site in the county for the species where it was recorded in the mid 1980's so we will be investigating this area in the future.

National Moth Night this year was held at Minsmere RSPB Reserve, which was well attended with over 50 people present. Although the National Moth Night target species was supposed to be White-spotted Pinion, this moth night had been arranged prior to this announcement and we were targeting Whitemantled Wainscot in areas of the reserve where we previously have not recorded the moth.

Everyone, including 40 members of the public, seemed to enjoy the evening. For a change there were plenty of moths around the sheet when we were running a public event.

Two other moth nights held by the branch this year were at Wolves Wood and Dunwich Heath. The former suffering from very poor weather. The moth night at Dunwich Heath was more successful with around 20 members of the public attending and the lights attracting good numbers of large showy moths.

Although the butterfly season maybe largely finished the mothing season will continue into November with plenty of moth recording still be done.

page fifteen

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Purple Hairstreaksat the Priory

by James Mann June 27th 2001, it was a rather cloudy day but we were aware that in four days time the two great holiday months for France would begin and that all the holiday motorists from the rest of Europe, making for the Spanish Mediterranean, would drive along the N9 past the front of our house.

We decided to have a day of peace and quiet.

We drove over the plain from the river Tech to the river Tet, then turning back on ourselves, we climbed along the hillside above the valley of the Tet arriving some 23 miles on at an altitude of 2000ft at the Priory Serrabona. Serrabona is Catalan for "The Good Mountain."

To retain the quiet at the priory the car park is situated some 400 yards before and below the buildings. As we left the car a Great Banded Grayling came to greet us and flew round our heads, this we took as a good omen.

Records mention the existence of a church on the site as early as 1069 and in 1082 it was decided to install a group of canons from the order of Saint Augustine and to build a priory.

At the time this was still part of Spain. The main material for the buildings is finely cut blocks of slate, with the arches of the external cloisters and the internal gallery and its supporting arches of local rose marble. The columns, capitals and arches are carved with over 600 motifs of lions, griffons, eagles, centaurs, sagittarus, monkeys and stags and are symbolic of the time.

Outside the vast gardens were terraced with walls of the same finely cut slate to form level areas and create productive gardens for the priory.

Building was not hurried in those days, the construction taking 70 years and it being consecrated in 1151. 1t remained as a thriving community until its disbandment in 1593. The last Prior was buried here in 1612. ln 1659 under the Treaty of the Pyrenees it became part of France. 1t was eventually named as a Historic Monument in 1838, although little was done, and in 1969 it came under the umbrella of the Conseil General des Pyrenees Orientales who have carried out restoration to the buildings and are restoring the terraced gardens closest to the priory. During the intervening 400 years of neglect the buildings suffered the deterioration of time but survived remarkably well due to the high standard of the original workmanship.

The terraced gardens were left to run wild and have turned into a Holm Oak Forest. The trees are a maximum of 30ft, their height being restricted by their growing in a thin layer of earth over solid rock. We sat on the wall of the top terrace unwinding from the cultural experience of the fantastic marble carvings.

Despite the cloudy weather we saw Cleopatras, Black-veined Whites, Marbled Whites, Walls, Gatekeepers, the odd Blue and a Pearl-bordered Fritillary. We noticed several small darkish butterflies nectaring on the lavender and wondered what they were. l turned to look over the tops of the trees on the descending terraces and saw more and more of the same species at the top of the trees and realised we were looking at hundreds of Purple Hairstreaks. l had been confused by only ever previously seeing them singly or in groups of up to six.

My mind went back to standing under oak trees in Suffolk looking up and hoping to at least see one Purple Hairstreak before my neck ache forced me to give up. l realised how privileged we were to see so many Purple Hairstreaks in one place and how lucky the butterflies were that the departure of the residents of the priory had provided them with the perfect home, probably occupied by their ancestors for most of 400 years. They are living in a protected sacred area and like the priory are being preserved.

Purple Hairstreak picture by Angie Steele.

page sixteen

paludella, Chrysoteuchia culmella, Agriphila straminella, Agriphila tristella.

Agriphila inquinatella, Agriphila geniculea, Catoptria pinella, Pediasia contaminella, Schoenobius gigantella, Acentria ephemerella, Eudonia pallida.

Eudonia mercurella, Elophila nymphaeata, Parapoynx stratiotata, Cataclysta lemnata, Evergestis forficalis, Phlyctaenia coronata, Pleuroptya ruralis, Hypsopygia costalis, Synaphe punctalis, Endotricha tlammealis, Galleria mellonella, Acrobasis consociella, Trachycera advenella, Phycita roborella, Brimstone Moth, Peacock Moth, Drinker, Oak Hook-tip, Pebble Hook-tip, Peach Blossom, Common Emerald, Birch Mocha, Maiden's Blush, Tawny Wave, Small Fan-footed Wave, Dwarf Cream Wave, Single-dotted Wave, Riband Wave, Oblique Carpet, Flame Carpet, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Shaded Broad-bar, Common Carpet, Chevron, Small Phoenix, Sandy Carpet, Wormwood Pug, White-spotted Pug, Grey Pug, Double-striped Pug, Magpie Moth, Clouded Border, Sharp-angled Peacock, Latticed Heath, Canary-shouldered Thom, Early Thom, Scalloped Oak, Engrailed, Common White Wave, Common Wave, Yellow Belle, Sallow Kitten, Iron Prominent, Pebble Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Coxcomb Prominent, Yellow-tail, Black Arches, Roundwinged Muslin, Rosy Footman, Dingy Footman, Scarce Footman, Common Footman, Garden Tiger, Buff Ermine, Ruby Tiger, White-line Dart, Archer's Dart, Heart and Dart, Dark Sword-grass, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, True Lover's Knot, Small Squarespot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Nutmeg, Cabbage Moth, Dog's Tooth, Bright-line Brown-eye, Antler, White-point, Southern Wainscot, Smoky Wainscot, Common Wainscot, Suspected, Reed Dagger, Copper Underwing, Mouse Moth, Straw Underwing, Angle Shades, Dun-bar, Dark Arches, Cloaked Minor, Rosy Minor, Common Rustic, Small Wainscot, Fenn's Wainscot, Dusky Sallow, Saltern Ear, Rosy Rustic, Crescent, Twin-spotted

Wainscot, Brown-veined Wainscot, Whitemantled Wainscot, Webb's Wainscot, Fen Wainscot, Small Rufous, Rustic, Silky Wainscot, Gold Spot, Silver Y, Dark Spectacle, Herald, Straw Dot, Snout, Pinion-streaked Snout, Purple Bar.

page nine

Magpie Moth

by Mervyn Crawford

' \.-

:... ~

PeachBlossom

by Mervyn Crawford

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Moth Night at Minsmere Saturday 11th August 2001

by Tony Prichard This moth evening was run in conjunction with a bat evening as part of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation's National Moth Night event. As usual the event was heavily supported by the Suffolk Moth Group.

Even though the two groups (bats and moths) may not get on too well in the wild the combination of bat walk and moth night does seem to go well together - keeping the public amused until the moths are ready to make an appearance.

Although National Moth Night was targeted at recording the White-spotted Pinion, this event was organised before that was announced and l'd targeted the evening at recording Whitemantled Wainscot in some of the other drier areas of reedbed where we've not previously recorded the moth. The evening was rather over-subscribed with 40 people turning up which was good and bad news. Good that that many people were interested but rather a large number to manage around a moth sheet. That said, they seemed to go away happy having seen plenty of moths with a few big fluffy moths amongst them.

We managed to record a single Whitemantled Wainscot in an area we'd not recorded it from previously, which was the main intention of holding the meeting at Minsmere this year. A few more individuals recorded in this area would have given me more confidence that it is resident in this area of the reserve. Other notable wainscot moths that we recorded on the night included; Webb's Wainscot, Silky Wainscot and Fenn's Wainscot. Minsmere is well known location for these species, which prefer reed-bed habitats.

Oblique Carpet and Magpie Moth seem to

be a couple of species which did rather well this year. Having not personally seen Oblique Carpet before in Suffolk we recorded this species at three sites along the coast this year. Magpie Moth has been recorded at 13 sites this year, not including reports from recorders' home traps, which l've not received yet. This once common species, often seen in gardens, seems to have declined in much the same way as the Garden Tiger over recent years.

Since Ant-lions were discovered in this area of the Suffolk coastline we've often wondered why we have not had the species to light while trapping the area. All we needed was a little more patience as one turned up on the night. They seem to be very poor fliers so may be it shouldn't be too surprising that we've not seen more of this species.

Searching of the lights in the toilet block by several of the moth group turned up several species not recorded at the main lights, including Dark Spectacle, which just shows that reJying on one method of recording only may lead you to miss some of the species resident at the site, although this particular practice has raised a few eyebrows in the past.

Other species of interest included; Calamotropha paludella, Pediasia contaminella, Schoenobius gigantella, Tawny Wave, Flame Carpet, Sharp-angled Peacock, Dark Swordgrass, Reed Dagger and Pinion-streaked Snout.

Over 160 species recorded on the night, which at the time of writing this article was the highest number of species recorded at a site on national moth night.

The full species list for the night was;

Monopis weaverella, Aspilapteryx tringipennella, Ypsolopha dentella, Ypsolopha scabrella, Hofmannophila pseudospretella, Carcina quercana, Agonopterix alstromeriana, Agonopterix nervosa, Hypatima rhomboidella, Helcystogramma rufescens, Blastobasis lignea, Agapeta hamana, Cochylis dubitana, Pandemis cmylana, Pandemis heparana, Clepsis spectrana, Acleris variegana, Celypha lacunana, Bactra lancealana, Epinotia ramella, Epinotia nisella, Spilonota ocellana, Cydia splendana, Alucita hexadactyla, Chilo phragmitella, Calamotropha

page eight

The Great

Apollo Hunt Episode 1

by James Mann The two speciesof butterfly I most wanted to find when we moved to France were the Twotailed Pasha and the Apollo. I was fortunate to find the Two-tailed Pasha a few miles away when visiting in June 1999 prior to our permanent move in the September. We can now reliably see them from May until September.

1 researched the Apollo and found, "Pyrenees", no problem we live in the foothills.

"Generally above 1000 metres in southern Europe", no problem we can see several 2000m. plus peaks from the house. "Exposed mountain slopes with plenty of flowers", no problem apart from other areas the ski slopes are just that in summer. "Flight period May to September according to locality, altitude and season", great it gives us five months to see them, so we thought.

We decided that there was no point in going too far so on 21 July 2000 we set off for the nearest ski slopes above Prats de Mollo la Preste, just over 40 miles away on the twisty road following the valley of Le Tech river. A few miles beyond Prats de Mollo, the town, and just before La Preste, where there are thermal baths, we turned off to the right at a spot where we had met the snow line in winter and climbed and twisted our way up into the mountains along a Route Forestiere into the Reserve Naturelle de Prats de Mollo eventually arriving, just after midday, at Chalet Las Conques at a height of 1630 metres.

The Chalet advertised accommodation and food but it was closed so it was fortunate that we had brought plenty of water.

We pushed our way through a small herd of huge sandy coloured cows all sporting large bells and made our way up beside the Telebaby Las Conques, which we assumed was the

nursery slope ski-lift. There were lots of flowers and many dark brown butterflies of the ringlet family. One looked very much like a Scotch Argus but as this is out of its range it was probably either De Prunners Ringlet or the Piedmont Ringlet, all very similar.

Suddenly Anne saw a bright flash of orange some distance above and in front of us, 1 crept up on it like a cat stalking a mouse, 1 came close and there it rested with wings open showing the colour of freshly burnished copper, obviously one of the copper family. He, and several of his friends, allowed me to take photographs with both open and closed wings which enabled me to identify it as, Lycaena vigaureae, Scarce Copper. After a while the sun became hazy and the butterflies less active. We had not seen an Apollo, we slowly wandered down the ski-slope admiring the flowers and thinking, if this is a nursery slope you wouldn't get us on a normal piste in the snow.

At the end of our three-hour walk we arrived back at the Chalet Las Conques and to our delight found it open. We staggered in and ordered two Grande Cafe and Pate Sandwiches.

As we sat down just outside two huge cups of coffee arrived together with a whole fresh baguette cut up and an individual home made Pate Campagne, absolutely delicious. We decided there and then to come back next summer to enjoy a few days of their Full Board at the equivalent of £20 per night or should that be day.

We sat enjoying the absolute peace, the only sounds being the birdsong and the gentle tinkling of the cowbells when my eyes fell upon the reserve notice board and there on it was a picture of yes, an Apollo. 1 rushed over and read the text; sadly it was not about our reserve but about the Reserve Naturelle de Jojols over the mountains and above the valley of the river Tet. This was some twelve miles away in a straight line over the peaks but four or five times as far by the shortest 'road' route.

We had had a lovely day exploring the mountains and seeing some new butterflies and flowers. We did not see an Apollo but now we know where to find them, or do we?

page seventeen

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

A Cautionary A Tale of Two Tale Churchyards

by Richard Stewart

By Rob Parker

My discussions with others 'getting on in years' suggests that we all make a determined effort to reduce to a minimum our carrying weight on butterfly trips.

The Churchyardbutterfly surveyprompted me to take a look at two churchyardswith interesting historical entomological connections. Well known as Charles Darwin's mentor, the Rev John Stevens Henslow was the Professorof Botany at St John's College Cambridge and the Rector of Hitcham. He had a circle of naturalist friends that included the Rev William Kirby, author of "An Introduction to Entomology",first President of the Ipswich Museum, and Rector of the nearby parish of Barham. Their friendship and natural history association lasted through the 1830s and 40s, until Kirby'sdeath in 1850. What would their respective churchyards look like a century and a half later, I wondered?

'Can we leave the food in the car?' is probably one of the most common questions at the start of a meeting. ln my case this has recently extended to my camera and l tend now just to have binoculars and a small lightweight monocular. This was my undoing on 13th May 2000. l had every reason to have a camera, since l had planned to look at Green Hairstreaks on Rushmere Common then go into lpswich for shopping, including the purchase of a cable release for the camera. My excuse for leaving the camera at home was that it would be a standard fit anyway. While searching likely bushes 1 came across a Small Copper, very still and perfectly posed for a photo. What was different about it was that the usual markings were replaced by a creamy white, which covered much of the upperwings and part of the lower ones. This is the rare aberrant albino form, alba, though at the time l wasn't aware of its rarity. 1 also neglected to mark the spot properly and a camera-laden return the next day was fruitless.

Plants for the Suffolk Show Have you got any larval/nectar plants that could be suitable for sale at the Suffolk Show? lf so we would be very grateful if you could donate any to the Branch, as from past experience the sale of such plants not only generates income but also is good publicity for Butterfly Conservation.

Please contact Richard Stewart (Tel. 01473 216518) ifyou can help.

On a scorching day in July, l visited Hitcham first, and found an interesting church, some unusual graves, and strong signs of the connections with its celebrated past Rector. Set on a hillside and catching the sun, a herb garden at the porch had attracted a good variety of butterflies. Most were taking nectar at Marjoram, and a surprise there was a fresh Brown Argus sitting on an Ox-eye Dai5Y.Several areas of long grass were maintained as a conservation feature, and l discovered that one of these was the "Black Death" burial area. ln all, ten species of butterfly were on the wing, and the Browns were in good numbers. Above the churchyard, an adjacent meadow was rich in knapweed and Birdsfoot Trefoil, nicely sheltered by a long bramble bank teeming with Gatekeepers, as a reminder that churchyards are dependant on the surrounding area for their insect diversity.

That afternoon, 1 looked at St Mary 8: St Peter's, at Barham, a church well known for its Henry Moore sculpture. The churchyard is spacious, with a cedar, numerous limes, oaks and

page eighteen

Devil's Dyke

Field Trip 5th August 2001

By Iris NewberyEt Rob Parker (Joint Leaders) No lessthan 25 people assembled on 5th Aug 2001, for the joint field trip with members of the Essexand Cambridgeshire Branch more or less equalling the Suffolk contingent, and with a welcome visitor from the Hertfordshire Branch. It started warm but overcast, and we set off determined to see the Chalkhill Blues before the rain came. In the event, we had a dry, hot day, with plenty of sun, but just enough breeze to ground the butterflies in places.

Some of the group were making their first visit to the Devil's Dyke, but others knew it well, having been members of scrub clearance work parties over the years since 1987, when the Essex 8: Cambs Branch became seriously involved in habitat conservation at this wonderful linear site.

We had barely climbed to the top of the Dyke before we began to see the chalky-blue colours of the male Lysandra coridon sitting on Carline Thistles and Scabious heads. Out came the cameras, and forward progress slowed to nil for half an hour, whilst we revelled in the viewing and filming opportunities. Soon we began to spot the femal(;s, then the mating couples, and later a few mild aberrations (on the female undersides only). The grass had grown strongly, and the Horseshoe Vetch was difficult to spot, as it was no longer in flower, but it could still be positively identified by its crinkly, horseshoe shaped, seed pods. ln the spots where it was growing well, the Chalkhill Blues were in greater abundance. lf we individually stopped to count, we could see 30 or so at one time, but we did not attempt an organised count, being content to accept John Dawson's assessment that they exceeded the peak of 609 counted in 1998. We walked the 2.3km

stretch to the edge of the A 14, and found them at both ends, on both slopes, and down in the ditch, but much more abundant on the south side, and in the first kilometre in from the car park. Encouragingly, they seem to be spreading out from their stronghold of past years.

Other species flying included Common Blues, a few Brown Argus, Large, Small and Essex Skippers, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, Large, Small and Green-veined Whites. There were a few Peacocks, and a solitary Painted Lady.

We had to wait for single sightings of Small Heath and Speckled Wood to bring the count to 15 butterfly species.

1t was noticeable that the Suffolk members strode ahead, thinking about lunch, whilst those who knew the site moved more slowly, spending time down out of the breeze, and probably seeing more. There were plenty of plants of interest, including Autumn Gentian, the residual spikes of Lizard Orchid, and in the bottom of the ditch, which had spent much of the winter flooded, there was an unexpected crop of Dropwort. We took lunch in the "Bomber Gap", so called, because it is a break in the dyke, which was dug away during the war, when RAF bombers were taking off from the racecourse, and needed all the clearance they could get. ln this area, a high proportion of the Skippers were carrying red mites on their bodies.

The most visible moths were Six-spot Bumets, but a Ruby Tiger was found in a spider's web, and the following were also identified: Shaded Broad-bar, Latticed Heath, Dusky Sallow, Single-dotted Wave, Common Carpet, Vapourer, Yellow Shell and, after most people had left, a Silver-Y. Other discoveries included an Emperor larva, large, green and juicy at our feet, a Common Blue Damselfly,rescued from a spider's web, and a Migrant Hawker - another victim in a spider's web, and an impressive longhomed Musk beetle.

We had benefited from the knowledge of John Dawson, and enjoyed this "Jewel in the Crown" site on the Suffolk/Cambs border, but perhaps the best aspect of this successful joint day was the opportunity to share experiences with neighbouring Branch members. Let's make sure we put some more cross-border field trips in our programmes for future years.

page seven

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Thomham

Walks Sunday 29th July 2001

by Alan Johnson This event. a joint meeting with 'Thornham Walks', was an afternoon stroll around part of the Thornham Estate, near Diss.For those not familiar with this area, the 'walks' consist of 12 miles of waymarked footpaths, within the Estate, through beautiful countryside and taking visitors into ancient parkland, woodland, farmland and water meadows.

A total of twenty four people assembled in the car park on what was to be one of the hottest afternoons of the year so far, with the temperature around 30° C. Our group included several children and seven members from the Suffolk Branch.

We were met by Helen Sibley, the Estate's Countryside Ranger, who gave us a brief introduction to the Thomham Estate. We then set off on our walk, the first part of which was to take us through to the Walled Garden.

This path, initially bordered by grasses, thistles and knapweed also provided a large patch of bramble, which gave us a good opportunity to closely observe Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper. Reaching the 'Pinetum', Ringlet, Large Skipper and Green-veined White were added to our list of sightings. Next, the path passed through a wooded glade, which provided some welcome shade, also a Speckled Wood. We had now reached the Walled Garden, recently fully restored to its former Victorian glory. Here we enjoyed good eye-level views of Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Red Admiral, all nectaring on the golden daisy like flowers of Elecampane (lnula). While most of us were admiring these butterflies, one of our group had been fortunate to see a Purple Hairstreak, at low level, after it had flown down to pause briefly on a stone pillar by the garden entrance.

Moving on, our party became split into two groups, the latter being rewarded by a Whiteletter Hairstreak, on Wych Elm, near the Canal Pond. This butterfly, previously unrecorded in this 'Tetrad' was spotted by Richard Stewart and confirmed by Rob Parker, with the aid of his binoculars.

Further on, a male Brimstone obligingly posed, on a flower head, long enough for everyone to admire the greenish-yellow colouring of the underside of its wings.

We had now reached the 'Butterfly Ride', situated within the Connaught Plantation. The ride has been in existence for several years now, Butterfly Conservation being involved in the project at the invitation of Lord and Lady Henniker, owners of the Thomham Estate. The ride is only open to the public during July and August, and is a mix of shady and brighter sunnier areas. A path encircles tall grasses and plants, such as thistles, St. John's-wort and Fleabane. Here Essex Skipper, Small Skipper, Large White and Holly Blue were added to our list, also another sighting of a Purple Hairstreak.

This one had alighted on the grassy path, being narrowly missed by the boots of the leading walkers!

After recording a total of eighteen species, we had spent a pleasant and rewarding afternoon and hopefully the members of the public who joined us, enjoyed it too.

page six

Gatekeeper

by BerylJohnston ash trees, yet with plenty of light for the open area and the garden benches that invite one to linger. The grass seemed very lush and green, with plenty of plantain, some knapweed and a few clumps of scabious, but not many butterflies. There was no planted garden area, and no real focus to attract passing butterflies.

The ground surrounding the church building had been laid with gravel, and this gave it a rather sterile appearance. One hedge margin and an area of old graves had been allowed to grow to maturity, and the long grass supported a thin population of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, but there was more shade too, and Speckled Woods were present, a species not found at Hitcham. A few holly trees, and plenty of ivy produced more Holly Blues than at Hitcham, though the total species count was only six.

Sadly, the church is not kept open, because of the Henry Moore, sol was unable to check inside for signs of the Rev Kirby.

References: Russell-Gebbett, J., 1977. "Henslow Hitcham" Lavenham, Terence Dalton

of

Walters, M., 2001. "Darwin's Mentor" (in press) Salmon, M. A., 2000. "The Aurelian Legacy - British Butterflies and their Collectors", Harley Books.

page nineteen

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Hunting Hairstreaks

by Rob Parker Hairstreaks are not found by chance; it takes a good deal of patience, not to mention planning, and a bit of luck! Knowing that five years of Millennium survey had resulted in a reduced number of White-letter Hairstreaks in Suffolk, I decided to look harder in 2000.

All I accomplished was to identify a couple of spots where suitable elms were to be found in squares adjacent to known colonies. I spent a lot of bent neck time, though, without actually seeing any, despite correct timing, good weather, and patient observation.

2001, by contrast, brought success, and has been a White-letter Hairstreak year. Either the butterflies have had a really good year, or 1 have got the knack of it! During July, 1 found three fresh sites myself, and 1 know of at least five more found by Richard Stewart and others. Here is how to go about finding some for yourself.

The first move is to visit a known site in perfect weather in order to see what they look like, and how they behave. ldeally, get a friend to show you, as the colonies are very precisely situated. Take binoculars and a folding chair, and go in the first days of July, to leave the rest of the month for the hunt.

The potential sites will need to be sorted out by looking at the elm growth in the general areas where they have been recorded in the past.

Consult Howard Mendel's book for pre 1986 records, and Richard Stewart's book for the sites recorded during 1995-99. The place you are looking for has good shelter, is probably off the road, and has Wych elm suckers growing to a height of about 15ft. lt may be a site that used to have mature elms before Dutch elm disease struck, and the presence of some diseased elm growth does not rule it out. A clearing at the edge of a copse with plenty of elm re-growth is

ideal, particularly if there is bramble in the undergrowth, as a source of nectar.

Look at your diary for July, and make as many dates available for the search as you can.

Poor weather and other commitments can gobble up the opportunities all too quickly.

Once you know that the WLH is on the wing, it is time to get around your potential sites. lf a heat wave comes along, you must resist the temptation to lie at home in a deckchair, as the most successful days are the scorchers. The butterflies sit in the sun on leaves towards the top of the elms, sometimes resting, sometimes walking about in search of their principal refreshment, honeydew left by aphids, and fly only rarely. When disturbed, or in pursuit of another insect, they lift off into a short chase, particularly if they find another WLH. At this height, they are difficult to spot, and cannot be identified with certainty unless they are obliging enough to settle where you can get the binoculars on them. ln flight, they are rather drab, less noticeable than a Purple Hairstreak, and rather smaller than the smallest of the Ringlets that do quite often get up into trees.

You may well see Speckled Woods and Holly Blues flying amongst the trees, and these need to be firmly identified, although once you have seen the real thing, you are unlikely to confuse WLH with these species. On the other hand, if you are near oaks, do beware of the Purple Hairstreaks, which do settle in elms, and have the same distinctive profile on a leaf.

Your best chance of a positive sighting comes when the WLH come down to take nectar, as a change from honeydew. This can occur as early as 10am on a hot day, unlike the Purple Hairstreaks, that usually leave it until teatime. So, what you have to look for is bramble or privet, flowering in the sun, under the elms. Very often, this dictates which side of the copse or hedge line you have to search. This can put your feet amongst the nettles as you dose in to search the bramble patch. And you will need to search quite methodically, as a bramble patch is an excellent hiding-place. First you will spot the Whites, and then any Peacocks, Red Admirals, or Commas. On closer inspection, you will begin to find the

page twenty

Butterfly Conservation developing new garden survey

by Richard Fox (Surveys Manager} Et Beverly Evans (MembershipDev. Officer} Recording and monitoring the changing fortunes of our butterflies and moths is what Butterfly Conservation does best. Many members take part in projects such as the existing Garden Butterfly Survey (coordinated by Dr Margaret Vickery), Butterflies for the New Millennium or transect monitoring. Not only does all this effort produce information that is the cornerstone of efforts to conserve butterflies and moths, but recording schemes also provide an important method of raising awareness and getting new people involved with BC's work.

We have identified a clear need for a colourful, easy, accessible project aimed at the general public and one focused on recording common butterflies and moths in gardens is an obvious choice. The survey would raise awareness, inform, stimulate and allow the public to participate directly in scientific studies. lnterest in wildlife gardening has never been higher. A recent offer of a BC Garden Butterfly lD chart in the Daily Telegraph resulted in 2000 requests, and illustrates the potentially huge audience for a high profile UK garden butterfly survey.

The new garden survey will begin in April 2002 and will be run centrally, imposing no

Small Tortoiseshell

by Douglas Hammersley additional demands on Branch volunteers. Although it is a huge undertaking, we are confident that it will attract the attention that it deserves, giving us the opportunity to communicate with many thousands of new people. lt will also build upon the Millennium Atlas in raising awareness of the plight of butterflies and their role as indicators of the health of the countryside and urban areas. Not least, it will encourage people to think about their gardens as habitat for butterflies and moths and encourage them to grow larval foodplants and good nectar sources.

The survey (which does not yet have a title) will be promoted via the media, with features and news articles appearing from April 2002 onwards.

Alan Titchmarsh, BC Vice-president and celebrity gardener has kindly agreed to be the public face of the survey, ensuring a high profile in the media. BC will also be promoting the survey at various major events next year, such as the Chelsea Flower Show and 'Gardeners'World Live' in Birmingham. The free survey pack will include information on butterfly gardening, a survey form, colour identification chart and information about other BC recording projects.

We hope that the survey will be a useful tool for Branches to engage members of the public at events, shows, talks, guided walks etc. Posters and flyers promoting the survey will be circulated to Branch committees for use at such events.

Although aimed primarily at the general public, we would be happy, of course, for any BC members to take part in this new survey. However, we are conscious of the enormous amount of work already undertaken by Branch volunteers and would not like this new project to distract from other activities. The existing garden butterfly survey, which has generated a wealth of useful information over the past ten years, will continue alongside the new scheme.

page five

"

Spring 2002

The Suffolk Argus

Safety Code Aswith any other activity, there are hazards in the countryside and everyone taking part in a Field Trip or Work Party has a responsibility (duty of care), for their own safety and that of others. We try hard to ensure that our events present no greater hazard than any other walk in the countryside, but please note and act on the following:

1. Wear appropriate clothing and footwear.

1f there are unusual requirements, these are noted in the individual trip details. Stout shoes are a minimum requirement for any walk.

2. During the main summer season you may be exposed to strong sunshine for much or all of the walk. Take a hat, use suncream or protection for exposed skin. Make sure that you have adequate food and liquid to drink with you. Equally, sunshine can easily tum to cold and rain during the day. Be prepared.

3. The leader will provide a briefing on the trip before setting out, with details of any known particular hazards, and will also give advice on what to do in an emergency. Please listen carefully.

4. At the briefing, please let the leader know if:- you have a mobile telephone and are able to take it with you on the walk; you have First Aid qualifications.

5. Joining the walk is an indication of your interest in butterflies. By their nature butterflies do not remain conveniently by the main path and will offer many opportunities (temptations) for you to wander away. Take particular care to look out for hazards - rabbit holes, fallen or hanging branches, barbed wire, boggy areas, etc. Beware of wet grass, particularly on sloping ground.

Camberwell Beauty

by Mervyn Crawford 6. Children are welcome on our walks, but if under 16 must be accompanied by at least one adult for two children. 1t is the responsibility of the accompanying adult(s) to ensure that the trip is within the children's ability.

7. Dogs are normally welcome on walks, but must be kept under control. Any exceptions are shown in the individual trip details.

8. lf you are uncertain about any details of the trip, ring the leader/contact in advance. There is always a telephone number given with the trip details.

9. lf you decide to leave the event early, tell the leader.

10. Take care at all times, but ENJOY YOURSELF.

We thank Upper Thames Branch for allowing us to publish their Safety Code. Please also refer to our own Safety Notes on the back of the Events Programme 2002 - Ed.

page four

surprisingly large number of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers moving from blossom to blossom. lf you do not, then you have got the wrong bramble patch - the one you are looking for is usually very popular, in a sheltered glade, and catching the full sun. Keep looking until you have found all the Holly Blues and Skippers that were out of sight behind the blossoms, and then hunt down all the bumblebees and hoverflies and malformed berries and twigs that can conceal the muted brown of the stationary head-on WLH just a yard from your face.

After that, it is a joy. The WLH will tum to get at another blossom, and you will get a broadside view of the hairstreak shape, the white line itself, and the orange markings above the tails. lt may remain on the same blossom for five minutes, then fly six inches to the next flower head, and may still be there when you get back with the camera ten minutes later. lf you find a decent colony, there will be more nearby. 1 found six in one glade near Cavenham, and five spread out along 400m of hedgerow, but there are accounts of other people finding 50 at one spot. Now is the time you get to see them flitting off to settle in the branches, and to become familiar with their ''.jizz"; after which it becomes easier to be confident about the next sighting. Most of their colonies are stable, so you can re-visit next year - on your way to the next prospective site, of course.

When you do your search for suitablelooking· spots, why not go in May or June, at the time the larvae are feeding up. l'm told they are not too difficult to find by looking up through the leaves towards the sunlight. Part eaten leaves are a clue, but there are plenty of moths whose caterpillars feed on elm, so do not get too excited if they are long and thin, instead of the characteristic "slug" shape of the hairstreak caterpillars. Perhaps 2002 will be my year for finding WLH larvae!

White Letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

Editor: Note the White-letter Hairstreak meeting on the programme, July 6 at Dunwich Forest.

Good Hunting!

page twenty one

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Editorial

by Richard Stewart

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The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies

by Richard Stewart This attractive new book gives details, including colour photographs, of all 35 species recorded in Suffolk during the Millennium Survey (1995-1999).

Other important records up to Spring 2001 are also included. There are innovative new colour distribution maps comparing the Millennium Survey with the previous survey and highlighting changes since the early 1980s. New all-time list of earliest and latest records for each species. lnformation on best accessible sites for Suffolk butterflies. Sections on habitats, transects and conservation. Foreword by Michael Chinery. This continues the series of atlases published by SNS - Butterflies, Orchids, Land Et Freshwater Molluscs and Dragonflies.

Available from SNS, c/o lpswich Museum, High Street, lpswich, Suffolk lP l JQH Please make cheques payable to "Suffolk Naturalists' Society" Published by Suffolk Naturalists' Society, lpswich. 2001.

Full colour hardback. Pp. 144. lSBN 0-9508154-6-2.

Size 210 x 148mm. Price £ 10.00, pEtp £ 1.50

page twenty two

I am fairly regularly involved in questioning the image of butterflies, not just that presented in the media but even, occasionally, in conservation circles. I'm one of those people who objects to butterflies being on the periphery, a sort of incidental ornamentation to landscapes depicted on cards and in paintings. Even more objectionable is the American use, creeping into our country, of that ugly word 'Bugs' to cover a wide range of attractive and fascinating insects. Also, over the years, I have been alerted by Branch members to other more commercial concerns.

The first,via President Howard Mendel, was seen in a Beccles 'Rainbow Store', at the time run by the Anglia Regional Co-operative Society. lt was a butterfly and fish net for children and the cardboard mount had, on one side, a very detailed account of 'loads of fun for all' in catching, killing and mounting butterflies. lt was made in China and in reply to my protest I had a copy of a letter sent to a Mrs. Marsden at Kessingland, explaining that these were old stock and those left would be disposed of immediately: 'obviously we would not condone stocking a product with instructions to harm any form of animal or wildlife'.One up to the conservationists, and number two came via committee member Beryl Johnson, who saw a 'Critter Collector' in the Index display at Littlewoods in Ipswich. My objections to this dreadful small, shallow net led to promises that it would be modified or deleted from future catalogues. Success so far, and in each case quick access to the director concerned, but number three was a different proposition: a 'Butterfly Garden' from the 'Save The Children' catalogue. Rob Macklin alerted me to this, being particularly concerned at potential release of what, on the illustrated box, appeared to be exotic species. The reply 1 received translated these into the Painted Lady and I was told that suppliers of the caterpillars were Insect Lore, who had liaised beforehand with what was then the British Butterfly Conservation

Society. I still wasn't very happy, and a similar product, referred to me by Jim Foster, joint Argus editor, had its origins in a 'Golden Days' mail order catalogue enclosed in the RHS 'The Garden' magazine. Again liberation of the adult butterflies was suggested, and after my inquiries at their Clacton Officefailed to produce details of the exact species, I referred it to BC's Conservation Department, who in such cases normally purchase the item, then respond accordingly.

Since then there has been the much publicised 'butterfly confetti' involving the breeding and release of Painted Lady butterflies on wedding days, much to the annoyance of both American and British lepidopterists, especially Recorders. This is still the subject of debate.

Finally, for the time, being, I saw an item on local TV about a young girl who had won a prize to name a new species of butterfly discovered in the rainforest. She was portrayed in the news item with a net and large jar. I phoned to point out that this wasn't the image we were trying to transmit to the public, especially youngsters, and to my surprise was offered the opportunity to correct the balance, using an interviewer and cameraman. The item featured Ipswich museum butterfly collection and the newly created butterfly garden at Alexandra Park, in Ipswich.

Obviously such matters will still return to concern us, but at least the conservation message is being treated with genuine respect these days and the media are prepared to respond positively when challenged.

Enclosed with the Newsletter is the 2002 programme. We managed, in 2001, to hold every meeting except for two cancelled large events at which we had hoped to be represented. The field meetings did at times seem to be 'prepared by the Committee for the Committee' and we do hope more members can attend some this year. We have planned events to cover most of Suffolk. In addition our out of county trips should produce a number of species no longer to be found in Suffolk. Add to that the Suffolk Show, AGM, work parties and the regular series of moth evenings, and in total you have a comprehensive and diverse programme. We hope more members will come to join us this year, especially as the foot and mouth problems appear to have ended.

page three

The Suffolk Argus

Spring 2002

Contents Editorial

3

Editorial

Butterfly Line

Safety Code

4

CopyDates

09068 884505

New Garden Survey

5

Field meetings 2001

6- 14

Moth Conservation Officer's Report for 2001

15

Purple Hairstreaks at the Priory

16

The Great Apollo Hunt

17 18 18

A Cautionary Tale Plants for the Suffolk Show A Tale of two Churchyards Hunting Hairstreaks The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies Newsletter details and general information Suffolk Branch Contacts

18-19 20-21 22 23

Back Cover

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

page two

Contributions for our newsletter should reach the Editor (address on back page) no later than: Spring

••

Christmas Eve

Summer

April Fools Day

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Any piece of writing that is considered to be of interest will be published together with line drawings/prints /photographs. The Suffolk Argus is your magazine, so please let us hear from you.

To advertise in the Suffolk Argus please contact Jim Foster on 01449 711484.

Regular Updates 8: Latest News All profits are used for the conservation of butterflies and their habitats.

Calls charged at 60p per minute at all times

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

Butterfly Hotel,

Butterfly Hotel,

A 14 Bury East Exit.

A 14 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

page twenty three

Suffolk

Branch Contracts Chairman

Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk 1P33 3BN (01284 705476) Membership Secretary

Beryl Johnson, 28 Medway Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P3 0QH (01473 715701)

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATlON Conservation Officers (Butterflies)

Richard Stewart, East Suffolk Rob Parker, Central/West Suffolk (addresses left) • Conservation Officer (Moths)

Tony Prichard, 3 Powling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, 1P3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder (Moths)

Newsletter Editors

Tony Prichard (address above)

Jim Foster, Lugano, The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk (01449 711484)

Tony Prichard, (address above)

Richard Stewart, 'Valezina', 112 Westerfield Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P4 2XW (01473 216518)

Secretary

Treasurer

Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk 1P7 5LP (01473 310371)

Publicity Officer (Vacant) Committee Member

Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, lpswich, Suffolk 1P3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies)

Richard Stewart, (address as above)

Stella Wolfe President

Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD (0171 938 8782) Brimstones by Beryl Johnstone

Volunteers Needed 1f you feel you could help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 715701.

~~

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Published by the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation (The British Butterfly Conservation Society Ltd.) © 2000 all rights reserved Reg. No. 2206468 Reg. Charity No. 254937 Head Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 SQP Tel: (01929) 400209 Editors: Jim Foster Et Richard Stewart Logo: (Silver-studded Blue) Doug Hammersley Design: Stephen Ion, Cat Et Mouse design

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Spring 2002

VOLUME 2s