Autumn 2005
The Suffolk Argus rare migrant in the county with the larvae feeding on primarily Norway and Sitka Spruce and also Noble Fir. There is always the outside possibility that this species could be establishing itself in the area, as there would appear to be suitable habitat in the area. 'Moth of the night' status was rapidly reassigned co this species - we should learn co wait until the lase trap is packed away before making our choice. Eighty-one species were recorded by myself with Ethmia dodecea, Helcystogramma rnfescem, Phalonidia manniana, Agapeta hamana, Celypha Lacunana, Hedya pruniana, Epib/ema uddmanniana, Eucosma cana, Chrysoteuchia cu/mel/a, Crambus pascue//a, Crambus per/e//a, Catoptria pinel/a, Dipleurina /acustrata, Pyrausta despicata, Eurrhypara hortulata, Perinephela /ancea/is, Udea olivalis, Pleuroptya rura/is, Pempelie//adilute/la, Peach Blossom, Buff Arches, Common Emerald, Lesser Cream Wave, Riband Wave, Large Twin-spot Carpet, Royal Mantle, Common Carpet, Wood Carpet, Purple Bar, Barred Straw, Fem, Sharp-angled Carpet, Cloaked Pug, Toad.flax Pug, Green Pug, Double-striped Pug, Clouded Magpie, Clouded Border, Peacock Moth, Tawny-barred Angle, Brown Silver-line, Peppered Moth, Mottled Beauty, Clouded Silver, Pine Hawk-moth, Poplar Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Small Elephant Hawk-moth, Buff-tip, Rosy Footman, Four-dotted Footman, Scarce Footman, Ruby Tiger, Heart & Club, Heart & Dart, Flame, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, True Lover's Knot, Shears, Grey Arches, White Colon, Dot Moth, Bright-line Brown-eye, Broom Moth, Brown-line Bright-eye, Clay, Smoky Wainscot, Common Wainscot, Grey Dagger, Brown Rustic, Small Angle Shades, Light Arches, Slender Brindle, Tawny Marbled Minor, Marbled White Spot, Beautiful Golden Y, Spectacle, Beautiful Hook-tip, Straw Dot and Fan-foot.
Tattingstone and Alton Water, 17th July by Alan Johnson One of this summer's very hot days saw fourteen of our members meet in the car park at the southern e~d of Lemon's Hill Bridge, Tattingstone. Here we were greeted by Mike Ewart, our host for the morning and who was to show us around the nearby Nature Reserve, located at the rear of his and neighbouring houses, overlooking the southern shore of Ang1ianWater'sAlton Water Reservoir. During our 'tour' Mike explained how the reserve, originally 5¼ acres of farmland was purchased by himself and two neighbours, eight years ago. Originally left to 'do its own thing', an area of meadow land has now been created, supporting a wide variety of wild flowers, a tribute to all the hard work chat has obviously been put in over the recent years. We were also shown the adjacent wood which has grown up in the past 40 years, on the site of the 'paupers graveyard', which served the then Taningscone Workhouse. This wood is held in Trust as a 'Wildlife area'. Our thanks to Mike, also his wife, for giving up their time co make this such an interesting morning.
CommonBlue by DouglasHammersley 14
Silver-studded Blue Workshop 18th June
co an invading alien moss, the eruptions in the soil created by emerging Minotaur beetles, and the pies in the sand used by the Ant-lions to crap their prey - the very same ants that attend the larvae of the Silver-scudded Blue. Richard Fisk and Michael Kirby made valuable contributions on these broader topics, highlighting the benefits of a multi-disciplinary field meeting. Eventually, we spotted a couple of female P. argus, and accomplished the butterfly identification element of die workshop. Hazel Leggett, who lives nearby, showed us some rabbit topiary, where grazing has sculpted gorse into interesting shapes, and cold us about the Broad-bordered Bee Hawks she gets in her garden. With impressive alacrity, Tim Huggins inspected some honeysuckle, and came back with a leaf, co show us not only the characteristic feeding signs of the species, but also a tiny black skin, discarded by a first instar larva, and exhibiting a clearly recognisable tail horn. Most of the group had the stamina to walk co the detached piece of the common, known as the Football Piech, where we saw a good area of the "pioneer heather" re-growth which suits the butterfly for breeding. In this case, it was a 50/50 mixture of Ling and Bell Heather. We also saw encroaching bracken at the margins, and Eric explained how the butterfly sometimes chooses bracken on which co lay its eggs, creating a management problem for those who seek to eliminate the bracken for the long-term good of the bunerfly. The concept of a joint field meeting preceded by a specialist workshop, in a friendly village hall created an enjoyable and educational outing, and seems like a formula worth repeating.
by Rob Parker This event was organised jointly between the Suffolk Naturalists' Society and the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation and took place at Westleton. It was listed in the fldd meetings diaries of each society and given some publicity locally by the Westleton Common volunteers. As a result, it was better attended than many single-society events, and drew 30 participants. The format was a morning in the village hall for a presentation on the Silver-scudded Blue, its life-cycle and habitat needs, with particular focus on myrmicophilia and site monitoring. In this, Rob Parker was assisted by Eric Parsons who had studied, bred and reported on the butterfly in the past, and by Michael Kirby who knows Westleton Common and its wildlife well. We had the benefit of Butterfly Conservation's recently acquired laptop/projection system, which was useful for displaying close-ups of the butterfly and its interaction with ants. Everyone present learned something from the morning "workshop", largely as a result of the sharing of knowledge. In the afternoon, we moved on to Westleton Common co seek P/ebius argus in one of its most successful Sandlings habitats. The day had been timed co hit the short period between expected emergence dace and the population peak on which the site counts are best executed, yet the 2005 season ran much later than the previous two years, and we all knew that very few had been seen up till then. Happily, the butterfly knew what was expected of it, and males were soon being seen on the Bell Heather, albeit in lower numbers than we would have wished. There were enough, however, for everyone to get a good look at this UK Biodiversity Action Plan species. The group included people who were seeing them for the first time, as well as others who have been involved with the annual counts for many years. We also cook the opportunity co look at the loss of habitat
Postscript. Ironically, the planned Silver-studded Blue count at Minsmere just two days later failed because it was coo early in the season, and the back-up day failed because of poor weather. Perhaps the message is that nature always has the upper hand!
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