3 minute read
Butterflies
Purple Emperor Butterfly (male)
A kaleidoscope of butterflies by Roger Favell
Butterflies - the very essence of summer. Although some species of butterfly can be seen on almost any sunny day in the year, it is the summer period when the majority are in flight.
The first butterfly usually to appear on a bright warm day in March is the bright yellow Brimstone Butterfly. They are often on the wing in people’s gardens early in the year. But as the adults from the previous year over-winter in ivy or shrubbery they can be seen on warm days in the winter.
Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells over-winter in sheds and outbuildings and can also be seen throughout the year, including the winter months.
Another butterfly seen in April/May is the Orange Tip (only the male butterfly has the bright orange wing tips, the female has blackish wing tips) and they regularly turn up in the gardens of the Deepings area. As the year moves forward to July, this really is the butterfly period with lots of Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas, Peacocks, Brimstones and the occasional Meadow Brown on your buddleia bushes. Some years we have an influx of Painted Lady Butterflies in from the Continent on our garden buddleia; these amazing insects having started their journey to Britain from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. The last time of a large influx was in 2010, although some were seen last year.
In recent years I have had a Silver-washed Fritillary on my buddleia bush in Deeping St James. This butterfly is large and orange in colour with a pattern of dark spots on all four wings. It is called the Silver-washed Fritillary because the underwings look as if silver paint has been splashed on them. Until about eight
Red Admiral Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly
years ago these butterflies had been extinct in this area since the late 1960s, but there has been a gradual spread in the last decade from western Britain. They now appear in all the local woods and if you are lucky you might now get one in your garden.
Another butterfly which has turned up in many local woods, i.e. Bourne Woods and Castor Hanglands in the past decade, is the beautiful Purple Emperor. This, like the Silver-washed Fritillary disappeared in the late 1950s/60s. The Purple Emperor is probably the most magnificent of all British butterflies and was much sought after by the Victorian collectors for their glass cases. Fortunately people nowadays are happy just to observe these butterflies or take photographs.
Butterflies are now protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is therefore illegal to catch them without a permit from Natural England. Let’s hope we have some good weather this year in the summer months and we see a lot more butterflies in our gardens.
Silver-washed fritillary Butterfly
Orange tip Butterfly (male)
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