Some Butterflies

A Glow Blog Example

Tag: Hibernator

  • Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

    Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

    The Small Tortoiseshell is a familiar and much-loved garden butterfly, with bright orange-red wings patterned with black and yellow blocks along the forewing and a border of blue crescents along the wing edges. It is a common sight almost everywhere in Britain, from gardens and parks to farmland and mountainsides, and is one of the first butterflies to appear on warm days in early spring, having overwintered as an adult. It feeds readily on a wide range of garden flowers and, like its close relatives, relies on common nettle as its foodplant.

    Females lay large clusters of eggs on the underside of young, sunlit nettle leaves, and the caterpillars live and feed gregariously within a communal silk web for their early stages before dispersing to feed and pupate separately as they grow larger; they are black and speckled with yellow markings and covered in branching spines. There are typically two generations between spring and autumn in most of Britain, with the summer brood’s adults feeding up on nectar before seeking out sheds, log piles, or house eaves in which to hibernate over winter.

  • Peacock (Aglais io)

    Peacock (Aglais io)

    The Peacock is one of Britain’s most striking butterflies, its rich rusty-red wings adorned with four large, iridescent blue-and-black eyespots that give the species its name and serve as a startling defence against predators when the wings are suddenly flashed open. The underside, by contrast, is a dull, sombre blackish-brown, providing near-perfect camouflage when the butterfly rests with wings closed among dead leaves or in dark crevices. It’s found almost everywhere — gardens, woodland edges, hedgerows, and parks — wherever nectar and its foodplant grow, and adults are frequent visitors to buddleia, ivy blossom, and other rich nectar sources. Its foodplant is common nettle (Urtica dioica).

    Female Peacocks lay large batches of eggs on the underside of young nettle leaves, and the caterpillars that emerge are gregarious, feeding communally in silk webs spun over the foodplant; they are black, speckled with tiny white dots, and covered in branching spines. As they mature, the caterpillars disperse before pupating. There is typically one generation a year, with newly emerged adults feeding up in late summer before hibernating over winter in hollow trees, sheds, or log piles, ready to fly again and breed in early spring.

  • Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

    Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

    The Red Admiral is a large, powerful, and unmistakable butterfly, with velvety black wings crossed by bold orange-red bands and marked with white spots near the tips. It is a strong, fast flier and a familiar sight in gardens, where it is especially fond of buddleia, ivy blossom, and fallen fruit, though it can turn up almost anywhere from woodland to coastal cliffs. Rather than being a true resident in the traditional sense, much of the British population arrives each year as migrants from continental Europe, though increasingly mild winters mean more individuals now survive here year-round. Its foodplant is common nettle.

    Eggs are laid singly on the tips of nettle leaves, and the solitary caterpillars — variable in colour from black to greenish, studded with branching spines — construct a protective tent by folding and silking a leaf around themselves, feeding from within this shelter. There are usually two generations in Britain between spring migrants and the summer brood that follows. The species cannot reliably survive harsh frosts at any stage, so while some adults now attempt to overwinter in sheltered spots in the south, the population is topped up each year by fresh arrivals from further south in Europe.

  • Comma (Polygonia c-album)

    Comma (Polygonia c-album)

    The Comma is one of Britain’s most distinctive butterflies, instantly recognisable by its ragged, jagged-edged wings that make it look like a dead leaf when at rest — a superb piece of camouflage. The upper wings are a rich orange-brown mottled with darker patches, while the underside is a dull, mottled brown bearing a small white “comma” or “c” mark, from which it gets its name. It favours woodland edges, gardens, and hedgerows, and is often seen basking on sunny paths or feeding on ripe fruit and ivy blossom in autumn. Its main foodplant is common nettle (Urtica dioica), though it also uses hop and elm.

    Female Commas lay their eggs singly on the upper surface of nettle leaves, and the caterpillars that hatch are unusual in appearance — dark brown-black with a large cream-white patch across the back half of the body, resembling a bird dropping, which helps protect them from predators. There are typically two generations a year, with adults from the summer brood feeding up before hibernating as adults over winter, tucked into woodpiles, tree hollows, or dense vegetation, ready to emerge on the first warm days of spring to breed.

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