Silver-washed fritillary

 

Silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia)

This large butterfly flew into the sitting room on Monday morning, completed a couple of circuits and then fluttered out again. It then flew about as if looking for somewhere to perch and I wondered if it was looking for a place to lay its eggs.

The Silver-washed fritillary was named because of the silver streaks on the underside of its wings and is on the wing from late June to early August. It can be seen on heaths, moors, meadows, gardens, and in broad-leaved woods, particularly oak woods. It breeds in shady woodland in the south of England. 

 It is widespread in southern England and Wales and is seen more locally in northern England and Ireland. Though its population declined in the twentieth century it is not classed as endangered and is ‘of least concern.’ Numbers have increased during the first years of the twenty-first century.

Flutter by, butterfly

 

Flutter by, butterfly

Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamnni)
All images courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I was delighted the other day to see a butterfly. I thought it was a Cabbage White, but then discovered it was too early in the year to be that. I looked it up and found that it was (probably) a Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamnni)

There is a belief, unconfirmed, that the word butterfly derives from the colour of male Brimstones. Although the females have pale green wings, which look almost white, the males’ underwings are yellowish-green and the upper wings are quite a bright yellow, rather like butter. Both male and female have an orange spot on each wing.

The Brimstone is defined as a large butterfly with a wing span of 60mm (about 2½”) Brimstones are often considered the first butterflies to be seen in the spring, emerging, ready to mate, from the woodlands they have hibernated in during the winter.

At rest, or while feeding, the leaf-shaped wings are closed, so that they blend in with the leaves of plants they are feeding on and are less conspicuous to predators. The wings are quite noticeably veined, like the leaves of the Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) on which they lay their eggs. The emerging caterpillars feed on the leaves, going through several developmental stages (instars) before pupating in the summer. The new butterflies feed until autumn when they start their hibernation.

Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) 

Brimstones are very rare in Scotland, less so in Ireland and common in England and Wales.

Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) flowers, giving way to black berries

Today we have seen bright sunshine, a very heavy hailstorm, a chill wind and no butterflies!

Punctuation butterflies

 

Punctuation butterflies . . . and others

In one of my A to Z challenge posts, I featured a photograph of a Comma butterfly. Lynn, from Precious, commented that there were Eastern Commas where she lives, in Ohio. She mentioned that there were also Question Mark butterflies in her area.

This intrigued me and led me to wonder if there were any other grammatical insects. There follows a list of the ones I’ve found so far. I’m sure it’s not an exhaustive record and would love to know if anyone knows of any others.

All photographs are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album)

Found in Europe, widespread in England and Ireland

Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma, also known as the hop merchant or the comma anglewing)

Can be seen in North America

Question mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis)

Found in Eastern USA, Canada and Mexico

                                       

Exclamation moth (Homaledra heptathalama, commonly called the Palmetto feeder)

Find this in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana

Exclamation froghopper (Neophilaenus exclamationis)

Widespread in Britain and Ireland

Full Stop butterfly or Full Stop Swift (Caltoris cormasa)

Can be found in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore

Parenthesis Lady beetle (Hippodamia parenthesis)

Find this in North America

 

How about some mathematical insects? Inchworm?

 

 

First frog and a foolish butterfly

Yesterday, St David's Day, started with a heavy frost and blue, blue skies. It was a wonderful day – brisk, bright and surprisingly warm in the sun though had the wind been blowing it would have felt very cold. Today started in similar vein and the weather forecasters are predicting that we will have several more dry, clear days. In celebration of that I have chosen a Spring-like colour for this post, though it will probably be impossible to read.
Yesterday there were many flies in the forest, most of them intent on settling in my hair and just now I saw my first butterfly of 2010 in our garden. It was yellow – more lemon yellow than primrose but it didn't settle so I couldn't photograph it. I'm sure it's much too early for butterflies to be out and about so I fear it is destined for a short life unless it can find a warm place to rest. While I was outside I glanced into the pond in time to see a frog swimming into the safety of the depths. This was the first frog I have seen this year – usually they're busy quite early in February. Like our daffodils, however, they are late to appear this Spring.