Speckled Wood

-

It's great when the sun comes out. And along with comes the butterflies. We don't have a large variety visiting the garden, but one that does visit relatively regularly is the Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria. Unusually for British butterflies it can over winter as both a larva and pupa (1).





During the 19th century the Speckled Wood suffered quite a contraction in its range, but since the 1920's it ha made a recovery. This has continued since the 1980s and may be due to climate change allowing it to spread further north (1).

The trend for the Speckled Wood shows a highly significant and generally steady increase, as can be seen from the graph below produced by the UK butterfly Monitoring Scheme (3). The butterfly has a divided distribution in Britain (it occurs throughout Ireland) and it has continued to colonise new areas in both parts of its range during the monitoring period (3).
It has a flight season from April through to October, and is often found in woodland, but also anywhere that includes scrubland as well. 


The larval food plants include False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum); Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata); Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus); Common Couch (Elytrigia repens) (4).
Like any butterfly, male Speckled Woods can be pretty aggressive when defending their territory. These sparring sessions can last for up to 80 seconds (5), which must surely take a toll on the individuals.

1: Lewington, R. (2003). Pocket Guide to the butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing, United Kingdom.
2: http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/species-info.asp?vernacular=Speckled%20Wood
3: UK Butterfly Monitoruping Scheme. http://www.ukbms.org/SpeciesFactsheets.aspx?speciesId=93
4: http://butterfly-conservation.org/679-746/speckled-wood.html
5: Wickman, P. and Wiklund, C. (1983) Territorial defence and its seasonal decline in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria). Animal Behaviour. 31(4): 1206-16. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000334728380027X?via%3Dihub

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cinnamon Sedge - Limnephilus lunatus.

-
Image
The light trap came up with a number of new discoveries the other weekend. One of which stumped me for a while. I was convinced it was a micro moth, but the legs were very hairy and didn't quite fit. Neither did the wings. Well thanks to iSpot I was put straight. It's not a moth, but a Caddisfly. I'm not very good at this! But that said this chap, Limnephilus lunatus is quite attractive, also known as the Cinnamon Sedge. The 'lumatus' comes from the crescent shape on the edge of the wings. It is a well known species, especially among anglers. The larva doesn't use sand or other hard materials for building its case, it uses plant materials only. Most of the information I could find on L lunatus came from angling websites. Caddis flies belong to the Trichoptera, and have been known to fishermen since the advent of fly-fishing and to the entomological for a longer time. Mouffet the author of the first English book on entomology (the 'Theatrum Insectorum') w...
Read more

Black Snail Beetle - Silpha atrata

-
Image
Black Snail Beetle - Silpha atrata 5th October  Today was a lovely sunny day and so we went to the beach and had a little walk along Barry Island Beach. The place was packed, and everyone had a dog. Then we figured it out, this was the first weekend of October and so out of season and dogs were allowed once more to run and play on the sand. Heading back to the car we spotted Black Snail Beetle, Silpha atrata scuttling across the path to the safety of the grass. I didn’t have the camera with me and so a few quick snaps with the iPhone was all I could manage, so the photos here are not top drawer. I’ve never knowingly seen one before, but it’s been a great exercise to finding out about it’s rather gruesome eating habits.  It’s not a large beetle varying in size between 10-15mm. Many black in colour, it can vary from entirely black to almost completely red. The head and mandibles seem to stick out from beyond the main body and this is an adaption to its method of predation...
Read more

Buffish Mining Bee

-
Image
Buffish Mining Bee 11 April 2019. Despite the sunny days the temperature in the garden is still not making it very comfortable to be outside without a coat. But this is not deterring the solitary bees. The Choisia was alive with them today, with over 6 male Red Mason Bees, Osmia bicomis, flying around busily. But then out of the corner of my eye I noticed a much bigger bee, originally thinking it was a larger female. I only had my iPhone with me but still a managed a reasonable photo. Looking through my books I decide it was  a female Andrena nigroaenea, confirmed by my gurus on the BWARS Facebook page. The Common Name - Buffish Mining Bee seems to suggest that those naming it couldn’t really think of anything more suitable. “It looks a little Buffish, can’t see any thing else about it - so what shall we call it?” The Buffish Mining Bee is also one of the largest Andrena species at around 14mm, and with a plumpish appearance. The abdomen is dark brown and the hind ...
Read more