Wildlife mid 2009

[Gunilla]

Fascinating the way your leaf-cutter bee find her way home, Rodger.  

We have bumble-bees under the floor of a garden shed. They enter through a gap between the door and the ground.  If I leave the door open they can't find the passage to their nest and fly into the shed and bump into the windows trying to get out.  
I have my garden tools in the shed and if I leave a spade or a rake outside against the wall that will also confuse them.   At this time of year there are many bumble -bees in the nest and they fly in and out all the time so it is not easy to go into the shed without disturbing them.

[Ragged Robin]

I noticed that one of the thistle-eating Painted Lady caterwallahs has pupated.

On last nights walk I checked out a burdock (Arctium minus) plant I'd passed earlier in the week. I had noticed that it was an alternative foodplant for these butterflies. Sure enough, one caterpillar tent.

Is this an exclusive camp site for Painted Ladies? 

[Anthony Darby]

I think if anyone was to take a close look spear thistle plants they would find Painted Lady caterpillars. This is going to be one of those years. Europe is going to be awash with them in August.

[Armin]

Rodger,
interesting analysis. Maybe Mrs. Bee also uses a scent(s) to find its home. I'm convinced at least solitare bees have an individual scent to mark their hole entrance. I derive it from observing the hundreds of holes of my bee hotel. Once wrongly landed it is amazing how quickly bees find their individual holes just by "smelling" the next neighbours holes and decide wrong or right scent.

Robin,
thanks for your comments. Nice Admiral.

Today was warm and sunny. Unbelieveable hundreds (!) of butterflies visited my Buddeleias today. It was a great pleasure to observe the colorful bustle. Here my best shots for you.

Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows
Note: -correction- images 1918 and 1928 show Maniola jurtina: Meadow Brown / Großes Ochsenauge (Kuhauge) rgds Armin

Gonepteryx rhamni: Brimestone / Zitronenfalter
- I was a bit surprised to see them. Usually they fall into a summer numbness when temperatures are high.

Papilio machaon: Swallowtail / Schwalbenschwanz
- always a delight

Argynnis paphia f. valesina: Silver-washed Fritillary / Kaisermantel
- my absolute bombshell today. This forma valesina is a rare dark form (in Germany) of females only. Usual the speci's habitat are woods. More unusual to meet it in the open garden.

[Ragged Robin]

Argynnis paphia f. valesina: Silver-washed Fritillary / Kaisermantel
- my absolute bombshell today. This forma valesina is a rare dark form (in Germany) of females only. Usual the speci's habitat are woods. More unusual to meet it in the open garden.

What an amazing sight fantastically caught on your buddleia Armin - you must have been over the moon to see this Silver-washed Fritillary   The shot looking up (1968), showing the metallic sheen, shows the full character of this lovely butterfly  

[Armin]

Robin,
I'm pleased you appraise the beauti of such little flitters.
For you and the forum: Vanessa atalanta: Red Admiral from today.

[Ragged Robin]

Your buddleia is certainly proving to be attractive - what do their antennae buds make of it all do you think? 

I really like the first shot,1974, because again it shows the character of the butterfly in the stance - the shots with open wings are better than mine as the sunlight seemed to make the white flare and the true red is not easy to catch either 

[Stephenb]

I spotted a Painted Lady in the Lofoten Islands on my trip in early June, and one appeared in my garden last week, looking ragged and pale as though it had flown an awful long way.

[Roma]

Lovely butterfly pictures, Armin.  I wish I had room for a buddleia.  I will have to wait for my sedums to bloom to see more butterflies.  I did see a Small tortoiseshell today on a wild valerian which I hadn't got round to weeding out.  Maybe it was from the caterpillars I saw about a month ago on nettles about quarter a mile from my house.

[Armin]

Hi Robin and Roma
I have 2 Buddeleia shrubs growing side by side. They are a part of a hedge surrounding my garden.
The strong sweet scent and the high number of violet buds make them certainly attractive for butterflies.

I like shot 1974 too. But believe me - it took me some efforts, time and sweat to get good photos.
The Admirals are quite rare this year and the supernummery Peacocks permanently attacking them right when Admirals try to sit down on a bud. Together with 50 and more flittering Painted Ladies surrounding my had I stood close to the shrubs in full sun and had to wait patiently quite a while to get shots with opened wings...
But all efforts because of passion... In the end I had a "Happy Day".

Stephen,
that is quite north. Amazing how far distances Painted Ladies can achieve.

[Maggi Young]

A treat to see so many flutterbyes !
I have to comment on image 1992....SO unusual to se from that angle... and so much detail.... wonderful!

[Martin Baxendale]

Maybe it's just old age creeping closer, but I keep reading the name of this topic as midlife (as in crisis). The mind plays some daft tricks! On a similar vein, for some wierd reason the first time I saw Annew as a profile name I read it as a-new (as in a new car) not knowing its was the profile name for Anne Wright, and now every time I see a post by Anne I still think of it as a-new. My dozey little brain just won't make the switch-over to Anne-w without a conscious effort!!  I'm going to have a little lie down now.

[Anthony Darby]

Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)
-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows

Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath) is a much smaller butterfly (wing length <2cm - about the size of a Common Blue) than the ones you have photographed Armin. They look more like Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) (wing length >2cm, so the size of a Small White). Image 1918 is a female; 1928 is a male.

[Armin]

Hi Maggi,
1992 gives an image of the "flutterbyes" aerodynamics. We had an aerobatics event on our local airport the last weekend before.
There are some similarities in construction between butterflies and airplanes. Who copied from whom?

Martin,
maybe cold water splashed into your face may help to recover.
Otherwise sleep well!

[Armin]

Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)
-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows

Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath) is a much smaller butterfly (wing length <2cm - about the size of a Common Blue) than the ones you have photographed Armin. They look more like Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) (wing length >2cm, so the size of a Small White).

Anthony,
you might be right for image 1928 and I made an oversight (reviewing the original image there are 2 small black dots (without a ring) on the rear wing which indicade possibly a male for this Meadow Browns).
Indeed the butterfly on image 1928 was larger then 1918. The size of butterfly of image 1918 is as you discribe. I checked image 1918 first for identification. I'm confident for the right identification of 1918 even quite often a darker form is pictured in the literature. Both species are common and have a wide distribution and with many local forms. Can be quite tricky as they do not usual open the wings when sitting and we do not see the coloration and samples on the top of the wings!
Many thanks for your support and help!
Note: have reviewed other sources. Image 1918 shows Maniola jurtina too!rgds Armin