Suffolk Argus 30 Autumn 2003

Suffolk Branch Contacts

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Chairman Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3BN (01284 705476) Membership Secretary Beryl Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) Newsletter Editor Jim Foster, Lugano, The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 6AH (01449711484) Publicity Officer (Vacant) Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies) Rob Parker (address as above)

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BlITTERFLY CONSERVATION

Conservation Officer (Butterflies) Rob Parker (address left) Conservation Officer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 Powling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder (Moths) Tony Prichard (address above) Secretary Tony Prichard, (address above)

Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk IP7 5LP (01473 310371) Committee Members Stella Wolfe, Mike Dean President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW? 5BD (0171 938 8782)

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Volunteers

Needed

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© 2003 all rights reserved

Reg.No. 2206468 Reg.Charity No. 254937 HeadOffice:Manor Yard,East Lulworth, Wareham,Dorset BH20 5QP Tel: (0l 929) 400209 Editon Jim FosterLogo: (Silver-studdedBlue)Doug Hammersley Design: Stephen Ion, Cat & Mouse design Printcn 321 Printing, 25 BrookhouseBusinessPark, Had.leighRoad, Ipswich, SuffolkIP2 0EF

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Wallby BerylJohnson

If you feel you could help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 715701.

Publishedby the SuffolkBranchof ButterflyConservation (The BritishButterflyConservationSociety Ltd.)

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The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

BlITTERFLY CONSERVATION

Autumn 2003 Volume30

The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003

Contents

Editorial

A Chalkhill Blue in Suffolk

3 4 5 7

Brimstone Butterflies breeding in Ipswich

8

Brimstone & Buckthorn in an Ipswich Garden

9

Editorial Regional Officer Eastern Region - Report BAP Butterflies Report

Copy Dates Contributions for our newsletter should reach the Editor (address on back page) no later than: Spring

Christmas Eve

Friend or Foe

10

Summer

April Fools Day

Winter Weather in the South of France 2001 /2002

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Butterflies in Moth Traps

11 12

2003 Field Meetings

12

Review of Three Butterfly Books • Legacy Request

21 22

Newsletter Details and General Information Suffolk Branch Contacts

23 Back Cover

For that difficult to find present, why not give a decorative butterfly or moth to mount on the front wall of someone's home ?

Cast in aluminium and enamelled in very realistic colours at five times life-size,they will last for many years.

Highly Individual nameplates too, to your own design, with no-obligation colour preview. Suffolk Branch will receive one quarter of the purchase price.

Any piece of writing that is considered to be of interest will be published together with line drawings/prints /photographs.

The Suffolk Argus is your magazine, so please let us hear from you.

To advertisein the SuffolkArgus

Phone or fax Mervyn Crawford on Mildenlwll (01638) 711600for Colo11rbroch11reI Price list.

please contact Jim Foster on

01449 711484.

2

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

Butterfly Hotel, Al 4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Butterfly Hotel, Al4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884 23

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The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003

how the creation of sanctuary areas at the wintering sites had affected locals who had used chem for centuries. This lase mentioned aspect did, I felt, need more detailed comment, especially about job creation locally co accommodate che many visitors. I also suffered at rimes from a distinct ignorance of North American geography and still grit my teeth when an exquisite creature like a Monarch is described as a 'bug'. I did enjoy the author's listing of her personal inspirations, ranging from books to web sites, newsletters, poetry and branching into other forms of wildlife I found this far more useful than the standard list of references.

Throughout, the passion and dedication of these Monarch 'maniacs' was strongly portrayed, ideally this should be read alongside Joe Brewer's 'Wings In The Meadow' (Dent, 1967, Country Book Club 1971) which is beautifully illustrated but probably now out of print. This is also a detailed account of Monarchs but is fascinating to read first since it was written before the actual overwintering place of the Monarchs was discovered.

A world where butterflies and-moths can thrive for future • generations to enjoy Every year Butterfly Conservation receives a small number oflegacies from our members and other supporters who, through their kindness, are helping to ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to observe our native butterflies and moths in the wild, as they once did.

By remembering Butterfly Conservation in your will, you can make a lasting and valuable contribution to our work.

Please contact David Bridges on 01403 256175 to talk informally and confidentially about making a bequest to Butterfly Conservation, or write to him at the Society's Head Office in Dorset.

MonarchLarva

by Jim Foster

22

Editorial

by Jim Foster One day we may be lucky and accracc a Monarch to this garden flower as the genus is the larval food plane for the species and some pigs may fly over at the same time!

Butterflies are even being found in moth craps and Neil Sherman has a short article in this issue. Continuing on the moth theme we ran our moth lamp overnight on 9th August. I recorded a minimum temperature of 17°C chat night, however you may recall chat the following day was the hottest day on record, over 36°C here. We spent all of that day sorting out some very active moths in the uncomfortable heat. However two interesting records were a Dark Swordgrass, an immigrant, and the Square-spotted Clay. The latter is a Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan species and therefore I held the moth so the record could be confirmed, it was then lacer released. A total of 574 moths, 55 species were recorded but no butterflies in the trap!

This autumn sees the 1Ochanniversary of the formation of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Looking back in the Editor's newsletter files I note that che Branch was launched on 30 October 1993 at a conference held at Ipswich School. The first issue of the Argus followed in January 1994 with Steve Goddard as Editor. I have a complete sec of the Argus in the files; however, my copy for May 1995 (Vol. 5) is a draft. If any member has a spare or does not wish to retain their copy I would be very graceful to receive it. This will then complete a bound published set for the Editor.

First an apology to James Mann. In the last Suffolk Argus on page 16, The Great Apollo Hunt Last Verse, the article notes, "we saw 46 Lizards". I understand from James that this should have read Izards. Now I confess that I thought lzards was a typing error so I changed it to Lizards, however James has informed me that the Izard is a mountain goat. My excuse is that the word Izard is not in my French dictionary nor in my Mammals field guide so I presume it is a local vernacular name for the Spanish Ibex, Capra pyrenaica. This is a similar species to the Alpine Ibex, Capra ibex, that I have searched for in the French Alps without success; the local French name is the Bouquetin.

Well if our garden is anything to go by it has been a very good year for butterflies. We have had a record number of species in our garden this year, 22 in all. As we are situated in an 'arable desert' with little hope of seeing the heathland species or the woodland hairstreaks we are very satisfied. Also the number of bunerflies irrespective of the species is certainly greater this year. We recorded Large, Small and Essex Skippers, last year we did not see a skipper in the garden. Brown Argus and Common Blue only occasional visitors normally, were seen on numerous occasions. Like many others we have had a share of the Painted Ladies. Also we had one very unusual species for Suffolk, a Chalkhill Blue, see my article on page 7 for more details.

One event that we thought to be unusual was a Green-veined White with its proboscis trapped in an Asclepias flower. We initially thought that the butterfly was caught in a spider's web but on closer inspection this was not the case.

This garden flower has quite a complex sttucture nevertheless my wife was able co free the victim without harming it.

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The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003 managed as all are within the urban area.

Whilst noting down Wych Elm I also noted down any Hop and was later able to find a new 10km square record for the Buttoned Snout Moth by searching for the larvae in July.

Regional Officer Eastern Region - Report

Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper Although the su.rvey season seemed to be over before it even began I am busy doing follow up work to many known colonies and potential sites by contacting landowners and relevant organisations.

In Norfolk there is a long list of sites with no record for I O or 20 years, which may still have useful habitat and the butterflies. I am hoping that by visiting sites now and identifying whether useful habitat remains and securing permission from landowners that survey visits in the spring will be more efficient.

In Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire three sites are threatened by development at the moment and one other in the future so I am busy liasing with the developers and other organisations to see where habitat can be saved or created.

Species action plans can help to raise much needed awareness and funds. A drafr Cambridgeshire species action plan for Grizzled Skipper has been written and I have commented on species

by Sharon Hearle My first butterfly season as Regional Officer is nearly over and I can say that the highlight must have been the delightful Heath Fritillary at Great Wood near Southend. This butterfly illustrates very well the vulnerability of so many butterflies in the eastern region and that neglect of its habitat in this case coppiced woodland and rides can lead to extinction within a few years. Many remaining populations of High Priority butterflies such as Small Blue and Purple Emperor rely on continual management.

New sites for White-letter Hairstreak Careful planning and searching, as many of you already know, can pay off. This year I managed to locate four new sites for White-letter Hairstreak in Newmarket, Suffolk. There were already quire well known colonies just over the county boundary in Cambridgeshire on Wych Elm so the first job was to identify any sites for Wych Elm in Newmarket - quire an easy job when the tree is in flower in April. In fact it seems that Wych Elm hedges or straggly shelterbelrs are quire frequent in Newmarket and patient waiting in late June and July paid off with sightings of the butterfly on elm and adjacent lime trees. I will now be working with Forest Heath District Council to ensure that these elm hedges and shelterbelrs are protected and

Dukeof Burgundy

by DouglasHammersley

4

Review of Three Butterfly Books

by Richard Stewart With Christmas on the horiwn, this is the time to be dropping hints about possible books for presents.These three are very different in content and cost, none being an identification guide.

The most expensive, at £30, is 'The Aurelian Legacy' by Michael Salmon, with additional material by Peter Marren and Basil Harley. (Harley Books, pub. 2000, ISBN O 946589 40 2). This is a large, heavy hardback, with 432 pages and is a 'Bible' for anyone interested in our Lepidoptera history. I'm not likely ever to be seen wielding a butterfly net but I still found the many detailed sections fascinating. There is coverage of the history of British butterfly collecting, a section aptly entitled 'Weapons of The Chase', a later section on conservation and a big chunk about species of historical interest - this incidentally had its own bibliography of main published texts per species, and I found this very useful. With a book of this· length there are bound to be some errors no mention of the successful Large Blue reintroductions, a very incomplete list of 1990's Large Tortoiseshell sightings and the comment about the Glanville Fritillary that 'one day this beautiful butterfly may well colonise the mainland again' was unfortunate.

The main section is a long, derailed and very comprehensive collection of biographies of the main British butterfly collectors, the first fully published list. I found this surprisingly interesting, not just their details and obvious passion but also

their interaction with each other, which was nor always positive. The only omission I could detect was Sam Beaufoy,pioneer oflife-cycle photography and illustrator to Ford's 'Butterflies', though his death may have come too late for his inclusion.

With plentiful illustrations, magnificent fullpage colour reproductions from a variety of famous artists, quotes from Vladimir Nabokov and Virginia Woolf, and a foreword from Miriam Rothschild, this is certainly not a dry academic treatise and I would recommend it to anyone with even the most peripheral interest in the history of British Lepidoptera.

The second, at £18.95, is a complete contrast; 'Butterflies In Flight' by Roger Camp (Thames and Hudson, pub. 2002, ISBN 0500 510903). I can vividly remember finding this in a Chelmsford bookshop and, with no one nearby, being able to unravel much of its full unfolded length of twelve metres. Against a black background, over three hundred images of mainly foreign butterflies in flight can be unfolded page by page. There is a separate identification and habitat guide. This in my opinion is the best artistic book about butterflies since 'Beningfield's Butterflies' many years ago and is a superb testimony to the grace, elegance and varied colours of flying butterflies.

Finally, a hardback priced £12.99 joins the ever-growing published literature about those incredible 'Guinness Book Of Records' butterflies, the Monarchs. This is 'Four Wings and a Prayer'

by Sue Halpern. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pub.2001, ISBN O 297 842218). I have been able to visit the Mexican overwintering Monarch site on two occasions so this book gave me a very comprehensive update on the latest research into migration routes. I wasn't too impressed with some of the 'liberties' taken by researchers, such as putting the butterflies in envelopes and transferring captured specimens from one migration route to a different one, to see what happened to their orientation, bur the author did cover a wide variety of Monarch enthusiasts. These ranged from University professors to glider pilots, from ordinary members of the public who had become 'hooked' and there was also comment on

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Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus

Mildenhall Woods & Aspal Close

13th July

by Rob Parker The White Admirals flew early in 2003, so we were concerned that 13th July might prove too late for good sightings at the otherwise dependable site close to Hirst Fen in the Mildenhall Woods. The dozen members who turned up on a bright, hot day (26°C) included a number of fresh faces, including visitors &om the Cambs & Essex Branch, and one Newmarket resident, attending his first BC field meeting. We started the walkwith a count of Small/Essex Skippers alongside the Cut-off Channel, with one team counting left, and the other right. The numbers mounted in harmony, and finished at 175 + 145, the total of 320 perhaps exceeding what any of us might have estimated &om a less thorough count.

The habitat both in the open stretch and inside the woodland is unspoiled, and we notched up a good species list as we progressed. The first White Admiral appeared within a couple of

minutes of reaching their favourite ride, and the second was obliging enough to pose for phorography. Each was worn in its own way, and at least this allowed us to avoid double counting, though none offered the pristine image that we might have had two weeks earlier. In all, we saw at least four individuals, and repeat appearances meant that everyone had a good close-up view. On the way back to the cars, we took a different route, and saw another White Admiral in a previously unrecorded tetrad, which was an unexpected bonus.

By the time we paused for lunch, we had seen 20 butterfly species, plus a few faded Forester moths, and a good variety of dragonflies, including Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Common Darter and Banded Demoiselle. We moved on to nearby Aspal Close, an enclosed piece of ancient "wood with pasture", which most members were seeing for the first time. This site had become a Local Nature Reserve since our last visit, and concerns had been voiced about the management regime. It was pleasing to see that the butterfly numbers were still good, with plenty of the grass-feeding species, despite the previous season's mowing. The Small Heath was between broods, but a couple were seen anyway, a species not seen in the morning. The other species added to the list was Purple Hairstreak, which obligingly showed itself in the extreme heat.

The whole day count of22 species was a pleasing result, especially for those inclined to consider the west of the county as less productive than the east.

Small Heath byDouglasHammersley 20

action plans for Dingy Skipper in Suffolk and Small Blue and Duke of Burgundy in Bedfordshire.

Regional Events I have represented Butterfly Conservation at a number of regional events including the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Beauty Conservation Day near Aldbury, Heath Fritillary Day at Southend in Essex, Forestry Commission's Regional Woodland Strategy Day near Chelmsford and the Regional Biodiversity Officers meeting in Cambridge. These events are a very useful way of gaining new contacts and up to date information about grants and projects. I have also been asked ro comment and provide butterfly information for a number of management plans for local nature reserves.

Discover Moths Event There were 29 people at the first training event I have organised in Cambridge with help from the County Recorder John Dawson and with Dr Paul Waring as the main speaker. This was funded under the Heritage Lottery National Macro Moth Recording Scheme Project. Cambridgeshire is relatively under-recorded and it is hoped that many of the people who attended will go on to record macro moths at home as well as helping with target Biodiversity Action Plan species. A second event will be held in Huntingdon on September 27th.

GrizzledSkipper

by DouglasHammersley

Field Trips

for BAP Butterflies

by Rob Parker Last year's field visit programme featured a good look at White-letter Hairstreaks as a spur to get more recorders looking for unknown sites. This year, Dingy Skipper site monitoring and the Silver-studded Blue count featured as programmed events in order to bring fresh faces to the important business of looking after those butterflies featured in the Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). In parallel, the Suffolk Moth Group has targeted many of their field outings towards BAP moths. The following paragraphs give a feel for the health of those butterflies, rather than simply an account of the field trip.

White-letter Hairstreak. In 2002, we proved that there are colonies of White-letter Hairstreak surviving in places that are not longrecognized localities. In July 2003, at least seven fresh sites have been added. One is on National Trust land north of Minsmere, whilst the others were found on the elms ofleafy Newmarket, in an outstanding single-handed effort by Sharon Hearle. Plenty of other promising elms were visited with less fruitful results, so thanks to the recorders involved, and lets keep up our endeavours next season. The verdict for the hairstreaks' health: very encouraging despite these sorry times for elms.

Dingy Skipper. The planned count in May attracted a determined group, and brought some excellent news. At Chalk Lane on 15th we found three Dingy Skippers flying at the precise spot where they had flourished in the past, though we had given them up for lost since 1999. The Suffolk Moth Group also noted them there the following

5

The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003 Silver-studdedBlue.

We assist the RSPB annually with the count of Silver-studded Blues at six of the largest of the colonies at Minsmere. The butterflies were on the wing earlier than usual this year, and we brought the count forward a week, only to be thwarted by poor weather, and to push it back again (by four days to 4th July). The result was very satisfactory; we involved members who had not participated in this exciting sport before, with a team of nine, including two RSPB volunteers, proving that determined spotting is more important than butterfly identification. We counted no less than 1387 SSBs in one day (I 070 males and 3 I 7 females), showing that the butterflies were having a good season. The Minsmere results are amalgamated with other counts by the Mardesham Conservation Group and the wider Sandlings Group. There have been good counts everywhere this year, with several sightings to suggest that SSBs have been dispersing from their .regular colonies, with some chance of recolonization in a few spots where the habitat is suitable. One particularly welcome element is that the Wenhaston Blackheath colony, thought last year to be on the brink of extinction, has certainly survived 2003, with sufficient females to give good hope for the future, now that some of the Bell Heather has been cut back to the condition the butterflies require.

White-letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley week, so we must hope that the colony can reestablish itself on a firm footing. The Wordwell colony was active, and we saw six there later the same day, although none were to be seen in the vicinity of John O'Groats cottages. Our trip to Center Pares at Elveden on 19th was encouraging, with five found during the only bright hour of the day. The organised count at RAF Barnham fell foul of poor weather, but a few were seen on later visits, and on 24th two were found just across the wire on Barnhamcross Common. Several other nearby sites were checked without success, including Marmansgrave Wood, where the habitat no longer looks very suitable. All in all, the Dingy Skipper was found to be holding its ground, with a couple of encouraging sightings from our efforts.

2004.

Next year's programme will again feature events aimed at our BAP species, and hopefully someone reading this will be inspired to join in and enjoy discovering more about our scarcer species.

DingySkipper byJim Foster 6

Day-flying moths at Barnhamcross Common

frequency it is recorded. After lunch we moved to the west side of the common where the habitat does not appear as rich in flora and the number of moth species recorded was correspondingly lower, although with the change of habitat different species were recorded.

Others species recorded on the day were;

5th July

by TonyPrichard This was a joint meeting with the Suffolk Naturalists' Society and we were joined by several of their members. The meeting was arranged as an opportunity to see the number and variety of moths that can be recorded during the day. Not surprisingly day-flying moths like the sunshine just as much as butterflies do, so as the weather on the day was rather overcast it did not appear likely that we would be seeing too many. Walking south across the west side of the common it was not long before the first of several Forester moths was seen. These are metallic green moths akin to the red and black Burnet moths and in Suffolk this species would appear restricted to the Brecks. With their green wings and rapid wing movement they can be slightly tricky to spot as they fly over grassland.

Slowing your walking pace and having a good look at things around normally means that you will see something of interest - keen eyes quickly picked out a Hedge Rustic caterpillar in amongst the grassy sward. It also helps if you have some knowledge of what plants and time of year are likely to give results, such as looking at Honeysuckle leaves that may reveal signs of feeding by the caterpillar of the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth. This site normally has good numbers of plume moths flying during the day and we managed to locate a couple of species; Stenoptilia pterodactyla and Pterophorus pentadactyla.One of the larger micro-lepidoptera, Sitochroaverticalis,was disturbed while looking for larvae - this species would appear to have its stronghold within the county in the Brecks. While we were looking for moths Neil Sherman was looking for False Mocha larvae by 'beating' oak unfortunately with negative results. This moth seems to be decreasing in its range and the

Ypsolophaustella, Carcina quercana,Agonopterix nervosa, Archips podana, Aleimma loejlingiana, Tortrix viridana, Celypha lacunana, Gypsonoma sociana, Gypsonoma dealbana, Eucosma cana, Chrysoteuchia culmella, Homoeosoma sinuella, Blood-vein, Brindled Pug, Cinnabar and Silver Y.

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Suffolk Moth Group Web Site

by TonyPrichard

The Suffolk Moth Group web site has changed its address. It can now be found at http://www.suffolkmothgroup.org. uk/.

There is now a bit more space available so I have put up some draft county distribution maps of the macro-moths. Further items of interest will be added as I have time.

Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus distance from Kidney Vetch) and it was under such circumstances that our first representative of this species was located, perched on a low grass stem.

Our enjoyment was short-lived for the butterfly flew, lost from view almost immediately despite three pairs of eyes trained upon it from a distance of no more than a metre and the remainder of the group converging rapidly upon the scene. Moving back up the bank, we paused at one of the Kidney Vetch stands and encountered a female Small Blue so utterly engrossed in egg laying that it was possible to familiarise ourselves with this species' salient markings. Perhaps of greater interest, for this is not one of our most visually striking butterflies, was the opportunity to observe her behaviour as she moved about the flower heads; abdomen trailing in exploratory fashion across each before being curved in the act of ovipositing.

As she moved on, we were able to locate the green ova embedded within the fluffy inflorescences.

Paths almost completely shaded by dense undergrowth are normally anathema to lepidopterists, yet the one we followed to reach the southernmost section of the bank brought respite from the debilitating mid afternoon heat. As we emerged into the sunlight, the next half an hour would perhaps provide the most enduring

memories of the day. For here, Dark Green Fritillaries, which had tantalised us with only the briefest of glimpses during the morning, powered over the sward in good numbers. Our attention was invariably drawn to these striking Nymphalidae despite the discovery of Small Blues about the first (and each subsequent) stand of Kidney Vetch ·we encountered, a second brood Holly Blue flying around scrub at the bank top and a Dingy Skipper draped over a grass head, its wings tattered and worn. Although the group willed the fritillaries to pause and nectar, we had to content ourselves with flashes of black and orange as upperwings were revealed during powerful glides, or glimpses of silver green undersides as the butterflies momentarily fluttered above the ground in anticipation of newly emerged females.

The group now dispersed, we trailed back towards the footpath in ones and twos.

Occasionally, someone would stoop and peer down at an inconspicuous butterfly with pale blue underwings and slate uppers. On a bank where Darwin once walked, thought bent upon explanation and hypothesis, it is heartening that the Small Blue continues to compete in the survival of the fittest with a vigour seemingly at odds with its diminutive stature.

Species List; Dingy Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Common Blue, Small Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Dark Green Fritillary, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Ringlet.

A Chalkhill Blue in Suffolk

by Jim Foster On Thursday 31 July, Rosalind my wife, was sitting in our conservatory when she noticed a pale blue butterfly flying in our garden at Stonham Aspal. It stopped to nectar on some Eryngium but its wings were folded. It was larger than the familiar Common Blue and pale on the underside and my immediate reaction was that it could be an aberrantCommon Blue.

A Brown Hawker dragonfly had been patrolling our garden, a species that I wish to photograph, which is difficult as they rarely perch, so my camera was handy. I dashed indoors and grabbed the camera but the butterfly moved briefly to some white Rudbeckia and then flew again alighting on a Viola and obligingly settled with its wings open. I realised it was a Chalkhill Blue, a species I had not considered possible in this area. I managed to take four photographs before it flew back to the Eryngium and then away.

I rang our Chairman/Butterfly Recorder, Rob Parker, to report the sighting wondering what his reaction would be, however as he from time to time receives unusual/misidentified sightings he acknowledged it without too much surprise. Anyway the record was noted and as he was co-incidentally visiting our address the same evening, I was able to demonstrate where the butterfly had alighted.

To my surprise a few days later Rob informed me that another Chalkhill Blue had been seen at Gosfield near Halstead in Essex on the same date. The nearest known colony to both sites is at the Devil's Dyke just over the border in Cambridgeshire. Were these just strays or is there a colony near these sites that we are unaware of? The nearest chalk area to Stonham Aspal is either Coddenham or Needham Market and I alerted a person at each location just in case there were more on the wing.

Subsequently I searched what I thought might be a possible breeding area at Creeting St. Mary with the help of member Nigel Smart. Rob also checked out the chalk pits at Needham Market. Neither of these sites yielded the larval food plant for the species, the Horseshoe Vetch. A release by an unscrupulous person seems unlikely, as Stonham Aspal and Gosfield are about 30 miles apart. It appears that these were strays, either from Devil's Dyke or elsewhere. Could the hot summer have played a part in this possible movement? A copy of a photograph taken at the time is reproduced below.

ChalkhillBlue byJim Foster

DarkGreenFritillary

by DouglasHammersley 18

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Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus

Brimstone butterflies breeding in Ipswich.

Buckthorn attracts eggs.

where both types of Buckthorn were planted. Eggs were first discovered on April 19th, after the Friends of Holywells Park Easter EggHunt. These were obviously eggs of a different kind! The photo of the egg, magnified, shows its milk-bottle shape. le will hatch into a caterpillar after about two weeks depending on the weather and on surviving predation. After pupating into a chrysalis, it ultimately turns into a gorgeous yellow butterfly which will be on the wing for a period in the summer and then go into diapause or hibernation until next Spring when the cycle will be repeated.

by Julian Dowding The Brimstones and Buckthom initiative was launched in 1998/99 as a joint venture between Ipswich Organic Gardener's Group, Ipswich Wildlife Group, Butterfly Conservation and Ipswich Borough Council. Started with a budget of just £100, its aim quite simply was to bring about a reversal of the fate of the Brimstone in East Suffolk which until then, like many of Suffolk's one time common species, had been in gentle decline and was absent &om many parts.

The concept was driven by the fact that female Brimstones search out and detect their caterpillar's foodplant at a distance. By planting the foodplant, we have encouraged the butterfly into the area and have finally been rewarded with femaleslaying eggs on bushes in Ipswich. Altogether over 3000 bushes of both Alder Buckthorn and Common Buckthorn have been planted on around 200 sites; some plantings are of single bushes in private gardens, others are of larger plantings of between 50-200 bushes. Every single bush is valuable to the butterfly and to the initiative.

The accompanying photographs, on pages 8 and 9, were taken in Holywells Park, Ipswich,

BrimstoneOva byJulian Dowding The success of the initiative shows that individual actions of ordinary people do matter and that just one small gesture, in this case the planting of a bush, can make all the difference.

If you would be interested in taking part in the initiative and would like to plant some Buckthorn bushes next winter to attract Brimstones into your garden patch or allotment, please phone Julian for more details on: 01473 414092 or email: julian.dowding@ndworld.com

Bushes are sold as bare rooted whips which are about 40-60cm long and cost 65p each.

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Downe Bank & West Kent Golf Course 15th June

by Paul Johnson With barely a trace of cloud troubling the countenance of the sky, and only the regularity of passing traffic betraying our GreaterLondon rendezvous, seventeen of us assembled in Downe village on the morning of the mid Sunday of June. A footpath led us away from the village and it was pleasant to walk in the shade afforded by the oak canopies above, yet look out into an adjacent sunlit meadow. Here, Common Blue, Large Skipper and Painted Lady were the first species committed to notebooks. Presently, we descended steep steps and stood overlooking Downe Bank, the orchid flora of which had inspired Charles Darwin some 150 years ago.

We moved slowly along the narrow path bisecting Downe Bank, perhaps taken as much by the seclusion and intimacy of the site as by the natural history unfolding before us. Large Skippers whirred and jostled like winged dynamos around the spikes of Fragrant, Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids. Small Tortoiseshells, showing signs of recovery after recession at the turn of the millennium, patrolled the lower slopes and, occasipnally, a larger and altogether more vivid Nymphalid would launch itself down the bank; although never absolutely verified, its identity almost certainly Dark Green Fritillary.

As we turned to retrace our steps, a Humming Bird Hawk Moth provided a flawless display of precision flying as it nectared on the wing from a multitude of flowerheads. My initial reaction on encountering a first White Admiral a decade ago was that this was surely some escaped exotica, so incongruous did its primary colours and elegant flight seem against the backdrop of bramble and conifer. In many respects the

Humming Bird Hawk Moth evokes similar emotions.

Progressing to the northerly part of the bank, the tally of Common Blues and Meadow Browns continued to mount (the latter's abundance just one week post emergence quite remarkable), the Humming Bird Hawk Moth impressed twice more with its total mastery of the air and, amidst the Bird's Foot Trefoil and YellowRattle, Brown Argus and an unusually pallid female Brimstone were discerned. In terms of butterflies, mid June often represents something of a trough; the season temporarily becalmed in the entomological equivalent of the doldrums. However, as we settled for lunch under the canopy of a walnut tree back in Downe village, the morning's yield of ten species constituted a pleasing total.

The afternoon's activities were conducted along a calcareous bank lying just to the south of Downe village. Named directly after the West Kent Golf Course, which skirts its base, this site falls under the jurisdiction of London Wildlife Trust and, being west facing, receives the undivided attention of the mid afternoon sun. A brief reconnaissance excepted, I had not visited this locality for a few years and the increasing dominance of ranker grasses at the expense of chalk downland flora was notable. On the first section we covered, only two strong stands of Kidney Vetch (the Small Blue's larval foodplant) were recorded, and I suspect that more vigorous ground disturbance than that currently provided by golf balls driven waywardly into the bank is needed to invigorate dormant seeds.

As we descended, a Marbled White flew up towards us and, illustrating the significance of a site's aspect (for they had not been recorded a mile away on the east facing slope of Downe Bank), the dark profiles of Ringlets bobbed amongst the scrub at the slope's base. If the trend of warmer summers continues, I wonder whether our perceptions of butterfly flight times will be inexorably altered to the extent that Marbled Whites and Ringlets are regarded as species of late spring, well past their peak by high summer.

Male Small Blues typically establish territories at the base of a slope (often some

17

7

Autumn 2003

The SuffolkArgus

Moth Night at Ramsey Wood

Character, Figure of Eighty, Poplar Lutestring, Blood-vein, Silver-ground Carpet, Common Carpet, Purple Bar, Small Phoenix, Common Marbled Carpet, Broken-barred Carpet, Green Carpet, Small Waved Umber, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Rivulet, Mottled Pug, Lime-speck Pug, Small White Wave, Yellow-barred Brindle, Clouded Border, Scorc.hed Carpet, Brown Silver-line, Scorched Wing, Brimstone Moth, Peppered Moth, Waved Umber, Pale Oak Beauty, Brindled Whitespot, Common White Wave, Common Wave, White-pinion Spotted, Clouded Silver, Light Emerald, Lime Hawk-moth, Poplar Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Buff-tip, Lobster Moth, Iron Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Swallow Prominent, Pale Tussock, Orange Footman, White Ermine, Buff Ermine, Least Black Arches, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame, Flame Shoulder, Large YellowUnderwing, Small Squarespot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Bright-line Brown-eye, Hebrew Character, Common Wainscot, Poplar Grey, Alder Moth, Knot Grass, Angle Shades, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Clouded Brindle, Large Nutmeg, Rustic Shoulderknot, Treble Lines, Mottled Rustic, Beautiful Golden Y, Spectacle, Straw Dot.

31st May

by TonyPrichard Ramsey Wood lies next to Hintlesham Wood between Ipswich and Hadleigh and since the RSPB has taken over the management of the wood we have made a start on recording the moth fauna. This joint branch and RSPB public event was well attended by members of the public and we were also joined by a few members of the Essex Moth Group who helped to light up the wood.

A good selection of moths appeared during the evening and the public seemed to go away happy with what they had seen. This time of year can be good for holding public events, if the weather obliges, as a good selection of the larger and more colourful species are usually on the wing.

Lime, Poplar and Elephant Hawk-moths were seen on the night and Prominents included; Iron, Lesser Swallow and Swallow. Species of more localised distribution recorded included; Phlyctaenia perlucida/is, Poplar Lutestring, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Lobster Moth and Orange Footman.

The Orange Footman would appear to be going from strength to strength in the county as records of this moth have increased in recent years.

In all 8 5 species were recorded on the night, these were: Common Swifi:, Esperia sulphure//a, Te/eiodes

luculel/a, Ptycho/oma kcheana, Eulia ministrana, Celypha lacunana, Hedya nubiferana, Bactra lancea/ana, Ancy/is mitterbacheriana, Epibkma cynosbatel/a, Eucosma cana, Crambuslathonie//us,Scopariaambigualis, Evergestisforfica/is (Garden Pebble), Eurrhypara hortulata(Small Magpie), Phlyctaeniaperlucida/is, Oak • Hook-tip,

Pebble

Hook-tip,

Chinese

16

ElephantHawk Moth

by Mervyn Crawford

Brimstones

and Buckthorn in an Ipswich Garden Brimstone

by BerylJohnson

by Dave Fincham 18th four larvae were measured and found to be 20mm long, and on 20th June a shed skin, adhering to a leaf directly behind and in line with a caterpillar.

June 21st to the 30th we were away on holiday so no observations recorded but on July 1st afi:ermuch searching, just one large caterpillar was located, now 31 mm long, lying along the midrib of a leaf and raising the head end of its body when disturbed. The shrub looked rather the worse for hosting its guests, with whole leaves eaten away and only the mid-rib remaining. We hunted, in vain, for any larvae that might have already pupated.

Success!On July 6th and again on the 7th a male Brimstone butterfly was seen flying in the garden, a new record for us, since moving here in 1973.

Following an illustrated talk presented by Julian Dowding to the Ipswich & District Natural History Society in February 2001 we purchased two Alder Buckthom 'whips'. The 'whips' were planted against an informal hedge of garden shrubs, in a west facing, warm and sheltered spot.

During 2001/2002 the plants became established but growth was very slow. However in the Spring of 2003 one of the plants began to shoot upwards, vigorously, reaching a height of 1.2 metres by the early summer.

During May (this year) we noted, on several days, a large white butterfly in the vicinity of the Buckthom and although hopeful, due to its rapid flight, we could not definitely identify it as a femaJe Brimstone. On May 25th we discovered eggs, on the under-side of young leaflets, of the larger bush. The eggs were tall, bottle shaped, greenish/white, laid singly - two on one leaf, three on another and just one on another. By May 28th the eggs had changed colour from greenish/white to greenish/yellow.

In June small perforations appeared in the leaves followed by larger portions being eaten and on June 9th three small green caterpillars were found (approx. 10mm long) and each lying along the mid-vein of an Alder Buckthom leaf. By June

9

-I Autumn 2003

The SuffolkArgus

Friend or Foe

by JamesMann In the forests in our mountains we often see the nets of the Pine Processionary Moth and the damage the caterpillars do to the conifers.

When my walking friends discover the chains of caterpillarsthey always walk along the chain in an attempt to save the trees from damage. I must say my feelings are split for while I am a friend of Lepidoptera I can also see the damage they cause to the trees so I look upon my friends as part of the balance of nature. This year fortunately for the trees but not the caterpillars the chains arrived early. Then the rains and cold of April and May were not to their liking and we saw many chains stopped in their tracksand very dead so we thought that trees were safe for this year. But no.

In our local paper of 29 June 2002 there appeared an article headed "Grosse attaque defoliante du 'Bombyx Disparate' sur les chenes lieges". This in plain English says, "A plague of caterpillars are eating the leaves of our cork oak trees". The only name I have is Bombyx Disparate, perhaps the moth experrs can help.

Anne and I have now bought a Susuki Samaria 4 X 4, super little thing, made in Spain with a 1.9 Renault Diesel engine. For our first outing on 20 June we drove along some twelve kilometres of rough mountain track ending up at Panissars, a first century B.C. Roman Fort on an old pass over the Pyrenees, that now straddles the Spanish/French border surrounded by cork oaks.

Anne, who has a dread of caterpillars, wandered off to look for flowers and came rushing back saying she could hear caterpillars crunching the leaves: rubbish says I, but when I investigated I could indeed hear them and see thousands of them slowly clearing the leaves from the cork oaks.

On 23 June we did one of our usual Sunday trips to a Vide Grenier at a little mountain village called Arbosols. On the way up the winding road

Fleam Dyke

we looked across the valley and saw a swathe of devastation as if a fire had raged through. When we got closer we discovered it was the caterpillars cutting a clean line as they advanced up the mountain.

Although they have a great preference for any oak species the caterpillars have been known to attack Hornbeam, Beech, Poplar and Pines and sometimes even vines. In our valleys some 3000 to 3500 hectares are affected but in Corsica some 40,000 hectares are defoliated and, as many holiday makers visit the island because of the forests, the bare trees have caused a great loss to the tourist industry.

The Forestry experts claim that the trees will survive and next spring when they judge that the insect cycle is at its most vulnerable they will spray them off using helicopters. Although I should be on the side of Lepidoptera I have to consider the cork industry and I salve my conscience by thinking of our poor Purple Hairstreaks who can't . be best pleased by the devastation of their homes.

- Further notes & sightings

by Julia Napier When I was a child, the local GP was the only butterfly enthusiast I knew. He had one of those collections with 25 kinds of Orange Tip, which even then I did not really like to look at. He used to drive us to school some days, and he would say "Oh, nice caterpillars in that hedge!"

For years I tried to sharpen up my technique of caterpillar spotting at 40mph or whatever his pre-war Austin was doing. Finally it dawned on me that he was having me on. That is until I met Tony Prichard, who spotted the Lackey moths while driving quite fast down Mr Davis's farmroad.

Editor's note: According to the literature I have, the Pine Processionary Moth is Thaumetopoeapityocampa and I suspect that 'Bombyx Disparate' is a French vernacular name for this species. Bombyx is listed in my French dictionary as the moth of the silkworm. Indeed Bombyx mori is the Common Silkworm and belongs to the family Bombycidae that is mainly found in tropical Africa and Asia.

The caterpillars of the Pine Processionary Moth develop in a nest of "sleeves", resembling silk, around pine needles. Could it be that this is why the French call it 'Bombyx Disparate'? Have any other readers any further suggestions?

r,

These larvae were collected and taken home.

The splendid Lackey caterpillars fattened up a bit on local Hawthorn and then pupated, two of them against the sliding Perspex door of the container I had them in. I was intrigued to see how easily they merged into the hawthorn branches, so that even though I knew they were there, I could not instantly find the four of them. And then at the last count, there were five! One had been fattening up on the big overgrown hawthorn hedge nearby which I raid for the Emperors, the last of which are finally pupating - spinning golden webs to start with.· Small Tortoiseshell larvae were also collected.

The twenty or so have pupated, and hang gleaming with gold. A few days ago, a little girl was sitting on the grass verge outside my house overwhelmed with the frustrations of life at two and a half. I spooned up the chrysalis that had come unstuck and took it to divert her. Total magic. The wailing stopped at once, and she and her little brother looked in wide-eyed wonder at the gilded shape. I do this quite often at shows.

"Would you like to see my caterpillars?" is a sure-

EmperorMoth

by Mervyn Crawford fire way of perking up unhappy children! Another reason for conserving butterflies and perhaps producing future entomologists! The Tortoiseshells show colour when they are due to emerge, so I shall probably have time to get them back to the Fleam Dyke. The Lackey moths may be harder to predict. I have had to dislodge the two from the Perspex, and shall leave them outside.

I went back to Fleam Dyke several times on the recent sunny days, and found a good spring selection of butterflies. I saw three male Brimstones in hot pursuit of a female, and I found the Green Hairstreaks at the newly cleared area, nearest to Mudow Hill, in an area sheltered by high hedges on three sides. On both visits I saw a pair of the males flying competitively over the tall shrubs, resting on the higher leaves of a Buckthorn bush, or, flying fast over the area. I also saw the females egg laying on Rock-roses, as expected. I hope this will be useful evidence of the need to keep shelter and wind breaks for all invertebrates.

15

The Suffolk Argus

Exning (Suffolk) and Fleam Dyke (Cambs)

18th May

by Stellaand RogerWolfe Beyond remote North End at Exning an even more remote green lane runs parallel to the county boundary, one of those far-flung places that we first encountered a few years ago when chasing 'under-recorded' tetrads for Suffolk's Millennium Atlas. With high, untrimmed hedges on both sides, it proved something of a butterfly goldmine, and on a subsequent visit a record eighty Holly Blues were counted by Richard Stewart. Sadly, on this Joint Meeting of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire-Essex Branches, the poor weather conditions resulted in only five being seen!

The hedges contain a great amount of buckthorn and careful examination revealed the distinctive shape of several Brimstone eggs standing proud of the underside of the leaves like miniature milk bottles. A couple of male Orange lips were patrolling, but there was no sign of crucifer food plants nearby. The grassed-over trackbed of the old Mildenhall railway provided a convenient return route, the hedge on the north side forming the county boundary. But the track was too exposed for much of its length for butterflies to venture out in the cool, blustery wind, although the range of flowers in bloom was rewarding. Red Clover, Ox-eye Daisies, Germander Speedwell and Kidney Vetch were among species noted by the plant recorders present. Rob Parker pointed our the attractively coloured Sulphur Polypore fungi attached to nearby willows and Richard Stewart, ever watchful, saw a male Brimstone. In more sheltered parts we saw Large White, Green-veined Whites and enjoyed a good sighting of a resting female Orange Tip. In the afternoon we visited Fleam Dyke, a lesser known but essentially similar linear earthwork to its big brother, the Devil's Dyke.

Autumn 2003 Both Dykes are of early Anglo Saxon origin and both provide valuable remnants of chalk grassland habitats. Since the onset of myxomatosis in the 1950's both have suffered because of scrub invasion, but thanks to the efforts of the Cambridge Greenbelt Project (led until very recently by Sharon Heade, now Butterfly Conservation's Regional Development Officer) much systematic restoration has been undertaken in the last few years. Fleam Dyke has benefited too by the efforts of the recently formed group Friends of Fleam Dyke and the Roman Road (another chalk grassland site) whose enthusiastic Secretary, Newsletter Editor and Butterfly Recorder Julia Napier was on hand to lead the party. Finding some relatively warm and sheltered spots we saw a Large White, Red Admiral, three male Brimstones, a Small White and a Holly Blue. Sadly, the hopedfor Green Hairstreaks were not to be seen, but Rob pointed out some nettles bearing Small Tortoiseshell larvae. It was good to see that where the Dyke had been cleared of scrub, wild flowers such as Cowslip, Milkwort, Rockrose, Horseshoe Vetch and early Forget-me-not were flowering, while Ploughman's Spikenard, Clustered Bellflowerand Salad Burnet were emerging. Across the footbridge, which spans the Al 1, Julia showed us the fenced area soon to be grazed by a flock of Norfolk Longhorn sheep, in preparation for which volunteers have cleared large quantities of Ragwort. This part of the Dyke, so rewarding for butterfly observation on previous visits, was by now far too cold for any to be on the wing, bur we did see some rare and ancient Juniper bushes, three of which were female, bearing berry-like fruit.

Seedlings discovered by Sharon were surviving within their protective tubing.

We are grateful to Mr and Mrs Davis for allowing cars to be parked on private land near to Fleam Dyke.

14

Winter Weather in the South of France 200112002

by JamesMann Each Monday I go walking in the mountains with a group of six or seven French friends, we are officially called The Rafal,but Anne calls us "Last of The Summer Wme" French version. All of us are retired and some of the members have been walking in this area all their lives so they know the area very well. It is much hotter on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees so we concentrate our walks over the border in the winter. In November 2001 the experts decided we would make several trips to Spain in search of Dolmen, and as there are over 100 of them they are quite easy to find; they also added some of the monasteries most of which date from the 10th century. The walks were pleasantly warm and I began to think that Walls and Speckled Woods were around all the year as we had regular sightings together with the inevitable Red Admirals.

I boasted that last winter our temperature only dropped to zero degrees centigrade on one night. On the night of December 12th it dropped to minus 1 degree, then my diary entry for Friday 14th December reads, "No sun snowed all day". It does not snow here but the 15 cm of white stuff in the garden could be nothing else. The temperature dropped to below zero every night till after Christmas, several times to minus 6 degrees. Our walk on Monday 17th December was totally in the snow and we had a sword fight with I-metre long icicles.

In January the frosts had gone and we resumed our Spanish walks and by the end of the month we were again seeing both there and on the French side of the border Wall/Speckled Wood types and Brimstones. In February we were back to walking in France and on the 11th we climbed to the top of La Souque where we lunched at 1680 metres sitting in our shirt-sleeves in the sun with our feet in the snow. As we ate we saw several Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals flying over the snow making for the warm areas lower down. The weather was up and down for the rest of the month. March came in with lower temperatures and less sunshine than normal but on 18 March I knew things had changed, at the end of the day walking down from the Spanish border at some 1100 metres we saw several Clouded Yellows, Brimstones, Cleopatras, Large and Small Whites, Ringlets and around our feet were lots of Wood Whites and suddenly around our heads several Large Tortoiseshells chasing each other. By the end of the month we were seeing ordinary and Scarce Swallowtails, Bath Whites and Green Hairstreaks.

On 1st April Claude, Rene and I spent all day walking in super white snow ending up at Roe Colum which straddles the French/Spanish border at 2507 metres, the whole day we had bright sunshine we thought this was the start of the long sunny period. We were wrong the weather was then all downhill with record rainfall for April with only the odd day of sunshine. May followedon the same.

Rob and Alex Parker visited us for a few days early in May and the only way the past and present Chairmen could see butterflies was to go to a Butterfly Farm, we must have been desperate, but at least we were able to take them to some of the places I had written about.

It was not until the second week in June that our day after day sunshine started. Anne and I celebratedby going up into the mountains for lunch, we still talk about sitting out on the terrace of the little restaurant watching the cows walking below us along the G.R. 10 and in the meadow beyond them the masses of Cardinals and Black-veined Whites.

The butterflies have been wonderful since.

It all goes to show that England has not been alone with its ghastly weather.

11

The SuffolkArgus

Autumn 2003

Butterflies in 2003 Field Moth Traps Meetings

by Neil Sherman It is not unusual for the odd butterfly to tum up in moth traps, but this year the Suffolk Moth Group had a higher than usual incidence in July and August, just as "stray"butterflies started to be noticed at unfamiliar locations, suggesting that the dispersal instinct has been working overtime this year.

The mercury vapour traps running at the Suffolk Moth Group meeting in Rendlesham Forest drew in a Painted Lady and a Gatekeeper, whilst Neil Sherman had two Purple Hairstreaks in his trap at Ipswich Golf Club, Purdis Heath on 31 July 2003. More bunerflies were seen at the moth group meeting on Havergate Island on the 8th August, when almost all of the eight MV lights attracted at least one butterfly each. Species involved this time were Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. There were also numerous butterflies still flying at dusk while the lights were being set followed by more sightings very early in the morning the next day - this was the day before all the temperature records were broken across the UK.

AngleShades

by Mervyn Crawford

National Moth Night at Minsmere

12th April

by TonyPrichard As the two target species for this year's event, Sword-grass and Orange Upperwing, were unlikely to appear in this area the Branch held its National Moth Night event at Minsmete. .This site has a good choice of habitats to choose from and promised to provide a good selection of springtime moths.

The weather on the day proved to be rather dreary for a change - in the past we have been rather lucky with the weather in Suffolk on National Moth Night. Forecasts of a poor night around the sheet light were proved wrong when a good selection of moths appeared during the evening at the three lights operated. Water Carpet, Early Thorn and Red Chestnut were probably amongst the more visually appealing of those sighted. Several of the group attending went off to search with torchlight for larvae that might be feeding at night. This proved rather successfulwith a single final instar larva of the BAP species Lunar YellowUnderwing being found by torchlight along with larvae of several other more common species.

The full list of species recorded on the night follows: Diurneafogella, March Moth, Large Twinspot Carpet, Yellow Shell, Water Carpet, Brindled Pug, Early Thorn, Lunar YellowUnderwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Autumnal Rustic, Double Square-spot, Square-spotRustic, Red Chestnut, Pine Beauty,Small Quaker, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Hebrew Character, Satellite,Chestnut and Angle Shades.

12

Lack£ord Lakes 3rd May

by Rob Parker The first daytime field meeting of the year produced a good turnout of 18 members, despite low temperatures and overcast skies.

Scarcely had we left the SWl''s smart new building when we noticed the good omen that St Mark'sFlies were on the wing. Generally they appear soon after St Mark's Day (25th April), flying on days that are suitable for other Lepidoptera. The first sun of the morning also brought out large numbers of freshly emerged damselflies. These perched obligingly on the wooden footpath sign, and despite their teneral colouration, we could see that they were Large Red Damselflies.

In the same spot, we saw the butterfly that was to prove the main attraction of this spring morning - the Orange-tip. Males were on the wing first, but we saw our first female just as we spotted the Cuckoo Flower growing beside one of the lakes. She paid close attention to the flower head, and sure enough, we found a fresh creamy-white egg on the stem just below the petals. Having got his eye in, Roger Wolfe soon excelled as lead spotter for eggs on isolated plants of Jack-by-the - ,-«:;::''.\. ;: ,,...

Hedge, which was growing "'""• _··· prolifically, but was less }··-~ • favoured by the Orange Tips, •than the smaller, scarcer Cuckoo Flower.

On a morning when even Green-veined Whites were arousing more interest than would be normal, it was an excitement when Margaret Austin spotted a Green Hairstreak behind the hide. This turned out to be a new record for Lackford, a site that has not been very comprehensively recorded in the past.

The wetland environment was active with numerous Snake Flies and Alder Flies, and Tony Prichard found plenty of micro moths too, including the Longhorn Moth, Adela rufimitrella, the larvae of which feed on Cuckoo Flower, and the Cocksfoot Moth, Glyphipterix simpliciella, a common moth frequently found wherever its foodplant, Cocksfoot grass, occurs. A handsome Drinker larva was out feeding, but the Cinnabar did not fly until Tony had left!

There was plenry for the birdwatchers to look at, and whilst the goslings drew admiration, the Red-crested Pochard must go down as the most unusual bird of the day. We added Large & Small White, Brimstone plus one basking Comma, but the temperature remained at about 15°C, and only Speckled Woods and Peacocks showed any inclination to fly when the sun went·-in. In a second foray after our picnic, we saw a Mole above ground, and a nice Slow Worm on the path, leaving the butterfly total at eight - by no means the lowest for the first outing of the season!

On a return visit just four days later, I saw a Brown Argus, in confirmation of a member's uncertain sighting of late April.

Jl

OrangeTip

by DouglasHammersley

13

The SuffolkArgus

Autumn 2003

Butterflies in 2003 Field Moth Traps Meetings

by Neil Sherman It is not unusual for the odd butterfly to tum up in moth traps, but this year the Suffolk Moth Group had a higher than usual incidence in July and August, just as "stray"butterflies started to be noticed at unfamiliar locations, suggesting that the dispersal instinct has been working overtime this year.

The mercury vapour traps running at the Suffolk Moth Group meeting in Rendlesham Forest drew in a Painted Lady and a Gatekeeper, whilst Neil Sherman had two Purple Hairstreaks in his trap at Ipswich Golf Club, Purdis Heath on 31 July 2003. More bunerflies were seen at the moth group meeting on Havergate Island on the 8th August, when almost all of the eight MV lights attracted at least one butterfly each. Species involved this time were Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. There were also numerous butterflies still flying at dusk while the lights were being set followed by more sightings very early in the morning the next day - this was the day before all the temperature records were broken across the UK.

AngleShades

by Mervyn Crawford

National Moth Night at Minsmere

12th April

by TonyPrichard As the two target species for this year's event, Sword-grass and Orange Upperwing, were unlikely to appear in this area the Branch held its National Moth Night event at Minsmete. .This site has a good choice of habitats to choose from and promised to provide a good selection of springtime moths.

The weather on the day proved to be rather dreary for a change - in the past we have been rather lucky with the weather in Suffolk on National Moth Night. Forecasts of a poor night around the sheet light were proved wrong when a good selection of moths appeared during the evening at the three lights operated. Water Carpet, Early Thorn and Red Chestnut were probably amongst the more visually appealing of those sighted. Several of the group attending went off to search with torchlight for larvae that might be feeding at night. This proved rather successfulwith a single final instar larva of the BAP species Lunar YellowUnderwing being found by torchlight along with larvae of several other more common species.

The full list of species recorded on the night follows: Diurneafogella, March Moth, Large Twinspot Carpet, Yellow Shell, Water Carpet, Brindled Pug, Early Thorn, Lunar YellowUnderwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Autumnal Rustic, Double Square-spot, Square-spotRustic, Red Chestnut, Pine Beauty,Small Quaker, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Hebrew Character, Satellite,Chestnut and Angle Shades.

12

Lack£ord Lakes 3rd May

by Rob Parker The first daytime field meeting of the year produced a good turnout of 18 members, despite low temperatures and overcast skies.

Scarcely had we left the SWl''s smart new building when we noticed the good omen that St Mark'sFlies were on the wing. Generally they appear soon after St Mark's Day (25th April), flying on days that are suitable for other Lepidoptera. The first sun of the morning also brought out large numbers of freshly emerged damselflies. These perched obligingly on the wooden footpath sign, and despite their teneral colouration, we could see that they were Large Red Damselflies.

In the same spot, we saw the butterfly that was to prove the main attraction of this spring morning - the Orange-tip. Males were on the wing first, but we saw our first female just as we spotted the Cuckoo Flower growing beside one of the lakes. She paid close attention to the flower head, and sure enough, we found a fresh creamy-white egg on the stem just below the petals. Having got his eye in, Roger Wolfe soon excelled as lead spotter for eggs on isolated plants of Jack-by-the - ,-«:;::''.\. ;: ,,...

Hedge, which was growing "'""• _··· prolifically, but was less }··-~ • favoured by the Orange Tips, •than the smaller, scarcer Cuckoo Flower.

On a morning when even Green-veined Whites were arousing more interest than would be normal, it was an excitement when Margaret Austin spotted a Green Hairstreak behind the hide. This turned out to be a new record for Lackford, a site that has not been very comprehensively recorded in the past.

The wetland environment was active with numerous Snake Flies and Alder Flies, and Tony Prichard found plenty of micro moths too, including the Longhorn Moth, Adela rufimitrella, the larvae of which feed on Cuckoo Flower, and the Cocksfoot Moth, Glyphipterix simpliciella, a common moth frequently found wherever its foodplant, Cocksfoot grass, occurs. A handsome Drinker larva was out feeding, but the Cinnabar did not fly until Tony had left!

There was plenry for the birdwatchers to look at, and whilst the goslings drew admiration, the Red-crested Pochard must go down as the most unusual bird of the day. We added Large & Small White, Brimstone plus one basking Comma, but the temperature remained at about 15°C, and only Speckled Woods and Peacocks showed any inclination to fly when the sun went·-in. In a second foray after our picnic, we saw a Mole above ground, and a nice Slow Worm on the path, leaving the butterfly total at eight - by no means the lowest for the first outing of the season!

On a return visit just four days later, I saw a Brown Argus, in confirmation of a member's uncertain sighting of late April.

Jl

OrangeTip

by DouglasHammersley

13

The Suffolk Argus

Exning (Suffolk) and Fleam Dyke (Cambs)

18th May

by Stellaand RogerWolfe Beyond remote North End at Exning an even more remote green lane runs parallel to the county boundary, one of those far-flung places that we first encountered a few years ago when chasing 'under-recorded' tetrads for Suffolk's Millennium Atlas. With high, untrimmed hedges on both sides, it proved something of a butterfly goldmine, and on a subsequent visit a record eighty Holly Blues were counted by Richard Stewart. Sadly, on this Joint Meeting of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire-Essex Branches, the poor weather conditions resulted in only five being seen!

The hedges contain a great amount of buckthorn and careful examination revealed the distinctive shape of several Brimstone eggs standing proud of the underside of the leaves like miniature milk bottles. A couple of male Orange lips were patrolling, but there was no sign of crucifer food plants nearby. The grassed-over trackbed of the old Mildenhall railway provided a convenient return route, the hedge on the north side forming the county boundary. But the track was too exposed for much of its length for butterflies to venture out in the cool, blustery wind, although the range of flowers in bloom was rewarding. Red Clover, Ox-eye Daisies, Germander Speedwell and Kidney Vetch were among species noted by the plant recorders present. Rob Parker pointed our the attractively coloured Sulphur Polypore fungi attached to nearby willows and Richard Stewart, ever watchful, saw a male Brimstone. In more sheltered parts we saw Large White, Green-veined Whites and enjoyed a good sighting of a resting female Orange Tip. In the afternoon we visited Fleam Dyke, a lesser known but essentially similar linear earthwork to its big brother, the Devil's Dyke.

Autumn 2003 Both Dykes are of early Anglo Saxon origin and both provide valuable remnants of chalk grassland habitats. Since the onset of myxomatosis in the 1950's both have suffered because of scrub invasion, but thanks to the efforts of the Cambridge Greenbelt Project (led until very recently by Sharon Heade, now Butterfly Conservation's Regional Development Officer) much systematic restoration has been undertaken in the last few years. Fleam Dyke has benefited too by the efforts of the recently formed group Friends of Fleam Dyke and the Roman Road (another chalk grassland site) whose enthusiastic Secretary, Newsletter Editor and Butterfly Recorder Julia Napier was on hand to lead the party. Finding some relatively warm and sheltered spots we saw a Large White, Red Admiral, three male Brimstones, a Small White and a Holly Blue. Sadly, the hopedfor Green Hairstreaks were not to be seen, but Rob pointed out some nettles bearing Small Tortoiseshell larvae. It was good to see that where the Dyke had been cleared of scrub, wild flowers such as Cowslip, Milkwort, Rockrose, Horseshoe Vetch and early Forget-me-not were flowering, while Ploughman's Spikenard, Clustered Bellflowerand Salad Burnet were emerging. Across the footbridge, which spans the Al 1, Julia showed us the fenced area soon to be grazed by a flock of Norfolk Longhorn sheep, in preparation for which volunteers have cleared large quantities of Ragwort. This part of the Dyke, so rewarding for butterfly observation on previous visits, was by now far too cold for any to be on the wing, bur we did see some rare and ancient Juniper bushes, three of which were female, bearing berry-like fruit.

Seedlings discovered by Sharon were surviving within their protective tubing.

We are grateful to Mr and Mrs Davis for allowing cars to be parked on private land near to Fleam Dyke.

14

Winter Weather in the South of France 200112002

by JamesMann Each Monday I go walking in the mountains with a group of six or seven French friends, we are officially called The Rafal,but Anne calls us "Last of The Summer Wme" French version. All of us are retired and some of the members have been walking in this area all their lives so they know the area very well. It is much hotter on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees so we concentrate our walks over the border in the winter. In November 2001 the experts decided we would make several trips to Spain in search of Dolmen, and as there are over 100 of them they are quite easy to find; they also added some of the monasteries most of which date from the 10th century. The walks were pleasantly warm and I began to think that Walls and Speckled Woods were around all the year as we had regular sightings together with the inevitable Red Admirals.

I boasted that last winter our temperature only dropped to zero degrees centigrade on one night. On the night of December 12th it dropped to minus 1 degree, then my diary entry for Friday 14th December reads, "No sun snowed all day". It does not snow here but the 15 cm of white stuff in the garden could be nothing else. The temperature dropped to below zero every night till after Christmas, several times to minus 6 degrees. Our walk on Monday 17th December was totally in the snow and we had a sword fight with I-metre long icicles.

In January the frosts had gone and we resumed our Spanish walks and by the end of the month we were again seeing both there and on the French side of the border Wall/Speckled Wood types and Brimstones. In February we were back to walking in France and on the 11th we climbed to the top of La Souque where we lunched at 1680 metres sitting in our shirt-sleeves in the sun with our feet in the snow. As we ate we saw several Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals flying over the snow making for the warm areas lower down. The weather was up and down for the rest of the month. March came in with lower temperatures and less sunshine than normal but on 18 March I knew things had changed, at the end of the day walking down from the Spanish border at some 1100 metres we saw several Clouded Yellows, Brimstones, Cleopatras, Large and Small Whites, Ringlets and around our feet were lots of Wood Whites and suddenly around our heads several Large Tortoiseshells chasing each other. By the end of the month we were seeing ordinary and Scarce Swallowtails, Bath Whites and Green Hairstreaks.

On 1st April Claude, Rene and I spent all day walking in super white snow ending up at Roe Colum which straddles the French/Spanish border at 2507 metres, the whole day we had bright sunshine we thought this was the start of the long sunny period. We were wrong the weather was then all downhill with record rainfall for April with only the odd day of sunshine. May followedon the same.

Rob and Alex Parker visited us for a few days early in May and the only way the past and present Chairmen could see butterflies was to go to a Butterfly Farm, we must have been desperate, but at least we were able to take them to some of the places I had written about.

It was not until the second week in June that our day after day sunshine started. Anne and I celebratedby going up into the mountains for lunch, we still talk about sitting out on the terrace of the little restaurant watching the cows walking below us along the G.R. 10 and in the meadow beyond them the masses of Cardinals and Black-veined Whites.

The butterflies have been wonderful since.

It all goes to show that England has not been alone with its ghastly weather.

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-I Autumn 2003

The SuffolkArgus

Friend or Foe

by JamesMann In the forests in our mountains we often see the nets of the Pine Processionary Moth and the damage the caterpillars do to the conifers.

When my walking friends discover the chains of caterpillarsthey always walk along the chain in an attempt to save the trees from damage. I must say my feelings are split for while I am a friend of Lepidoptera I can also see the damage they cause to the trees so I look upon my friends as part of the balance of nature. This year fortunately for the trees but not the caterpillars the chains arrived early. Then the rains and cold of April and May were not to their liking and we saw many chains stopped in their tracksand very dead so we thought that trees were safe for this year. But no.

In our local paper of 29 June 2002 there appeared an article headed "Grosse attaque defoliante du 'Bombyx Disparate' sur les chenes lieges". This in plain English says, "A plague of caterpillars are eating the leaves of our cork oak trees". The only name I have is Bombyx Disparate, perhaps the moth experrs can help.

Anne and I have now bought a Susuki Samaria 4 X 4, super little thing, made in Spain with a 1.9 Renault Diesel engine. For our first outing on 20 June we drove along some twelve kilometres of rough mountain track ending up at Panissars, a first century B.C. Roman Fort on an old pass over the Pyrenees, that now straddles the Spanish/French border surrounded by cork oaks.

Anne, who has a dread of caterpillars, wandered off to look for flowers and came rushing back saying she could hear caterpillars crunching the leaves: rubbish says I, but when I investigated I could indeed hear them and see thousands of them slowly clearing the leaves from the cork oaks.

On 23 June we did one of our usual Sunday trips to a Vide Grenier at a little mountain village called Arbosols. On the way up the winding road

Fleam Dyke

we looked across the valley and saw a swathe of devastation as if a fire had raged through. When we got closer we discovered it was the caterpillars cutting a clean line as they advanced up the mountain.

Although they have a great preference for any oak species the caterpillars have been known to attack Hornbeam, Beech, Poplar and Pines and sometimes even vines. In our valleys some 3000 to 3500 hectares are affected but in Corsica some 40,000 hectares are defoliated and, as many holiday makers visit the island because of the forests, the bare trees have caused a great loss to the tourist industry.

The Forestry experts claim that the trees will survive and next spring when they judge that the insect cycle is at its most vulnerable they will spray them off using helicopters. Although I should be on the side of Lepidoptera I have to consider the cork industry and I salve my conscience by thinking of our poor Purple Hairstreaks who can't . be best pleased by the devastation of their homes.

- Further notes & sightings

by Julia Napier When I was a child, the local GP was the only butterfly enthusiast I knew. He had one of those collections with 25 kinds of Orange Tip, which even then I did not really like to look at. He used to drive us to school some days, and he would say "Oh, nice caterpillars in that hedge!"

For years I tried to sharpen up my technique of caterpillar spotting at 40mph or whatever his pre-war Austin was doing. Finally it dawned on me that he was having me on. That is until I met Tony Prichard, who spotted the Lackey moths while driving quite fast down Mr Davis's farmroad.

Editor's note: According to the literature I have, the Pine Processionary Moth is Thaumetopoeapityocampa and I suspect that 'Bombyx Disparate' is a French vernacular name for this species. Bombyx is listed in my French dictionary as the moth of the silkworm. Indeed Bombyx mori is the Common Silkworm and belongs to the family Bombycidae that is mainly found in tropical Africa and Asia.

The caterpillars of the Pine Processionary Moth develop in a nest of "sleeves", resembling silk, around pine needles. Could it be that this is why the French call it 'Bombyx Disparate'? Have any other readers any further suggestions?

r,

These larvae were collected and taken home.

The splendid Lackey caterpillars fattened up a bit on local Hawthorn and then pupated, two of them against the sliding Perspex door of the container I had them in. I was intrigued to see how easily they merged into the hawthorn branches, so that even though I knew they were there, I could not instantly find the four of them. And then at the last count, there were five! One had been fattening up on the big overgrown hawthorn hedge nearby which I raid for the Emperors, the last of which are finally pupating - spinning golden webs to start with.· Small Tortoiseshell larvae were also collected.

The twenty or so have pupated, and hang gleaming with gold. A few days ago, a little girl was sitting on the grass verge outside my house overwhelmed with the frustrations of life at two and a half. I spooned up the chrysalis that had come unstuck and took it to divert her. Total magic. The wailing stopped at once, and she and her little brother looked in wide-eyed wonder at the gilded shape. I do this quite often at shows.

"Would you like to see my caterpillars?" is a sure-

EmperorMoth

by Mervyn Crawford fire way of perking up unhappy children! Another reason for conserving butterflies and perhaps producing future entomologists! The Tortoiseshells show colour when they are due to emerge, so I shall probably have time to get them back to the Fleam Dyke. The Lackey moths may be harder to predict. I have had to dislodge the two from the Perspex, and shall leave them outside.

I went back to Fleam Dyke several times on the recent sunny days, and found a good spring selection of butterflies. I saw three male Brimstones in hot pursuit of a female, and I found the Green Hairstreaks at the newly cleared area, nearest to Mudow Hill, in an area sheltered by high hedges on three sides. On both visits I saw a pair of the males flying competitively over the tall shrubs, resting on the higher leaves of a Buckthorn bush, or, flying fast over the area. I also saw the females egg laying on Rock-roses, as expected. I hope this will be useful evidence of the need to keep shelter and wind breaks for all invertebrates.

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Autumn 2003

The SuffolkArgus

Moth Night at Ramsey Wood

Character, Figure of Eighty, Poplar Lutestring, Blood-vein, Silver-ground Carpet, Common Carpet, Purple Bar, Small Phoenix, Common Marbled Carpet, Broken-barred Carpet, Green Carpet, Small Waved Umber, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Rivulet, Mottled Pug, Lime-speck Pug, Small White Wave, Yellow-barred Brindle, Clouded Border, Scorc.hed Carpet, Brown Silver-line, Scorched Wing, Brimstone Moth, Peppered Moth, Waved Umber, Pale Oak Beauty, Brindled Whitespot, Common White Wave, Common Wave, White-pinion Spotted, Clouded Silver, Light Emerald, Lime Hawk-moth, Poplar Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth, Buff-tip, Lobster Moth, Iron Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Swallow Prominent, Pale Tussock, Orange Footman, White Ermine, Buff Ermine, Least Black Arches, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame, Flame Shoulder, Large YellowUnderwing, Small Squarespot, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Bright-line Brown-eye, Hebrew Character, Common Wainscot, Poplar Grey, Alder Moth, Knot Grass, Angle Shades, Clouded-bordered Brindle, Clouded Brindle, Large Nutmeg, Rustic Shoulderknot, Treble Lines, Mottled Rustic, Beautiful Golden Y, Spectacle, Straw Dot.

31st May

by TonyPrichard Ramsey Wood lies next to Hintlesham Wood between Ipswich and Hadleigh and since the RSPB has taken over the management of the wood we have made a start on recording the moth fauna. This joint branch and RSPB public event was well attended by members of the public and we were also joined by a few members of the Essex Moth Group who helped to light up the wood.

A good selection of moths appeared during the evening and the public seemed to go away happy with what they had seen. This time of year can be good for holding public events, if the weather obliges, as a good selection of the larger and more colourful species are usually on the wing.

Lime, Poplar and Elephant Hawk-moths were seen on the night and Prominents included; Iron, Lesser Swallow and Swallow. Species of more localised distribution recorded included; Phlyctaenia perlucida/is, Poplar Lutestring, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Lobster Moth and Orange Footman.

The Orange Footman would appear to be going from strength to strength in the county as records of this moth have increased in recent years.

In all 8 5 species were recorded on the night, these were: Common Swifi:, Esperia sulphure//a, Te/eiodes

luculel/a, Ptycho/oma kcheana, Eulia ministrana, Celypha lacunana, Hedya nubiferana, Bactra lancea/ana, Ancy/is mitterbacheriana, Epibkma cynosbatel/a, Eucosma cana, Crambuslathonie//us,Scopariaambigualis, Evergestisforfica/is (Garden Pebble), Eurrhypara hortulata(Small Magpie), Phlyctaeniaperlucida/is, Oak • Hook-tip,

Pebble

Hook-tip,

Chinese

16

ElephantHawk Moth

by Mervyn Crawford

Brimstones

and Buckthorn in an Ipswich Garden Brimstone

by BerylJohnson

by Dave Fincham 18th four larvae were measured and found to be 20mm long, and on 20th June a shed skin, adhering to a leaf directly behind and in line with a caterpillar.

June 21st to the 30th we were away on holiday so no observations recorded but on July 1st afi:ermuch searching, just one large caterpillar was located, now 31 mm long, lying along the midrib of a leaf and raising the head end of its body when disturbed. The shrub looked rather the worse for hosting its guests, with whole leaves eaten away and only the mid-rib remaining. We hunted, in vain, for any larvae that might have already pupated.

Success!On July 6th and again on the 7th a male Brimstone butterfly was seen flying in the garden, a new record for us, since moving here in 1973.

Following an illustrated talk presented by Julian Dowding to the Ipswich & District Natural History Society in February 2001 we purchased two Alder Buckthom 'whips'. The 'whips' were planted against an informal hedge of garden shrubs, in a west facing, warm and sheltered spot.

During 2001/2002 the plants became established but growth was very slow. However in the Spring of 2003 one of the plants began to shoot upwards, vigorously, reaching a height of 1.2 metres by the early summer.

During May (this year) we noted, on several days, a large white butterfly in the vicinity of the Buckthom and although hopeful, due to its rapid flight, we could not definitely identify it as a femaJe Brimstone. On May 25th we discovered eggs, on the under-side of young leaflets, of the larger bush. The eggs were tall, bottle shaped, greenish/white, laid singly - two on one leaf, three on another and just one on another. By May 28th the eggs had changed colour from greenish/white to greenish/yellow.

In June small perforations appeared in the leaves followed by larger portions being eaten and on June 9th three small green caterpillars were found (approx. 10mm long) and each lying along the mid-vein of an Alder Buckthom leaf. By June

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Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus

Brimstone butterflies breeding in Ipswich.

Buckthorn attracts eggs.

where both types of Buckthorn were planted. Eggs were first discovered on April 19th, after the Friends of Holywells Park Easter EggHunt. These were obviously eggs of a different kind! The photo of the egg, magnified, shows its milk-bottle shape. le will hatch into a caterpillar after about two weeks depending on the weather and on surviving predation. After pupating into a chrysalis, it ultimately turns into a gorgeous yellow butterfly which will be on the wing for a period in the summer and then go into diapause or hibernation until next Spring when the cycle will be repeated.

by Julian Dowding The Brimstones and Buckthom initiative was launched in 1998/99 as a joint venture between Ipswich Organic Gardener's Group, Ipswich Wildlife Group, Butterfly Conservation and Ipswich Borough Council. Started with a budget of just £100, its aim quite simply was to bring about a reversal of the fate of the Brimstone in East Suffolk which until then, like many of Suffolk's one time common species, had been in gentle decline and was absent &om many parts.

The concept was driven by the fact that female Brimstones search out and detect their caterpillar's foodplant at a distance. By planting the foodplant, we have encouraged the butterfly into the area and have finally been rewarded with femaleslaying eggs on bushes in Ipswich. Altogether over 3000 bushes of both Alder Buckthorn and Common Buckthorn have been planted on around 200 sites; some plantings are of single bushes in private gardens, others are of larger plantings of between 50-200 bushes. Every single bush is valuable to the butterfly and to the initiative.

The accompanying photographs, on pages 8 and 9, were taken in Holywells Park, Ipswich,

BrimstoneOva byJulian Dowding The success of the initiative shows that individual actions of ordinary people do matter and that just one small gesture, in this case the planting of a bush, can make all the difference.

If you would be interested in taking part in the initiative and would like to plant some Buckthorn bushes next winter to attract Brimstones into your garden patch or allotment, please phone Julian for more details on: 01473 414092 or email: julian.dowding@ndworld.com

Bushes are sold as bare rooted whips which are about 40-60cm long and cost 65p each.

8

Downe Bank & West Kent Golf Course 15th June

by Paul Johnson With barely a trace of cloud troubling the countenance of the sky, and only the regularity of passing traffic betraying our GreaterLondon rendezvous, seventeen of us assembled in Downe village on the morning of the mid Sunday of June. A footpath led us away from the village and it was pleasant to walk in the shade afforded by the oak canopies above, yet look out into an adjacent sunlit meadow. Here, Common Blue, Large Skipper and Painted Lady were the first species committed to notebooks. Presently, we descended steep steps and stood overlooking Downe Bank, the orchid flora of which had inspired Charles Darwin some 150 years ago.

We moved slowly along the narrow path bisecting Downe Bank, perhaps taken as much by the seclusion and intimacy of the site as by the natural history unfolding before us. Large Skippers whirred and jostled like winged dynamos around the spikes of Fragrant, Pyramidal and Common Spotted Orchids. Small Tortoiseshells, showing signs of recovery after recession at the turn of the millennium, patrolled the lower slopes and, occasipnally, a larger and altogether more vivid Nymphalid would launch itself down the bank; although never absolutely verified, its identity almost certainly Dark Green Fritillary.

As we turned to retrace our steps, a Humming Bird Hawk Moth provided a flawless display of precision flying as it nectared on the wing from a multitude of flowerheads. My initial reaction on encountering a first White Admiral a decade ago was that this was surely some escaped exotica, so incongruous did its primary colours and elegant flight seem against the backdrop of bramble and conifer. In many respects the

Humming Bird Hawk Moth evokes similar emotions.

Progressing to the northerly part of the bank, the tally of Common Blues and Meadow Browns continued to mount (the latter's abundance just one week post emergence quite remarkable), the Humming Bird Hawk Moth impressed twice more with its total mastery of the air and, amidst the Bird's Foot Trefoil and YellowRattle, Brown Argus and an unusually pallid female Brimstone were discerned. In terms of butterflies, mid June often represents something of a trough; the season temporarily becalmed in the entomological equivalent of the doldrums. However, as we settled for lunch under the canopy of a walnut tree back in Downe village, the morning's yield of ten species constituted a pleasing total.

The afternoon's activities were conducted along a calcareous bank lying just to the south of Downe village. Named directly after the West Kent Golf Course, which skirts its base, this site falls under the jurisdiction of London Wildlife Trust and, being west facing, receives the undivided attention of the mid afternoon sun. A brief reconnaissance excepted, I had not visited this locality for a few years and the increasing dominance of ranker grasses at the expense of chalk downland flora was notable. On the first section we covered, only two strong stands of Kidney Vetch (the Small Blue's larval foodplant) were recorded, and I suspect that more vigorous ground disturbance than that currently provided by golf balls driven waywardly into the bank is needed to invigorate dormant seeds.

As we descended, a Marbled White flew up towards us and, illustrating the significance of a site's aspect (for they had not been recorded a mile away on the east facing slope of Downe Bank), the dark profiles of Ringlets bobbed amongst the scrub at the slope's base. If the trend of warmer summers continues, I wonder whether our perceptions of butterfly flight times will be inexorably altered to the extent that Marbled Whites and Ringlets are regarded as species of late spring, well past their peak by high summer.

Male Small Blues typically establish territories at the base of a slope (often some

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Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus distance from Kidney Vetch) and it was under such circumstances that our first representative of this species was located, perched on a low grass stem.

Our enjoyment was short-lived for the butterfly flew, lost from view almost immediately despite three pairs of eyes trained upon it from a distance of no more than a metre and the remainder of the group converging rapidly upon the scene. Moving back up the bank, we paused at one of the Kidney Vetch stands and encountered a female Small Blue so utterly engrossed in egg laying that it was possible to familiarise ourselves with this species' salient markings. Perhaps of greater interest, for this is not one of our most visually striking butterflies, was the opportunity to observe her behaviour as she moved about the flower heads; abdomen trailing in exploratory fashion across each before being curved in the act of ovipositing.

As she moved on, we were able to locate the green ova embedded within the fluffy inflorescences.

Paths almost completely shaded by dense undergrowth are normally anathema to lepidopterists, yet the one we followed to reach the southernmost section of the bank brought respite from the debilitating mid afternoon heat. As we emerged into the sunlight, the next half an hour would perhaps provide the most enduring

memories of the day. For here, Dark Green Fritillaries, which had tantalised us with only the briefest of glimpses during the morning, powered over the sward in good numbers. Our attention was invariably drawn to these striking Nymphalidae despite the discovery of Small Blues about the first (and each subsequent) stand of Kidney Vetch ·we encountered, a second brood Holly Blue flying around scrub at the bank top and a Dingy Skipper draped over a grass head, its wings tattered and worn. Although the group willed the fritillaries to pause and nectar, we had to content ourselves with flashes of black and orange as upperwings were revealed during powerful glides, or glimpses of silver green undersides as the butterflies momentarily fluttered above the ground in anticipation of newly emerged females.

The group now dispersed, we trailed back towards the footpath in ones and twos.

Occasionally, someone would stoop and peer down at an inconspicuous butterfly with pale blue underwings and slate uppers. On a bank where Darwin once walked, thought bent upon explanation and hypothesis, it is heartening that the Small Blue continues to compete in the survival of the fittest with a vigour seemingly at odds with its diminutive stature.

Species List; Dingy Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Common Blue, Small Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Dark Green Fritillary, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Ringlet.

A Chalkhill Blue in Suffolk

by Jim Foster On Thursday 31 July, Rosalind my wife, was sitting in our conservatory when she noticed a pale blue butterfly flying in our garden at Stonham Aspal. It stopped to nectar on some Eryngium but its wings were folded. It was larger than the familiar Common Blue and pale on the underside and my immediate reaction was that it could be an aberrantCommon Blue.

A Brown Hawker dragonfly had been patrolling our garden, a species that I wish to photograph, which is difficult as they rarely perch, so my camera was handy. I dashed indoors and grabbed the camera but the butterfly moved briefly to some white Rudbeckia and then flew again alighting on a Viola and obligingly settled with its wings open. I realised it was a Chalkhill Blue, a species I had not considered possible in this area. I managed to take four photographs before it flew back to the Eryngium and then away.

I rang our Chairman/Butterfly Recorder, Rob Parker, to report the sighting wondering what his reaction would be, however as he from time to time receives unusual/misidentified sightings he acknowledged it without too much surprise. Anyway the record was noted and as he was co-incidentally visiting our address the same evening, I was able to demonstrate where the butterfly had alighted.

To my surprise a few days later Rob informed me that another Chalkhill Blue had been seen at Gosfield near Halstead in Essex on the same date. The nearest known colony to both sites is at the Devil's Dyke just over the border in Cambridgeshire. Were these just strays or is there a colony near these sites that we are unaware of? The nearest chalk area to Stonham Aspal is either Coddenham or Needham Market and I alerted a person at each location just in case there were more on the wing.

Subsequently I searched what I thought might be a possible breeding area at Creeting St. Mary with the help of member Nigel Smart. Rob also checked out the chalk pits at Needham Market. Neither of these sites yielded the larval food plant for the species, the Horseshoe Vetch. A release by an unscrupulous person seems unlikely, as Stonham Aspal and Gosfield are about 30 miles apart. It appears that these were strays, either from Devil's Dyke or elsewhere. Could the hot summer have played a part in this possible movement? A copy of a photograph taken at the time is reproduced below.

ChalkhillBlue byJim Foster

DarkGreenFritillary

by DouglasHammersley 18

7

The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003 Silver-studdedBlue.

We assist the RSPB annually with the count of Silver-studded Blues at six of the largest of the colonies at Minsmere. The butterflies were on the wing earlier than usual this year, and we brought the count forward a week, only to be thwarted by poor weather, and to push it back again (by four days to 4th July). The result was very satisfactory; we involved members who had not participated in this exciting sport before, with a team of nine, including two RSPB volunteers, proving that determined spotting is more important than butterfly identification. We counted no less than 1387 SSBs in one day (I 070 males and 3 I 7 females), showing that the butterflies were having a good season. The Minsmere results are amalgamated with other counts by the Mardesham Conservation Group and the wider Sandlings Group. There have been good counts everywhere this year, with several sightings to suggest that SSBs have been dispersing from their .regular colonies, with some chance of recolonization in a few spots where the habitat is suitable. One particularly welcome element is that the Wenhaston Blackheath colony, thought last year to be on the brink of extinction, has certainly survived 2003, with sufficient females to give good hope for the future, now that some of the Bell Heather has been cut back to the condition the butterflies require.

White-letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley week, so we must hope that the colony can reestablish itself on a firm footing. The Wordwell colony was active, and we saw six there later the same day, although none were to be seen in the vicinity of John O'Groats cottages. Our trip to Center Pares at Elveden on 19th was encouraging, with five found during the only bright hour of the day. The organised count at RAF Barnham fell foul of poor weather, but a few were seen on later visits, and on 24th two were found just across the wire on Barnhamcross Common. Several other nearby sites were checked without success, including Marmansgrave Wood, where the habitat no longer looks very suitable. All in all, the Dingy Skipper was found to be holding its ground, with a couple of encouraging sightings from our efforts.

2004.

Next year's programme will again feature events aimed at our BAP species, and hopefully someone reading this will be inspired to join in and enjoy discovering more about our scarcer species.

DingySkipper byJim Foster 6

Day-flying moths at Barnhamcross Common

frequency it is recorded. After lunch we moved to the west side of the common where the habitat does not appear as rich in flora and the number of moth species recorded was correspondingly lower, although with the change of habitat different species were recorded.

Others species recorded on the day were;

5th July

by TonyPrichard This was a joint meeting with the Suffolk Naturalists' Society and we were joined by several of their members. The meeting was arranged as an opportunity to see the number and variety of moths that can be recorded during the day. Not surprisingly day-flying moths like the sunshine just as much as butterflies do, so as the weather on the day was rather overcast it did not appear likely that we would be seeing too many. Walking south across the west side of the common it was not long before the first of several Forester moths was seen. These are metallic green moths akin to the red and black Burnet moths and in Suffolk this species would appear restricted to the Brecks. With their green wings and rapid wing movement they can be slightly tricky to spot as they fly over grassland.

Slowing your walking pace and having a good look at things around normally means that you will see something of interest - keen eyes quickly picked out a Hedge Rustic caterpillar in amongst the grassy sward. It also helps if you have some knowledge of what plants and time of year are likely to give results, such as looking at Honeysuckle leaves that may reveal signs of feeding by the caterpillar of the Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth. This site normally has good numbers of plume moths flying during the day and we managed to locate a couple of species; Stenoptilia pterodactyla and Pterophorus pentadactyla.One of the larger micro-lepidoptera, Sitochroaverticalis,was disturbed while looking for larvae - this species would appear to have its stronghold within the county in the Brecks. While we were looking for moths Neil Sherman was looking for False Mocha larvae by 'beating' oak unfortunately with negative results. This moth seems to be decreasing in its range and the

Ypsolophaustella, Carcina quercana,Agonopterix nervosa, Archips podana, Aleimma loejlingiana, Tortrix viridana, Celypha lacunana, Gypsonoma sociana, Gypsonoma dealbana, Eucosma cana, Chrysoteuchia culmella, Homoeosoma sinuella, Blood-vein, Brindled Pug, Cinnabar and Silver Y.

19

Suffolk Moth Group Web Site

by TonyPrichard

The Suffolk Moth Group web site has changed its address. It can now be found at http://www.suffolkmothgroup.org. uk/.

There is now a bit more space available so I have put up some draft county distribution maps of the macro-moths. Further items of interest will be added as I have time.

7

Autumn 2003

The Suffolk Argus

Mildenhall Woods & Aspal Close

13th July

by Rob Parker The White Admirals flew early in 2003, so we were concerned that 13th July might prove too late for good sightings at the otherwise dependable site close to Hirst Fen in the Mildenhall Woods. The dozen members who turned up on a bright, hot day (26°C) included a number of fresh faces, including visitors &om the Cambs & Essex Branch, and one Newmarket resident, attending his first BC field meeting. We started the walkwith a count of Small/Essex Skippers alongside the Cut-off Channel, with one team counting left, and the other right. The numbers mounted in harmony, and finished at 175 + 145, the total of 320 perhaps exceeding what any of us might have estimated &om a less thorough count.

The habitat both in the open stretch and inside the woodland is unspoiled, and we notched up a good species list as we progressed. The first White Admiral appeared within a couple of

minutes of reaching their favourite ride, and the second was obliging enough to pose for phorography. Each was worn in its own way, and at least this allowed us to avoid double counting, though none offered the pristine image that we might have had two weeks earlier. In all, we saw at least four individuals, and repeat appearances meant that everyone had a good close-up view. On the way back to the cars, we took a different route, and saw another White Admiral in a previously unrecorded tetrad, which was an unexpected bonus.

By the time we paused for lunch, we had seen 20 butterfly species, plus a few faded Forester moths, and a good variety of dragonflies, including Emperor, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Common Darter and Banded Demoiselle. We moved on to nearby Aspal Close, an enclosed piece of ancient "wood with pasture", which most members were seeing for the first time. This site had become a Local Nature Reserve since our last visit, and concerns had been voiced about the management regime. It was pleasing to see that the butterfly numbers were still good, with plenty of the grass-feeding species, despite the previous season's mowing. The Small Heath was between broods, but a couple were seen anyway, a species not seen in the morning. The other species added to the list was Purple Hairstreak, which obligingly showed itself in the extreme heat.

The whole day count of22 species was a pleasing result, especially for those inclined to consider the west of the county as less productive than the east.

Small Heath byDouglasHammersley 20

action plans for Dingy Skipper in Suffolk and Small Blue and Duke of Burgundy in Bedfordshire.

Regional Events I have represented Butterfly Conservation at a number of regional events including the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Beauty Conservation Day near Aldbury, Heath Fritillary Day at Southend in Essex, Forestry Commission's Regional Woodland Strategy Day near Chelmsford and the Regional Biodiversity Officers meeting in Cambridge. These events are a very useful way of gaining new contacts and up to date information about grants and projects. I have also been asked ro comment and provide butterfly information for a number of management plans for local nature reserves.

Discover Moths Event There were 29 people at the first training event I have organised in Cambridge with help from the County Recorder John Dawson and with Dr Paul Waring as the main speaker. This was funded under the Heritage Lottery National Macro Moth Recording Scheme Project. Cambridgeshire is relatively under-recorded and it is hoped that many of the people who attended will go on to record macro moths at home as well as helping with target Biodiversity Action Plan species. A second event will be held in Huntingdon on September 27th.

GrizzledSkipper

by DouglasHammersley

Field Trips

for BAP Butterflies

by Rob Parker Last year's field visit programme featured a good look at White-letter Hairstreaks as a spur to get more recorders looking for unknown sites. This year, Dingy Skipper site monitoring and the Silver-studded Blue count featured as programmed events in order to bring fresh faces to the important business of looking after those butterflies featured in the Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). In parallel, the Suffolk Moth Group has targeted many of their field outings towards BAP moths. The following paragraphs give a feel for the health of those butterflies, rather than simply an account of the field trip.

White-letter Hairstreak. In 2002, we proved that there are colonies of White-letter Hairstreak surviving in places that are not longrecognized localities. In July 2003, at least seven fresh sites have been added. One is on National Trust land north of Minsmere, whilst the others were found on the elms ofleafy Newmarket, in an outstanding single-handed effort by Sharon Hearle. Plenty of other promising elms were visited with less fruitful results, so thanks to the recorders involved, and lets keep up our endeavours next season. The verdict for the hairstreaks' health: very encouraging despite these sorry times for elms.

Dingy Skipper. The planned count in May attracted a determined group, and brought some excellent news. At Chalk Lane on 15th we found three Dingy Skippers flying at the precise spot where they had flourished in the past, though we had given them up for lost since 1999. The Suffolk Moth Group also noted them there the following

5

The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003 managed as all are within the urban area.

Whilst noting down Wych Elm I also noted down any Hop and was later able to find a new 10km square record for the Buttoned Snout Moth by searching for the larvae in July.

Regional Officer Eastern Region - Report

Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper Although the su.rvey season seemed to be over before it even began I am busy doing follow up work to many known colonies and potential sites by contacting landowners and relevant organisations.

In Norfolk there is a long list of sites with no record for I O or 20 years, which may still have useful habitat and the butterflies. I am hoping that by visiting sites now and identifying whether useful habitat remains and securing permission from landowners that survey visits in the spring will be more efficient.

In Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire three sites are threatened by development at the moment and one other in the future so I am busy liasing with the developers and other organisations to see where habitat can be saved or created.

Species action plans can help to raise much needed awareness and funds. A drafr Cambridgeshire species action plan for Grizzled Skipper has been written and I have commented on species

by Sharon Hearle My first butterfly season as Regional Officer is nearly over and I can say that the highlight must have been the delightful Heath Fritillary at Great Wood near Southend. This butterfly illustrates very well the vulnerability of so many butterflies in the eastern region and that neglect of its habitat in this case coppiced woodland and rides can lead to extinction within a few years. Many remaining populations of High Priority butterflies such as Small Blue and Purple Emperor rely on continual management.

New sites for White-letter Hairstreak Careful planning and searching, as many of you already know, can pay off. This year I managed to locate four new sites for White-letter Hairstreak in Newmarket, Suffolk. There were already quire well known colonies just over the county boundary in Cambridgeshire on Wych Elm so the first job was to identify any sites for Wych Elm in Newmarket - quire an easy job when the tree is in flower in April. In fact it seems that Wych Elm hedges or straggly shelterbelrs are quire frequent in Newmarket and patient waiting in late June and July paid off with sightings of the butterfly on elm and adjacent lime trees. I will now be working with Forest Heath District Council to ensure that these elm hedges and shelterbelrs are protected and

Dukeof Burgundy

by DouglasHammersley

4

Review of Three Butterfly Books

by Richard Stewart With Christmas on the horiwn, this is the time to be dropping hints about possible books for presents.These three are very different in content and cost, none being an identification guide.

The most expensive, at £30, is 'The Aurelian Legacy' by Michael Salmon, with additional material by Peter Marren and Basil Harley. (Harley Books, pub. 2000, ISBN O 946589 40 2). This is a large, heavy hardback, with 432 pages and is a 'Bible' for anyone interested in our Lepidoptera history. I'm not likely ever to be seen wielding a butterfly net but I still found the many detailed sections fascinating. There is coverage of the history of British butterfly collecting, a section aptly entitled 'Weapons of The Chase', a later section on conservation and a big chunk about species of historical interest - this incidentally had its own bibliography of main published texts per species, and I found this very useful. With a book of this· length there are bound to be some errors no mention of the successful Large Blue reintroductions, a very incomplete list of 1990's Large Tortoiseshell sightings and the comment about the Glanville Fritillary that 'one day this beautiful butterfly may well colonise the mainland again' was unfortunate.

The main section is a long, derailed and very comprehensive collection of biographies of the main British butterfly collectors, the first fully published list. I found this surprisingly interesting, not just their details and obvious passion but also

their interaction with each other, which was nor always positive. The only omission I could detect was Sam Beaufoy,pioneer oflife-cycle photography and illustrator to Ford's 'Butterflies', though his death may have come too late for his inclusion.

With plentiful illustrations, magnificent fullpage colour reproductions from a variety of famous artists, quotes from Vladimir Nabokov and Virginia Woolf, and a foreword from Miriam Rothschild, this is certainly not a dry academic treatise and I would recommend it to anyone with even the most peripheral interest in the history of British Lepidoptera.

The second, at £18.95, is a complete contrast; 'Butterflies In Flight' by Roger Camp (Thames and Hudson, pub. 2002, ISBN 0500 510903). I can vividly remember finding this in a Chelmsford bookshop and, with no one nearby, being able to unravel much of its full unfolded length of twelve metres. Against a black background, over three hundred images of mainly foreign butterflies in flight can be unfolded page by page. There is a separate identification and habitat guide. This in my opinion is the best artistic book about butterflies since 'Beningfield's Butterflies' many years ago and is a superb testimony to the grace, elegance and varied colours of flying butterflies.

Finally, a hardback priced £12.99 joins the ever-growing published literature about those incredible 'Guinness Book Of Records' butterflies, the Monarchs. This is 'Four Wings and a Prayer'

by Sue Halpern. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pub.2001, ISBN O 297 842218). I have been able to visit the Mexican overwintering Monarch site on two occasions so this book gave me a very comprehensive update on the latest research into migration routes. I wasn't too impressed with some of the 'liberties' taken by researchers, such as putting the butterflies in envelopes and transferring captured specimens from one migration route to a different one, to see what happened to their orientation, bur the author did cover a wide variety of Monarch enthusiasts. These ranged from University professors to glider pilots, from ordinary members of the public who had become 'hooked' and there was also comment on

21

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The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003

how the creation of sanctuary areas at the wintering sites had affected locals who had used chem for centuries. This lase mentioned aspect did, I felt, need more detailed comment, especially about job creation locally co accommodate che many visitors. I also suffered at rimes from a distinct ignorance of North American geography and still grit my teeth when an exquisite creature like a Monarch is described as a 'bug'. I did enjoy the author's listing of her personal inspirations, ranging from books to web sites, newsletters, poetry and branching into other forms of wildlife I found this far more useful than the standard list of references.

Throughout, the passion and dedication of these Monarch 'maniacs' was strongly portrayed, ideally this should be read alongside Joe Brewer's 'Wings In The Meadow' (Dent, 1967, Country Book Club 1971) which is beautifully illustrated but probably now out of print. This is also a detailed account of Monarchs but is fascinating to read first since it was written before the actual overwintering place of the Monarchs was discovered.

A world where butterflies and-moths can thrive for future • generations to enjoy Every year Butterfly Conservation receives a small number oflegacies from our members and other supporters who, through their kindness, are helping to ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to observe our native butterflies and moths in the wild, as they once did.

By remembering Butterfly Conservation in your will, you can make a lasting and valuable contribution to our work.

Please contact David Bridges on 01403 256175 to talk informally and confidentially about making a bequest to Butterfly Conservation, or write to him at the Society's Head Office in Dorset.

MonarchLarva

by Jim Foster

22

Editorial

by Jim Foster One day we may be lucky and accracc a Monarch to this garden flower as the genus is the larval food plane for the species and some pigs may fly over at the same time!

Butterflies are even being found in moth craps and Neil Sherman has a short article in this issue. Continuing on the moth theme we ran our moth lamp overnight on 9th August. I recorded a minimum temperature of 17°C chat night, however you may recall chat the following day was the hottest day on record, over 36°C here. We spent all of that day sorting out some very active moths in the uncomfortable heat. However two interesting records were a Dark Swordgrass, an immigrant, and the Square-spotted Clay. The latter is a Suffolk Biodiversity Action Plan species and therefore I held the moth so the record could be confirmed, it was then lacer released. A total of 574 moths, 55 species were recorded but no butterflies in the trap!

This autumn sees the 1Ochanniversary of the formation of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Looking back in the Editor's newsletter files I note that che Branch was launched on 30 October 1993 at a conference held at Ipswich School. The first issue of the Argus followed in January 1994 with Steve Goddard as Editor. I have a complete sec of the Argus in the files; however, my copy for May 1995 (Vol. 5) is a draft. If any member has a spare or does not wish to retain their copy I would be very graceful to receive it. This will then complete a bound published set for the Editor.

First an apology to James Mann. In the last Suffolk Argus on page 16, The Great Apollo Hunt Last Verse, the article notes, "we saw 46 Lizards". I understand from James that this should have read Izards. Now I confess that I thought lzards was a typing error so I changed it to Lizards, however James has informed me that the Izard is a mountain goat. My excuse is that the word Izard is not in my French dictionary nor in my Mammals field guide so I presume it is a local vernacular name for the Spanish Ibex, Capra pyrenaica. This is a similar species to the Alpine Ibex, Capra ibex, that I have searched for in the French Alps without success; the local French name is the Bouquetin.

Well if our garden is anything to go by it has been a very good year for butterflies. We have had a record number of species in our garden this year, 22 in all. As we are situated in an 'arable desert' with little hope of seeing the heathland species or the woodland hairstreaks we are very satisfied. Also the number of bunerflies irrespective of the species is certainly greater this year. We recorded Large, Small and Essex Skippers, last year we did not see a skipper in the garden. Brown Argus and Common Blue only occasional visitors normally, were seen on numerous occasions. Like many others we have had a share of the Painted Ladies. Also we had one very unusual species for Suffolk, a Chalkhill Blue, see my article on page 7 for more details.

One event that we thought to be unusual was a Green-veined White with its proboscis trapped in an Asclepias flower. We initially thought that the butterfly was caught in a spider's web but on closer inspection this was not the case.

This garden flower has quite a complex sttucture nevertheless my wife was able co free the victim without harming it.

3

The Suffolk Argus

Autumn 2003

Contents

Editorial

A Chalkhill Blue in Suffolk

3 4 5 7

Brimstone Butterflies breeding in Ipswich

8

Brimstone & Buckthorn in an Ipswich Garden

9

Editorial Regional Officer Eastern Region - Report BAP Butterflies Report

Copy Dates Contributions for our newsletter should reach the Editor (address on back page) no later than: Spring

Christmas Eve

Friend or Foe

10

Summer

April Fools Day

Winter Weather in the South of France 2001 /2002

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Butterflies in Moth Traps

11 12

2003 Field Meetings

12

Review of Three Butterfly Books • Legacy Request

21 22

Newsletter Details and General Information Suffolk Branch Contacts

23 Back Cover

For that difficult to find present, why not give a decorative butterfly or moth to mount on the front wall of someone's home ?

Cast in aluminium and enamelled in very realistic colours at five times life-size,they will last for many years.

Highly Individual nameplates too, to your own design, with no-obligation colour preview. Suffolk Branch will receive one quarter of the purchase price.

Any piece of writing that is considered to be of interest will be published together with line drawings/prints /photographs.

The Suffolk Argus is your magazine, so please let us hear from you.

To advertisein the SuffolkArgus

Phone or fax Mervyn Crawford on Mildenlwll (01638) 711600for Colo11rbroch11reI Price list.

please contact Jim Foster on

01449 711484.

2

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

Butterfly Hotel, Al 4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Butterfly Hotel, Al4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884 23

Suffolk Branch Contacts

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Chairman Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3BN (01284 705476) Membership Secretary Beryl Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) Newsletter Editor Jim Foster, Lugano, The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 6AH (01449711484) Publicity Officer (Vacant) Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies) Rob Parker (address as above)

!,The

BlITTERFLY CONSERVATION

Conservation Officer (Butterflies) Rob Parker (address left) Conservation Officer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 Powling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder (Moths) Tony Prichard (address above) Secretary Tony Prichard, (address above)

Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk IP7 5LP (01473 310371) Committee Members Stella Wolfe, Mike Dean President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW? 5BD (0171 938 8782)

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Volunteers

Needed

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© 2003 all rights reserved

Reg.No. 2206468 Reg.Charity No. 254937 HeadOffice:Manor Yard,East Lulworth, Wareham,Dorset BH20 5QP Tel: (0l 929) 400209 Editon Jim FosterLogo: (Silver-studdedBlue)Doug Hammersley Design: Stephen Ion, Cat & Mouse design Printcn 321 Printing, 25 BrookhouseBusinessPark, Had.leighRoad, Ipswich, SuffolkIP2 0EF

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Wallby BerylJohnson

If you feel you could help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 715701.

Publishedby the SuffolkBranchof ButterflyConservation (The BritishButterflyConservationSociety Ltd.)

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The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

BlITTERFLY CONSERVATION

Autumn 2003 Volume30