I’m loving this warm weather in the last week and so are the insects – although it is forecast to get cooler again by Thursday, so the entomological extravaganza may be short lived!
It’s been a day of ‘firsts’ for me today, with several species making an appearance for the first time in 2012. It began this morning with common blue butterfly, or Polyommatus icarus, as one drifted past me on the grassland close to silt lagoon 6, several more then revealed themselves around the balancing pond. The females will be laying eggs on bird’s-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, the larval foodplant of this species.
A couple of damselflies were next on the list with both banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens and red-eyed damselfly, Erythromma najas, on the wing around the site. Look out for the stunning banded demoiselle (the scientific name says it all!) on the public footpath by the silt lagoon. The males have the characteristic blue/black pigmentation on the wings. Red-eyed damselflies are smaller than the demoiselles, but still quite a large damselfly with, as their name suggests, characteristic red eyes. Look for them also along the public footpath by the silt lagoons and along by the viewing screen.
Back to the Lepidoptera, as I made my way back to the office this afternoon a mother shipton moth, Callistege mi, landed in front of me. Named for the pattern on the forewing which is said to look like an old woman, they are day-flying and their larval foodplant is predominantly clovers.
And yesterday morning I picked up the first small heath butterfly, or Coenonympha pamphilus, of the year by silt lagoon 4. A small butterfly, they have light orange coloured wings and their larval foodplants are a variety of grasses such as bents, meadow-grasses and fescues.