Well, what a ‘hurricane’ season this has been for Cornwall – weeks of heavy rain, gales, flooding and mountainous seas. And then suddenly, a brief interlude and 5 Peacock butterflies (inachis io) miraculously emerge from hibernation to bask in the … Read More
The Clouded Yellow Butterfly (Colias croceus) caterpillars being reared from collected eggs are growing rapidly and have been joined by an unexpected arrival. Clovers brought in from the garden three weeks ago to feed them happened to have a tiny … Read More
The one disappointing thing about seeing lots of Clouded Yellow Butterflies, Colias croceus, is that they rarely sit still with wings open. This is a real shame as they really are magnificent butterflies. Well, for once, a wings open moment … Read More
In recent days the influx of Clouded Yellow butterflies from the continent has increased further. Counts in the hundreds have been had at coastal sites in south west Cornwall. The arrivals have included a number of the female form helice. … Read More
In recent days many parts of the south coast have seen the arrival of good numbers of Clouded Yellow butterflies. This one was one of four sighted at the mouth of the Helford Estuary, in south west Cornwall. This included … Read More
One butterfly that appears to doing well is the stunning Red Admiral Butterfly Despite comparatively low numbers seen earlier in the year the nettle tents containing the caterpillars seem to be quite common now. The Red Admiral Caterpillars are seldom … Read More
These photographs of well marked male and female Dark Green Fritillary butterflies help show the differences between the sexes The images were taken at the weekend at Porth Joke on the north coast of Cornwall near Newquay. Several of these … Read More
The Orange-tip butterfly, Anthocharis cardamines, caterpillars reared from collected eggs are beginning to pupate. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I see any caterpillar undergo this extraordinary change it never ceases to amaze me. Having selected a suitable … Read More
The largest number of Painted Lady butterflies possibly recorded in the British Isles this year was our reward for a trip to Poldhu Cove on the Lizard at the weekend. Of the total of 13 seen during the day 8 … Read More
The rocky summits of Buttermilk and Rosewall Hills near St Ives, Cornwall are not the type of places you’d normally expect to find migrant butterflies! So the two Painted Lady and two Red Admirals seen basking on the huge granite … Read More
This Painted Lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui, is our first migrant butterfly of the year and was seen warming itself up on a sheltered patch of dried grass at Rosemullion Head, near Falmouth. Butterflies have been very scarce so far this … Read More
An exciting new Cornwall butterfly and moth breeding group has been set up. The main aims of the group are to establish a centre where the methods of breeding native Cornish species of lepidoptera can be learnt and then passed … Read More
First butterfly of the year! – 4 Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae, have been seen in and around our Falmouth garden over the last couple of days (8/9 March). Worringly these are our first butterflies of the year! Normally by now … Read More
This male and female Small Skipper butterfly were seen copulating on Bramble at Windmill Farm Nature Reserve, on the Lizard in Cornwall during the BioBlitz at the end of July. From the underside both sexes look very similar but when … Read More
Butterfly Conservations ‘Big Butterfly Count’ national survey involves spending fifteen minutes between 14 July and 5 August counting butterflies. The counts can take place anywhere in the country and in any habitat; gardens, towns, schools, in the countryside, any records … Read More
Small Tortoiseshell butterfly numbers are still on the decline. I always look forward to receiving “Butterfly“, the magazine of Butterfly Conservation, but I have to admit that I often finish the read feeling a little bit depressed. Despite all the … Read More