Butterflies

A very fresh male Silver-studded Blue was flying amongst the Common Blue and Brown Argus butterflies at Glanville’s (Pennans) Field near Penhale Dunes on the 1st of June. This stunning butterfly stood out boldly from the already fast fading other blues flitting over the Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil.

This is one of the best spots in Cornwall to see this species and many hundreds may be recorded in a day during its peak flight time in July.

On this visit the weather was warm with light winds and general numbers of butterflies were disappointing although it was good to see healthy numbers of Dingy Skipper in a number of spots where the grass hadn’t been grazed.

The only migrant butterfly seen was a single Red Admiral and numbers of Small Heath and Small Copper were very low. Other butterflies noted were Green-veined White, Orange-tip and Speckled Wood.

Day-flying moths recorded included Opsibotys fuscalis, Silver Hook, Yellow Shell, Cinnabar Moth, Pyrausta cingulata and Crambus Pascuella. More detailed posts will follow on these species.

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