The sort of butterfly moment you dream of today - wandering around the office (Epping Forest) in the late afternoon sun when I flushed a lovely old Large Tortoiseshell from the sunny wall next to this old plum - just wonderful. Seems to be the second recent record from the forest #Butterflies
New leafmine site update. Parornix atripalpella early stages seen for first time. Dicladispa testacea newly arrived in UK. Col prunifoliae - elusive species! Stigmella spinosissimae seen. Such an interesting update!
leafmines.co.uk/html/updates...
Earlier this week, I visited Poldice Mine for the annual survey of Cornwall Butterfly Conservation's experimental management plots. Created back in January 2024, it's fascinating to see how each plot is developing... 🧵
Marsh Fritillaries Euphydryas aurinia starting to fly at some of the Dartmoor, Devon sites over the weekend. One was caught by a carnivorous Sundew but plenty survived to start the next generation of these rare and beautiful butterflies.
This rather dapper moth is the Liquorice Piercer (Grapholita pallifrontana), our Species of the Month. ✨
The Liquorice Piercer is so named because its caterpillars pierce Wild Liquorice seed pods.
📷️: Will Langdon
#MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth
A fabulous Purple Emperor larva feeding low down in a Sallow in Epping Forest a couple of weeks ago, exposed by a UV torch at night. Extraordinary creatures and such a thrill to see them like this #Butterflies
One of the first things that struck me starting in Epping Forest last spring was all the lovely old Crab Apples. With these, come rare Crab Apple feeding micros: the much-declined Argyresthia ivella tapped from a tree on a warm July morning, and Eudemis porphyrana, reared from larva in May #TeamMoth
Excellent to see this first paper from Will's PhD in print! Nice summary thread photos too!
'Extinct' butterfly spotted across England butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blo...
Recently finished totting up my moths in Epping Forest last year - 671 species of which 277 were new for our database, 79 nationally scarce, and 4 new for Essex. Wonderful first year, so many exciting and rare species reflecting the forest's fantastic mix of habitats. Some highlights below...
Video
Rob Edmunds
Will Langdon
Will Langdon
Will Langdon
Butterfly Conservation
John Walters
Dr Marcus Rhodes
Dr Marcus Rhodes
Owen Lewis
Will Langdon
A butterfly classed as extinct in the UK for more than 30 years has been seen at sites across southern England.Eagle-eyed nature lovers have captured photographs of Large Tortoiseshells in Kent, Hamps...
Excited to see one of my PhD chapters now published! We found a trade-off between the quality of host plants and how warm they were for a declining grassland butterfly (Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas) and looked at how this shaped their egg-laying choices: doi.org/10.1111/een....
