The Nymphalids
Nymphalids
Family: NYMPHALIDAE
These are the real McCoys - the large, flamboyant, aristocratic fast flying butterflies that you simply cannot fail to notice. All are highly mobile species, two of the ones found in our garden are in fact migrants that visit us each year from as far away as North Africa. And their larvae feed off nettles and thistles...
White Admiral (Ladoga camilla)
Imagine my surprise to see this highly localised Lincolnshire beauty on our buddleia globosa!
Every now and then a totally unexpected one-off sighting occurs. In 2009 we had the first of hopefully many more sightings of White Admiral. This is an absolutely gorgeous woodland butterfly that amazes onlookers with its graceful and elegant gliding flight. It is a butterfly mostly located to the southern counties of England, but there are a few spasmodic colonies in Lincolnshire, but none very close to us. Or are there? Maybe tiny fragmented colonies exist unrecorded and it was a stray from one of these that we saw on that day in June 2009. We have created the right sort of habitat for it, with open woodland glades and its foodplant (wild honeysuckle) occurs in shady spots which the butterflies prefer for egg-laying. So hopefully this is the start of a colonisation, similar to what has occurred in recent years with the Speckled Wood and Brown Argus, but since 2009 so many bad summers have occurred, possibly holding back its expansion.
CURRENT STATUS: as yet a one-off sighting.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: wild Honeysuckle.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: buddleia; bramble, hemp agrimony.
WHEN SEEN: late June - July.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: woodland glades with honeysuckle for the caterpillars.
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Red Admiral
The most regular immigrant species to the British Isles, never failing to miss a summer over here. There is growing proof that this butterfly, unlike other migrants, can survive our winters these days - in fact we saw a few in April 2000 in our garden that were either very early migrants or had successfully overwintered here.
Such a striking contrast of black and scarlet wins many admirers. Often the last butterfly to be seen in the autumn, when it loves fallen or over ripe fruit, as do the Comma and Speckled Wood.
CURRENT STATUS: regular migrant, varying numbers each year, breeds on site during the summer months.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: nettles.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: buddleia; privet; rotting fruit; bramble; hemp agrimony; ivy; Michaelmas daisy; ice plant; Verbena bonariensis; scabious; devil's-bit scabious.
WHEN SEEN: usually from late May - offspring of these migrants show from late July onwards, often until October or even November, sometimes producing a further brood.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: just plenty of nectar!
Painted Lady (Cynthia cardui)
Painted Lady
Who can forget the Painted Lady invasion of 2009 when literally millions migrated into the UK- if only every year were the same. 2009 has been heralded as the all-time best invasion! Yet in some years we go by without even seeing one, especially following a bumper year. They often arrive with, and are seen throughout the summer in the company of, their cousin the Red Admiral, which is equally characterful and flamboyant. Unlike the Red Admiral, Painted Ladies do not survive our winters.
A very worn individual after its long migration from southern Europe or Northern Africa!
CURRENT STATUS: purely migratory - common or very common some years, absent others.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: thistles.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: buddleia; thistles; hemp agrimony; marjoram; verbena bonariensis; corn marigold; ice plant; Michaelmas daisy;
WHEN SEEN: usually from late May - offspring start to show from around late July into September.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: nothing - this is purely a bonus species that either arrives or doesn't. So there is no need to annoy the neighbours by growing loads of thistles!
Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Small Tortoiseshell
Probably the most well known British butterfly after the 'Cabbage Whites'. This species is totally at home in gardens where it can be abundant. Very free roaming, the butterflies will however stay with you for weeks during late summer and autumn whilst feeding up for hibernation. This is only one of four species that hibernate as adult butterflies (the others being the Brimstone, Peacock, Comma, and possibly Red Admiral) therefore are always the first to be seen on the wing again in the spring. They like dark cool places to hibernate (sometimes entering houses) where their sombre coloured undersides allow them to merge in with their surroundings.
Small Tortoiseshells, one with its wings closed, revealing the cryptic dark underside for camouflage.
CURRENT STATUS: common to abundant resident and visitor.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: nettles.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: buddleia; hemp agrimony; marjoram; dandelion; ice plant; michaelmas daisy; scabious; devil's-bit scabious; knapweed; thistles; verbena bonariensis; privet; sallow blossom; coltsfoot.
WHEN SEEN: from early spring through to October in two or three almost successive broods.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: providing there is a constant supply of nectar from March to October, and nettles grow in the vicinity, the butterfly will be perfectly happy.
Peacock (Inachis io)
Peacock
An unmistakable and familiar butterfly, totally at home in gardens and often seen in company with Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals plus other Nymphalids. Another hibernator, seeking out similar quarters to the Tortoiseshell, and another nettle feeder. Unlike the Tortoiseshell and the Comma, this butterfly only has one brood a year - the ones seen in the spring after hibernation are the ones that emerged the previous summer, which go straight through the rest of the summer and winter without breeding.
CURRENT STATUS: Common to abundant resident and visitor.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: Nettles.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: Buddleia; hemp agrimony; marjoram; Verbena bonariensis; ice plant; Michaelmas daisy; scabious; devil's-bit scabious; dandelion; knapweed; thistles; bramble.
WHEN SEEN: From early spring into May or June. New butterflies appear from late July into October.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: Providing there is a constant supply of nectar from March to October, and nettles grow in the vicinity, the butterfly will be perfectly happy.
Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
Camberwell Beauty
This truly is a beauty! A large, spectacular, very rare migrant, but unlike the other migrants these come from the east, Scandinavia. So when we moved over here on the eastern side of England we expected to see a few of these over the years. It wasn't to be! Only one has been seen, in 2016, and that was in a neighbours garden!! What irony!!
Comma (Polygonia c-album)
Comma
A truly individual butterfly with its unusual scalloped wings and deep russet autumnal colour. Never seen in great numbers like the other Nymphalids, and usually in ones and twos, occasionally more. This butterfly is more of a loner than the others and is generally much less numerous anyway. More of a true woodland butterfly, but wanders more in the late summer when not breeding. Three broods seen each year (although, as with the Tortoiseshell, the first is the same as the last if you can follow me). Unusual in that the earliest batch of the first summer brood look and act differently, being much paler in colour and with less defined jagged wings. Known as form hutchinsoni these are the ones that produce the second brood, the later ones joining the second brood in hibernation, leaving further breeding until the spring.
Hutchinsoni
With wings closed, the comma mark from where the butterfly gets its name can be clearly seen. It is obvious from these images how the Comma successfully overwinters amongst dead leaves, resembling one itself. This is a male, the female underside is more bland. The hutchinsoni underside markings are also different.
Underside Male Comma
Underside Female Comma
Underside hutchinsoni Comma
CURRENT STATUS: breeds on site but is never found in large numbers, it being a more singular butterfly.
LARVAL FOODPLANT: nettles; elm.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: buddleia, marjoram, privet, hemp agrimony, Verbena bonariensis, devil's-bit scabious, rotting fruit.
WHEN SEEN: from early spring to May; first brood appear from early July, some continuing through the summer, reinforced by second brood in August and September, flying well into October.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: requires more of a sheltered woodland habitat type for its breeding season.
Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
Male and female side by side, the brighter coloured male on the right.
For some years now the large, magnificent, fast flying Silver-washed Fritillary has been expanding its range quite dramatically throughout the Lincolnshire woodlands. Its larval foodplant, dog violets, are in abundance here, and the actual butterflies first showed in 2018. As yet, it is just the occasional visitor but I firmly expect this woodland butterfly to join the ranks of resident breeding species here before long. Another sign that we have truly created a proper mini habitat.
Underside Silver-washed Fritillary
CURRENT STATUS: as yet just visitors as the butterfly extends its range throughout the Lincolnshire woodlands.
LARVAL FOODPLANTS: dog violets
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS: Buddleia, thistles, knapweed, bramble blossom.
WHEN SEEN: late June to early August.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS: authentic woodland glades and rides with violets growing at the base of trees. Is our garden large enough to hold a small colony of these magnificent beauties? We shall see.