Thursday 27 August 2015

Common Blue butterfly is.....

The common Blue butterfly is found throughout most of Britain, in gardens, meadows, woodland rides, roadside verges, heaths chalk landscapes etc. They are easily found when roosting,  either singly or in small groups. The male Common Blue, as the name suggests has a beautiful blue colour to the upper sides of it's wings. The females when they are very fresh can also be a stunning blue on the upper sides of her wings, which is common, but their upper wings can also be brown.

Male Common Blue
Common Blue female
Common Blue with brown upper wings
Common Blues copulate for about 40-60min. and the female could be laying her eggs [ovum] between
one and 2 days after mating takes place.
The white eggs are laid singly on the upper side of the leaf, more commonly on plants such
as Bird's-foot Trefoil, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil and Clovers. the Caterpillar hatches after
about nine days

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Red Admiral, Comma 1st instars Larva

The Red Admiral and Comma 1st instar larva are very similar when they first emerge from their respective ovums.
This is a 1st instar Red Admiral Larva that has just emerged from it's ovum
This is a 1st instar Comma Larva that has also just emerged from it's ovum. The hairs on this Comma Larva
are a lot denser and longer than that of the young Red Admiral Caterpillar