It's interesting to follow how the insect life working its way across the meadow changes as the year goes on. We're seeing some white butterflies passing through. They don't seem to favour the meadow - we see far more of them along the road between the house and the shop, where there are lots of brambles. This one looks like a small white sitting on one of the brambles that's beginning to invade the meadow, while....
....this one may be a green-veined white on bracken, which is also invading.
A few weeks ago the meadow brown was the most common butterfly but, while they're still around....
....by far the most common butterfly at present is the scotch argus, and they come in a variety of shades, from this rather dull brown to....
....this one in much richer shades. There also seems to be a big difference in individual size, with the smaller ones almost half the size of the biggest.
As the year moves towards autumn, the crane flies - or daddy longlegs - start to appear, flying erratically and then crashing into the undergrowth.
One of the original ideas of the visits to the meadow was to sit still and wait for the wildlife to come to the camera. This picture is the result of doing just that, a hover fly sitting on a knapweed head.
Top photograph is a Green-Veined White as well. Look at the way the fore-wing veins end in little black triangles at the margin: this does not happen on the Small White. The lower Scotch Argus is a beauty. Sizes are variable as you say and the males are darker than the females, often with fewer spots, so the lower photograph is a male, the upper a female. Thank you for bringing the meadow to us.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Derryck. One day I'll get these butterflies right. Jon
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