Check-List of the Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
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E-News Winter 2019/2020
Winter e-newsletter December 2019 Photos Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Contributions to our newsletters Dates for your Diary & Winter Workparties....2 Borage - Painted Lady foodplant…11-12 are always welcome. Scottish Entomological Gathering 2020 .......3-4 Lunar Yellow Underwing…………….13 Please use the contact details Obituary - David Barbour…………..………….5 Chequered Skipper Survey 2020…..14 below to get in touch! The Bog Squad…………………………………6 If you do not wish to receive our Helping Hands for Butterflies………………….7 newsletter in the future, simply Munching Caterpillars in Scotland………..…..8 reply to this message with the Books for Sale………………………...………..9 word ’unsubscribe’ in the title - thank you. RIC Project Officer - Job Vacancy……………9 Coul Links Update……………………………..10 VC Moth Recorder required for Caithness….10 Contact Details: Butterfly Conservation Scotland t: 01786 447753 Balallan House e: [email protected] Allan Park w: www.butterfly-conservation.org/scotland Stirling FK8 2QG Dates for your Diary Scottish Recorders’ Gathering - Saturday, 14th March 2020 For everyone interested in recording butterflies and moths, our Scottish Recorders’ Gathering will be held at the Battleby Conference Centre, by Perth on Saturday, 14th March 2020. It is an opportunity to meet up with others, hear all the latest butterfly and moth news and gear up for the season to come! All welcome - more details will follow in the New Year! Highland Branch AGM - Saturday, 18th April 2020 Our Highlands & Island Branch will be holding their AGM on Saturday, 18th April in a new venue, Green Drive Hall, 36 Green Drive, Inverness, IV2 4EU. More details will follow on the website in due course. -
Butterflies from the Middle Eocene: the Earliest Occurrence of Fossil Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera)
THE PEARCE- SELLARDS Sctks NUMBER 29 BUTTERFLIES FROM THE MIDDLE EOCENE: THE EARLIEST OCCURRENCE OF FOSSIL PAPILIONOIDEA (LEPIDOPTERA) Christopher J. Durden and Hugh Rose 1978 Texas Memorial Museum/2400 Trinity/Austin, Texas 78705 W. W. Newcomb, Director The Pearce-Sellards Series is an occasional, miscellaneous series of brief reports of museum and museum associated field investigations and other research. Its title seeks to commemorate the first two directors of the Texas Memorial Museum, now both deceased: J. E. Pearce and Dr. E. H. Sellards, professors of anthropology and geology respectively, of The University of Texas. A complete list of Pearce-Sellards papers, as well as other publica- tions of the museum, will be sent upon request. BUTTERFLIES FROM THE MIDDLE EOCENE: THE EARLIEST OCCURRENCE OF FOSSIL PAPILIONOIDEA (LEPIDOPTERA) 1 Christopher J. Durden 2 and Hugh Rose 3 ABSTRACT Three fossil butterflies recently collected from the Green River Shale of Colorado extend the known range of Rhopalocera eight to ten million years back, to 48 Ma. Praepapilio Colorado n. g., n. sp., and P. gracilis n. sp. are primitive Papilionidae related to the modern Baronia brevicornis Salvin, but they require a new subfamily, Praepapilioninae. Riodinella nympha n. g., n. sp. is a primitive member of the Lycaenidae, related to modern Ancyluris, Riodina, and Rhetus, in the tribe Riodinidi. INTRODUCTION With approximately 194,000 living species, the Lepidoptera is, after the Coleoptera with some 350,000, species, the second most diverse order of organisms. It is underrepresented in the fossil record (Scudder 1875, 1891, 1892; Handlirsch 1925;Mackay 1970;Kuhne 1973; Shields 1976). -
Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Biblidinae) and Patterns of Morphological Similarity Among Species from Eight Tribes of Nymphalidae
Revista Brasileira de Entomologia http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0085-56262013005000006 External morphology of the adult of Dynamine postverta (Cramer) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Biblidinae) and patterns of morphological similarity among species from eight tribes of Nymphalidae Luis Anderson Ribeiro Leite1,2, Mirna Martins Casagrande1,3 & Olaf Hermann Hendrik Mielke1,4 1Departamento de Zoologia, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19020, 81531–980 Curitiba-PR, Brasil. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT. External morphology of the adult of Dynamine postverta (Cramer) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Biblidinae) and patterns of morphological similarity among species from eight tribes of Nymphalidae. The external structure of the integument of Dynamine postverta postverta (Cramer, 1779) is based on detailed morphological drawings and scanning electron microscopy. The data are compared with other species belonging to eight tribes of Nymphalidae, to assist future studies on the taxonomy and systematics of Neotropical Biblidinae. KEYWORDS. Abdomen; head; Insecta; morphology; Papilionoidea; thorax. Nymphalidae is a large cosmopolitan family of butter- served in dorsal view (Figs. 1–4). Two subspecies are recog- flies, with about 7,200 described species (Freitas & Brown nized according to Lamas (2004), Dynamine postverta Jr. 2004) and is perhaps the most well documented biologi- postverta (Cramer, 1779) distributed in South America and cally (Harvey 1991; Freitas & Brown Jr. 2004; Wahlberg et Dynamine postverta mexicana d’Almeida, 1952 with a dis- al. 2005). The systematic relationships are still somewhat tribution restricted to Central America. Several species sur- unclear with respect to its subfamilies, tribes and genera, and veys and other studies cite this species as Dynamine mylitta even after more than a century of studies on these groups, (DeVries 1987; Mielke 1994; Miller et al.1999; Freitas & these relationships still seem to confuse many who set out to Brown, Jr. -
Phylogeny and Evolution of Lepidoptera
EN62CH15-Mitter ARI 5 November 2016 12:1 I Review in Advance first posted online V E W E on November 16, 2016. (Changes may R S still occur before final publication online and in print.) I E N C N A D V A Phylogeny and Evolution of Lepidoptera Charles Mitter,1,∗ Donald R. Davis,2 and Michael P. Cummings3 1Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742; email: [email protected] 2Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560 3Laboratory of Molecular Evolution, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2017. 62:265–83 Keywords Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2017.62. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org The Annual Review of Entomology is online at Hexapoda, insect, systematics, classification, butterfly, moth, molecular ento.annualreviews.org systematics This article’s doi: Access provided by University of Maryland - College Park on 11/20/16. For personal use only. 10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-035125 Abstract Copyright c 2017 by Annual Reviews. Until recently, deep-level phylogeny in Lepidoptera, the largest single ra- All rights reserved diation of plant-feeding insects, was very poorly understood. Over the past ∗ Corresponding author two decades, building on a preceding era of morphological cladistic stud- ies, molecular data have yielded robust initial estimates of relationships both within and among the ∼43 superfamilies, with unsolved problems now yield- ing to much larger data sets from high-throughput sequencing. Here we summarize progress on lepidopteran phylogeny since 1975, emphasizing the superfamily level, and discuss some resulting advances in our understanding of lepidopteran evolution. -
Butterflies & Flowers of the Kackars
Butterflies and Botany of the Kackars in Turkey Greenwings holiday report 14-22 July 2018 Led by Martin Warren, Yiannis Christofides and Yasemin Konuralp White-bordered Grayling © Alan Woodward Greenwings Wildlife Holidays Tel: 01473 254658 Web: www.greenwings.co.uk Email: [email protected] ©Greenwings 2018 Introduction This was the second year of a tour to see the wonderful array of butterflies and plants in the Kaçkar mountains of north-east Turkey. These rugged mountains rise steeply from Turkey’s Black Sea coast and are an extension of the Caucasus mountains which are considered by the World Wide Fund for Nature to be a global biodiversity hotspot. The Kaçkars are thought to be the richest area for butterflies in this range, a hotspot in a hotspot with over 160 resident species. The valley of the River Çoruh lies at the heart of the Kaçkar and the centre of the trip explored its upper reaches at altitudes of 1,300—2,300m. The area consists of steep-sided valleys with dry Mediterranean vegetation, typically with dense woodland and trees in the valley bottoms interspersed with small hay-meadows. In the upper reaches these merge into alpine meadows with wet flushes and few trees. The highest mountain in the range is Kaçkar Dağı with an elevation of 3,937 metres The tour was centred around the two charming little villages of Barhal and Olgunlar, the latter being at the fur- thest end of the valley that you can reach by car. The area is very remote and only accessed by a narrow road that winds its way up the valley providing extraordinary views that change with every turn. -
BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES OR FOUR-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES NYMPHALIDAE (RAFINESQUE, 1815) Classification Kingdom
BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES OR FOUR-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES NYMPHALIDAE (RAFINESQUE, 1815) NATURAL HISTORY SUMMARY BY JACOB EGGE, PHD Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Nymphalidae Description The family Nymphalidae includes some 6,000 species of butterflies. Most species in this family have greatly reduced forelegs and stand on only four legs. The vestigial forelegs have a brush-like set of hairs. Antennae always have two grooves on the underside. Many have brightly colored wings with cryptic undersides that help provide camouflage among leaves and brush. Familiar species in the family include the Monarch (Danaus plexippus) and fritillaries (Speyeria and Boloria). Distribution The family Nymphalidae has representative species on all continents except Antarctica, but they are most diverse in the Neotropics (DeVries 1987). Diet Nymphalid caterpillars feed exclusively on plants and many are host specific, while others are generalists. Adults generally feed on nectar from flowers they suck through a proboscis. However, some species feed on sap, fermenting fruit, or dung. (Hadley 2016). Habitat and Ecology Nyphalids inhabit a variety of habitats ranging from tropical rainforests to tundra environments of high elevation summits. Many species of Nymphalid, including the Monarch, have distasteful body fluids that deter predators. These distasteful compounds are derived from the plants they feed on as caterpillars. Most species are diurnal, with a few nocturnal species. Caterpillars are typically found associated with a particular host plant species or group of plants. Plant specializations range broadly across the family and include aster, violet, willow, elm, poplar, nettles, thistle, hackberry, and milkweed (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). Reproduction and Life Cycle All butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis with both a larval (caterpillar) and pupal stage. -
Jan to Jun 2011
Butterfly Conservation Hampshire and Isle of Wight Branch Page 1 of 18 Butterfly Conservation Hampshire and Saving butterflies, moths and our environment Isle of Wight Branch HOME ABOUT US EVENTS CONSERVATION HANTS & IOW SPECIES SIGHTINGS PUBLICATIONS LINKS MEMBER'S AREA Thursday 30th June Christine Reeves reports from Ash Lock Cottage (SU880517) where the following observations were made: Purple Emperor (1 "Rather battered specimen"). "Following the excitement of seeing our first Purple Emperor inside our office yesterday, exactly the same thing happened again today at around 9.45am. The office door was open and we spotted a butterfly on the inside of the window, on closer inspection we realised it was a Purple Emperor. It was much smaller than the one we had seen the day before and more battered. However we were able to take pictures of it, in fact the butterfly actually climbed onto one of the cameras and remained there for a while. It then climbed from camera to hand, and we took it outside for more pictures before it eventually flew off. It seemed to be feeding off the hand.". Purple Empeor Purple Empeor Terry Hotten writes: "A brief walk around Hazeley Heath this morning produced a fresh Small Tortoiseshell along with Marbled Whites, Silver- studded Blues in reasonable numbers along with Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Large and Small Skippers." peter gardner reports from highcross froxfield (SU712266) where the following observations were made: Red Admiral (1 "purched on an hot window "). Red Admiral (RWh) Bob Whitmarsh reports from Plague Pits Valley, St Catherine's Hill (SU485273) where the following observations were made: Marbled White (23), Meadow Brown (41), Small Heath (7), Small Skipper (2), Ringlet (2), Red Admiral (3), Small Tortoiseshell (4), Small White (2), Comma (1). -
BUTTERFLIES of the Trails and Fields at Rice Creek Field Station State University of New York at Oswego
SNEAK A PEEK INSIDE... A Guide to the BUTTERFLIES of the Trails and Fields at Rice Creek Field Station State University of New York at Oswego Michael Holy - August 2010 Compton Tortoise Shell (Nymphalis vau-album) Nymphalidae Description: [L] Various shades of brown with black and white markings above. Compton Tortoise Shell Underside is a dark gray with a silver comma on its hindwing. (Nymphalis vau-album) Interesting Fact: This species is known to aestivate (“hibernate”) during the hottest Nymphalidae weeks of summer. Best Observed: Area around Herb Garden, wooded Red Trail between the upper field and parking lot. Milbert’s Tortoise Shell (Nymphalis milberti) Nymphalidae Description: [M] Orange bands across black wings above with blue spots along edge of hindwing. Milbert’s Tortoise Shell Interesting Fact: In flight this species is easily mistaken for a Comma or Question (Nymphalis milberti) Nymphalidae Mark despite its wing colors. Best Observed: Herb Garden, Beaver Meadow on Green Trail, and open fields nectaring Milkweed, Joe-pye Weed, and Purple Loosestrife, June through August. Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) Nymphalidae Description: [L] Wings above are a rich brown black color bordered with blue spots and a pale yellow band. Mourning Cloak Interesting Fact: A true hibernator, this species can be observed in wood settings on (Nymphalis antiopa) Nymphalidae warm early spring days with snow still on the ground. Best Observed: Woods in spring, fields and all trails in summer, April through early November . White Admiral ( Limenitis arthemis) Nymphalidae Description: [L] White bands interrupt a black/brown wing color. White Admiral Interesting Fact: A variant, the Red-spotted Purple, lacks the white wing bands, (Limenitis arthemis) Nymphalidae substituting a blue green metallic hue. -
Introduction
BULGARIA Nick Greatorex-Davies. European Butterflies Group Contact ([email protected]) Local Contact Prof. Stoyan Beshkov. ([email protected]) National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Sofia, Butterfly Conservation Europe Partner Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Stanislav Abadjiev compiled and collated butterfly records for the whole of Bulgaria and published a Local Recording Scheme distribution atlas in 2001 (see below). Records are still being gathered and can be sent to Stoyan Beshkov at NMNH, Sofia. Butterfly List See Butterflies of Bulgaria website (Details below) Introduction Bulgaria is situated in eastern Europe with its eastern border running along the Black Sea coast. It is separated from Romania for much of its northern border by the River Danube. It shares its western border with Serbia and Macedonia, and its southern border with Greece and Turkey. Bulgaria has a land area of almost 111,000 sq km (smaller than England but bigger than Scotland) and a declining human population of 7.15 million (as of 2015), 1.5 million of which live in the capital city, Sofia. It is very varied in both climate, topography and habitats. Substantial parts of the country are mountainous, particularly in the west, south-west and central ‘spine’ of the country and has the highest mountain in the Balkan Mountains (Musala peak in the Rila Mountains, 2925m) (Map 1). Almost 70% of the land area is above 200m and over 27% above 600m. About 40% of the country is forested and this is likely to increase through natural regeneration due to the abandonment of agricultural land. Following nearly 500 years under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria was independent for just a few years from 1908 before coming under the domination of the soviet communist regime in 1946. -
(Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies Are Palatable to Avian Predators
insects Article Evaluating an Alleged Mimic of the Monarch Butterfly: Neophasia (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies are Palatable to Avian Predators Dale A. Halbritter 1,2,* , Johnalyn M. Gordon 3, Kandy L. Keacher 4, Michael L. Avery 4,5 and Jaret C. Daniels 2,6 1 USDA-ARS Invasive Plant Research Laboratory, 3225 College Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314, USA 2 Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, 1881 Natural Area Dr, Steinmetz Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; jdaniels@flmnh.ufl.edu 3 Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3205 College Ave, Davie, FL 33314, USA; johnalynmgordon@ufl.edu 4 Florida Field Station, USDA-APHIS National Wildlife Research Center, 2820 E University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32641, USA; [email protected] (K.L.K.); [email protected] (M.L.A.) 5 2906 NW 14th Pl., Gainesville, FL 32605, USA 6 McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA * Correspondence: dhalb001@ufl.edu or [email protected]; Tel.: +1-661-406-8932 Received: 28 September 2018; Accepted: 22 October 2018; Published: 29 October 2018 Abstract: Some taxa have adopted the strategy of mimicry to protect themselves from predation. Butterflies are some of the best representatives used to study mimicry, with the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) a well-known model. We are the first to empirically investigate a proposed mimic of the monarch butterfly: Neophasia terlooii, the Mexican pine white butterfly (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). We used captive birds to assess the palatability of N. terlooii and its sister species, N. -
Dark Green Fritillary Regional Priority Species Factsheet
t e e h s t c a f Da rk Green Frit illary Argynnis aglaja Conservation status Regional priority in several England regions. 2000-4 • 1 sighting • 2-9 max seen • 10+ max seen (827 squares) 1995-9 This large and powerful butterfly is one of our most widespread °+ 1970-82 fritillaries and can be seen flying rapidly in a range of open sunny habitats. The males look similar to the High Brown Fritillary, which is far rarer but sometimes flies with them on Bracken-covered hillsides. The two can be distinguished from the underwing markings, visible when they are feeding on flowers such as thistles. The Dark Green has an olive-green coloration and lacks the row of red-ringed spots of the High Brown. The Dark Green also has rounded, less pointed forewings than the High Brown which has straight or concave outer edges to the forewings. Although the Dark Green Fritillary is still locally abundant in some regions, it has declined in many others, notably central and eastern England. Colony structure Life cycle The adults are highly mobile and the butterflies The Dark Green Fritillary is single-brooded, with adults flying from early June until mid-August. tend to occur at low densities over large areas In warmer and more southerly locations the peak is usually from mid-June to mid-July, but within which there are small pockets of suitable it can be several weeks later at cooler, more northerly sites. The eggs are laid singly either on breeding habitat. On the best sites, with greater the foodplant or more usually on a nearby plant, dead leaves, or dead Bracken. -
The Butterfly Handbook General Advice Note on Mitigating the Impacts of Roads on Butterfly Populations
The butterfly handbook General advice note on mitigating the impacts of roads on butterfly populations working towards Natural England for people, places and nature The butterfly handbook General advice note on mitigating the impacts of roads on butterfly populations including a case study on mitigation for the Marsh Fritillary butterfly along the A30 Bodmin to Indian Queens road improvement scheme Adrian Spalding Spalding Associates (Environmental) Ltd Norfolk House 16-17 Lemon Street Truro TR1 2LS www.spaldingassociates.co.uk ISBN: 1 903798 25 6 This publication was jointly funded by English Nature and the Highways Agency Forward The second half of the last century saw dramatic changes in the countryside of Britain. Our native wildlife continues to be threatened as habitats are damaged or destroyed. Butterflies have probably never been as endangered as they are today following decades of loss of key semi-natural habitats such as flower-rich grasslands. This report is extremely valuable and timely as it concerns an increasingly important habitat for butterflies and other insects. Road verges can help conserve butterflies and other wildlife as they are an opportunity to provide suitable breeding habitats for many species, and provide crucial links between the patches of habitat that remain. Butterflies are highly sensitive indicators of the environment and we know that conservation measures for this group will help many other less well-known components of our biodiversity. Road verges already provide valuable habitats for a wide range of species but this report shows how they can be made even better and contribute an ever more important role in the future.