Anthocharis cardamines – Males differ from females by the orange-tip on the fore-wings, hence their vernacular name. Their host plant is the Cuckoo flower, but adult butterflies feed on other crucifer flowers. It is I think one of the prettiest pieridae! Le plus joli des piéridés à mon avis! Si les ailes antérieures se distinguent […]
Tag: butterfly
Scientists discover single gene that enables multiple morphs in a butterfly
Scientists have discovered the gene enabling multiple female morphs that give the Common Mormon butterfly its very tongue-in-cheek name. doublesex, the gene that controls gender in insects, is also a mimicry supergene that determines diverse wing patterns in this butterfly, according to a recent study published in Nature. The study also shows that the supergene […]
Purple Siberian Iris, Butterflies and Birds
Looking back over the month of June, iris sepals unfurl and fall creating waves of hues from lavender to deep purple . . . filling the Middle Meadow garden with hundreds of blooms lasting nearly three full weeks as new buds continue to open. Eastern Tiger Swallowtails Papilio glaucus or Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Papilio canadensis […]
Flower Hill Farm Spring Butterflies ~ Part Two
Spring precipitates into summer and we can easily recognize the longest day of the year by how we measure time in our hurried lives. Spring or Summer Azure Celastrina ladon, Form violacea (and others)is another matter . . . as the butterflies are difficult to identify. The more experienced butterfly watchers of the invaluableMassachusetts Butterfly […]
Butterflies, Bugs and other Insects
Weather dominates the lives of all living things and changing weather patterns have an effect on the life cycles of most species on the planet. We talk about the weather all the time and European weather, if not global weather are going through changes. In south-west Spain we are feeling and experiencing unsettled and abnormal […]
Pangbourne sprays to kill oak processionary caterpillar ‘dangerous’
Wildlife in a Berkshire woodland was endangered by a “sledgehammer-to-crack-a-nut” approach to killing a toxic caterpillar, experts have said. Birds, bats and rare insects were affected by Forestry Commission aerial sprays to kill a moth larvae, Butterfly Conservation and Buglife claimed. It was unclear if oak processionary caterpillar larvae were even present in the Pangbourne […]
UK’s rare spring butterflies make a late show
The UK’s spring butterflies are being welcomed by enthusiasts, but weeks later than they usually arrive. The second-coldest March on record contributed to the delayed emergence of many rare species, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation. “First sightings” recorded by the public showed the insects typically appeared a fortnight later than normal. One rare species […]
The Mountain Apollo
Parnassius apollo pyrenaicus – Papilionidae – Parnassius The Apollo’s mating plug or Sphragis is visible on the photo below: It is particular to the females of this lepidoptera family.It is deposited by a male into the female genital tract and later hardens into a plug assuring the male that only his sperm cells will fertilize […]