Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me
earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/ |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
Sacha wrote:
This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
On 2/10/06 11:53, in article ,
"Bioboffin" wrote: Sacha wrote: This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know we've sighted the butterfly. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/ |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
Sacha wrote:
On 2/10/06 11:53, in article , "Bioboffin" wrote: Sacha wrote: This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know we've sighted the butterfly. You're most welcome. It's a beautiful animal. I wish I had seen it! |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
Sacha wrote:
On 2/10/06 11:53, in article , "Bioboffin" wrote: Sacha wrote: This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know we've sighted the butterfly. Sorry to shatter your illusion Sacha but your sighting is most definately not consistent with Maculinea arion, the Large Blue. This is what you wrote on the 16th September. "Fluttering around the garden and one of the green houses yesterday, at least 5 people saw a very large sky blue butterfly. *By very large, it was described as being about 5 or 6" across! *Even allowing for the exaggeration of memory and reducing that to 3 or 4", it's still pretty big. *Does anyone know what that might be or whether we have an escapee from the Buckfastleigh butterfly farm? *And how far can butterflies roam, anyway? *Any (polite) suggestions would be welcomed as to ID" As I butterfly specialist I can tell you the following. Maculinea arion is far far smaller than the butterfly you describe. It is called the Large Blue but that is only because it is the largest of the British blue species. It has a wingspan of at most 2 inches. It is unlikely that you would have given a butterfly like this a second glance. It has been put on Dartmoor but the two colonies that have been established there are small. The large number flying in the UK this year, as mentioned in the BBC article, is largely due to the 16 colonies in the Polden Hills in Somerset. M. arion does most definately not fly in September in the UK. It flies in June and July. Butterflies can very occasionally appear outside their flight season but this is most unlikely with M. arion. This is because it is an incredibly specialised species whose life cycle is dependent on a single species of Red Ant called Mysmica sabuleti. The caterpillars spend most of their lives inside the ants nest where they eat the developing grubs. The lifecyle is completely tied to the ants' development cycle. The description you gave is entirely consistent with a sighting of an escaped speciemen of a species of he genus Morpho. These are spectacular and very commonly used in butterfly houses. There are very few, if any, other species of butterfly in the world which would fit the description you give. Neil Jones http://www.butterflyguy.com/ |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Huge Blue Butterfly - further ID
On 2/10/06 14:46, in article ,
"Bioboffin" wrote: Sacha wrote: On 2/10/06 11:53, in article , "Bioboffin" wrote: Sacha wrote: This seems certain to be the Maculinea arion that was suggested to me earlier when I said one had been sighted here. Since then, the people who saw it have been shown photographs of it and all seem to agree this is it. I believe it was released on Dartmoor which is about 3 miles from us so it seems very possible it would find its way here. This was discussed on BBC radio 4 last week: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5385488.stm Many thanks for this info. I've written to the Project to let them know we've sighted the butterfly. You're most welcome. It's a beautiful animal. I wish I had seen it! So do I. I wasn't one of the fortunate ones but I've been keeping my eyes peeled. We've also had an elephant hawk moth and several humming bird hawk moths here, so this must be the Year of the Lepidoptera for us. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/ |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
In my garden July 27 Honeybee Airways 123, now arriving on the Blue Concourse (actually a Blue Butterfly delphinium.JPG (1/1) | Garden Photos | |||
Cantigny C Not-a-butterfly on the butterfly weed.JPG (1/1) | Garden Photos | |||
Huge Yew Tree or Huge Yew Bush? | United Kingdom | |||
Huge blue butterfly | United Kingdom | |||
Fig tree - further advice appreciated! | United Kingdom |