Silver Studded Blue
As I am shortly to go on jury service I have been looking for the increasingly scarce Silver Studded Blue butterflies for a week or two. On the Ashdown Forest they are normally a couple of weeks later than elsewhere, so our proper survey work doesn't start until the end of the month, which clashes with my jury service. However, today I spotted my first couple of males in a place where I have seen them for the past two years. This is one of them this afternoon in overcast and breezy conditions. If you have the time, you might be interested to read a little about their fascinating life cycle below.
This once common butterfly has lost over four fifths of its previous range, due to diminishing habitat. There are strong colonies in the New Forest and some small, fragile, pockets elsewhere such as the Ashdown Forest. The silver studded blue lives in close knit colonies and does not spread. The average life span of an adult is just four or five days and they rarely move more than 60ft during that time.
You may have read in my previous notes about the Adonis Blue butterfly having a close association with ants. The SSB is even more reliant on this relationship and would not survive without them. After the eggs are laid, they hibernate with a perfectly formed caterpillar inside, which hatches out towards the end of March. Ants will carry the caterpillars about as the caterpillars secrete a liquid beneficial to the ants who will take the pupae into their nests and tend them as they become chrysalises. When the adult butterflies emerge and inflate their wings, they secrete more liquid for the ants who will guard the emerging butterfly until it is able to fly away. Isn't nature wonderful?
Silver Studded Blue
As I am shortly to go on jury service I have been looking for the increasingly scarce Silver Studded Blue butterflies for a week or two. On the Ashdown Forest they are normally a couple of weeks later than elsewhere, so our proper survey work doesn't start until the end of the month, which clashes with my jury service. However, today I spotted my first couple of males in a place where I have seen them for the past two years. This is one of them this afternoon in overcast and breezy conditions. If you have the time, you might be interested to read a little about their fascinating life cycle below.
This once common butterfly has lost over four fifths of its previous range, due to diminishing habitat. There are strong colonies in the New Forest and some small, fragile, pockets elsewhere such as the Ashdown Forest. The silver studded blue lives in close knit colonies and does not spread. The average life span of an adult is just four or five days and they rarely move more than 60ft during that time.
You may have read in my previous notes about the Adonis Blue butterfly having a close association with ants. The SSB is even more reliant on this relationship and would not survive without them. After the eggs are laid, they hibernate with a perfectly formed caterpillar inside, which hatches out towards the end of March. Ants will carry the caterpillars about as the caterpillars secrete a liquid beneficial to the ants who will take the pupae into their nests and tend them as they become chrysalises. When the adult butterflies emerge and inflate their wings, they secrete more liquid for the ants who will guard the emerging butterfly until it is able to fly away. Isn't nature wonderful?