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The Map is common throughout the lowlands of central and eastern Europe, and is expanding its range in western Europe. The Spring form seen here is very different from the summer form (see next).
In the UK this species is a very rare vagrant, but there have been several unsuccessful attempts at introducing tit over the past 100 years or so: in the Wye Valley in 1912, the Wyre Forest in the 1920s, South Devon 1942, Worcester 1960s, Cheshire 1970s, South Midlands 1990s. All these introductions failed and eggs or larvae have never been recorded in the wild in the UK. (Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is now illegal to release a non-native species into the wild.)
The Map is unusual in that its two annual broods look very different. The summer brood are black with white markings, looking like a miniature version of the White Admiral and lacking most of the orange of the pictured spring brood.
The eggs are laid in long strings, one on top of the other, on the underside of stinging nettles, the larval foodplant. It is thought that these strings of eggs mimic the flowers of the nettles, thereby evading predators. The larvae feed gregariously and hibernate as pupae.
Hochzeits-, Geburtstags- und Geschäftsauflösungsfest von Dino und Andrea Rey mit Familie, Freunden und Bekannten im Waldhaus Bonstetten am Sonntagabend, 22. Juli 2018..Foto Martin Platter
Virginia Institute of Marine's Marine Advisory Program's 'Teachers on the Estuary: A Field Course on Virginia's Coastal Ecosystems' workshop held along the Eastern Shore. Jun 26, 2019. (Photo by Aileen Devlin | Virginia Sea Grant)