BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS IN NORTH FAMBRIDGE 109
Butterflies and Moths in North Fambridge
area in 1952
BY JACK T. FRIEDLEIN.
February. 12th. My solitary larva of the Purple Emperor butterfly
(Apatura iris) is showing a green tinge near the "tail" as the sallow
buds begin to swell, but no movement is discernible.
March. 1st. About 40 larvae of my small colony of the Marsh Fritillary
have got through the winter are now sunning themselves. 5th. Iris moved
from its hibernating stem on to a fresh catkin and began to nibble the tiny
leaves at the base. 11th. One Small Tortoiseshell and one Peacock butterfly
on the wing. 25th. The Painted Lady invasion reported elsewhere missed
us almost completely.
April. 9th. A perfect day of real Spring—many Brimstones in flight.
Except for my newly-planted bushes, the nearest Buckthorn is fully four
miles away. 13th. The first Comma and several other Vanessas seen on
the farm. 20th. Watched a Comma depositing eggs on nettle. 21st. Iris
climbed down the stem into the water and nearly drowned, but to my
surprise recovered after a good warming up. 23rd. Saw a Large Tortoise-
shell. 25th. First Orange-tip and a few Whites and Vanessas.
May. 5th. The Brimstones are simply plastering my few buckthorn
twigs with eggs. They arrive in a steady stream and pass on: it is wonder-
ful how they locate this food-plant. 7th. One Red Admiral. 13th. Very
few butterflies about, but I saw the first Wall today. 20th. Saw the first
Pearl-bordered Fritillary alongside the train near Norsey Wood. 21st.
Many Pearl-bordered in a local wood. Small Heaths plentiful. 24th. Green
Hairstreaks and many Pearl-bordered Fritillaries in other woods.
June. 2nd. Iris pupated. A perfect camouflage—the keel of the pupa
has a notched edge exactly the same as a sallow leaf. 3rd. Small Angle-
shade moths coming to light and at valerian. 5th. One Elephant Hawkmoth
at valerian. 6th. First Humming-bird Hawkmoth at valerian. 11th. Three
Humming-bird Hawkmoths at valerian most of the day and up to 8.30 p.m.
Many Elephant Hawks at honeysuckle flowers tonight. 14th. Painted
Ladies and Humming-bird Hawks numerous. 16th. Silver Y and Burnished
Brass moths numerous at valerian. 17th. A big influx of Silver Y moths.
21st. My iris emerged—a magnificent male. 23rd. White-letter Hairstreaks
back on the farm after three blank years. 24th. Released iris after photo-
graphing him feeding on bramble and thistle flowers. 27th. First Marbled
White. White-letter Hairstreaks now numerous. 28th. A perfect White
Admiral cruising round our garden. The nearest colony is roughly three
miles away, so they must wander afar at times. 29th. Two Humming-bird
Hawks at bramble flowers in a wood, which is unusual here. Good numbers
of Commas and White Admirals in many woods. 30th. Up to date 33
Humming-bird Hawks observed on separate days or together at our flowers.
July. 4th. A few White-letter Hairstreaks and White Admirals still
about. 6th. Saw three faded specimens of Heath Fritillary in a wood
where last year I had endeavoured to establish them, so with luck they
may increase there. After dark an Elephant Hawk was feeding at tobacco
flowers, which is surely very unusual, as I have never seen anything but
Herse convolvuli feeding at this flower. 9th. Visited a large wood about
30 miles away, and saw large numbers of Commas and White Admirals,
several Silver-washed and two High-brown Fritillaries. 10th. Elephant
Hawk at tobacco again tonight! 13th. A few Marbled Whites in our
vicinity. 15th. My large stock of Brimstone pupae are now emerging, and