124 Heath Fritillary in Essex: a review of its status and a report of its second generation
flying amongst some of the older coppice. This is not an especially early date for the species in
Essex, after a cool spring, and I was pleased to note that numbers had increased markedly by 18th
June, with over 200 butterflies on the wing. Exploring the site, it became obvious that the larval
foodplant Common Cow-wheat was flourishing in the most recently opened-up coppice block of
Plot 7, which had been cut only a few months previously. Although it seemed in mid-June that most
of the butterflies preferred the more sheltered older coppice, several dozen were flitting through the
newly-cleared section close by, and this is presumably where the majority of females deposited their
egg batches. In June they could be located in several adjoining coppiced areas at varying stages of
regrowth, but by the beginning of July they were down to only a few stragglers, the last definite
sightings being on the 3rd July.
Figure 1. Diagram of Hockley Woods showing main flight area of Heath Fritillaries
Figure 2. Eastern section of Hockley Woods showing numbered coppice blocks - plots 4 & 7
were the principal flight areas of the Heath Fritillary during their second brood in 1999.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)