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Our meetings and coronavirus

Orange butterfly on yellow flower
Comma on Buddleia Weyeriana. Photo: Lyn Pullen
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Because of concerns around the coronavirus, the Butterfly Conservation/Dorset Wildlife Trust meeting scheduled for 10 March has definitely been cancelled. We are currently taking a decision about our ‘Butterfly Trends in North Dorset’ meeting on 20 March, so please check this website before travelling to it. Continue reading →

Butterfly with large orange tips to white wings and green mottling underneath

Orange Tip. Photo: Shona Refoy

Brown butterfly with soft paler markings

Dingy Skipper Photo: Shona Refoy

Shona tells us:

I went to Badbury Rings yesterday (29/04/2019), and saw this Orange Tip beside the path on the way to the Rings. The Dingy Skipper was in the valley between the Rings. Both are nectaring on Dandelions, which seem to be a popular source of nectar at the moment!

view of a Silver-studded Blue nectaring on heather with wings partially open

Silver-studded Blue. Photo: Peter Salmon

Peter spotted this male Silver-studded Blue  while at Bourne Valley NR on 30/06/18.

This delightful butterfly is found in close-knit colonies, with individuals rarely flying any distance.

The newly-emerged larva feeds on the tenderest parts of the foodplant, including young shoots, buds and flowers. The larva is often found in the presence of ants, especially the black ant Lasius niger, which are believed to offer the larva some form of protection against parasites and other predators.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth, Weymouth

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view of a Hummingbird Hawk Moth resting on a window sill inside a house

Hummingbird Hawk Moth. Photo: George McCabe

George found this Hummingbird Hawk Moth in his house at Weymouth on 4/07/18 and says when he tried to catch it to put it safely outside, it played dead!

An immigrant species which sometimes occurs in large numbers, especially if there’s an extended period of warm weather or southerly airflow.

It flies in the sunshine and hovers in front of flowers, sipping the nectar with its long proboscis, very much like the hummingbird which gives it its name.

The larvae feed on bedstraw (Galium), and some of these may hatch and give rise to autumn adults in an influx year.