Winter 2016 The Arion Issue No 102

Newsletter of the Somerset & Bristol Branch of Butterfly Conservation

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CompetitionWinnersButterflies

1stBrimstones(Front Cover)

©Liz Marsden

2nd'Which Way'Brimstone(above)

©Peter King

Joint 3rdSmall Pearl-borderedFritillary(above)

©Nigel Cottle

Chalkhill Blue(left)

©Will Langdon

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View from the ChairButterflies are proving to be a very important indicator of environmental

changes that may affect all of us. More than three-quarters of the UK’s butterflieshave declined in the last 40 years. Habitat loss plays a continuing part in this butclimate change and pesticides may be playing a more significant role.This information comes from The State of the UK’s Butterflies 2015, a reportpublished in December by Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology &Hydrology and based on the analysis of data collected by BC members everyyear.

What is particularly worrying is the decline in once very common andwidespread species with, so far as we know, no very specialised habitatrequirements. As examples, the Wall has suffered a 25% drop in abundancesince 2005, continuing a longer trend of decline. The Gatekeeper hasexperienced a 44% decline in the last decade and numbers of Small Skippershave been below average for the last 15 years. These are all species that requirepatches of rough grassland for their caterpillars and a few bramble bushes orthistles to feed the adults. The habitat is still there but the butterflies have oftengone. Why?

Weather is an influence. It is often what happened last year that affectsbutterfly numbers this year, but they have coped with good and bad for millennia.Climate change may now be driving more sustained trends and the report notesincreases in migrants like Red Admiral and Long-tailed Blue that may benefit fromslightly warmer conditions here but it is not clear why species like Wall andGatekeeper should be declining as they are butterflies that have large rangesacross areas both warmer and colder than England.

Another recent study using BC monitoring data has found that growth inthe use of neonicotinoid pesticides, previously implicated in declines in beepopulations, coincides with this butterfly decline. If neonicotinoids are the cause,then what other invertebrates are also affected? The implications for thefunctioning of most terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are profoundly worrying.Other declines are quite without explanation at this stage. Why should WoodWhites and White Admirals be declining? Their foodplants are common inwoodland, significant losses of broad-leaved woodland have long ceased andmanagement practices have not changed greatly, indeed much native woodlandis now in conservation ownership or managed to conservation principles.

There are success stories from the period, largely related to species thathave been the subject of targeted management but this, though welcome, is noconsolation of the losses of butterflies that ought to enliven the whole countrysideand every garden.

I guess most of us join BC because we like butterflies and don’t want toget drawn personally into conservation politics and battles. All the more importantthen that BC at national level is working, with others, to throw light on theseproblems and will, I am sure, campaign strenuously for solutions.

John Andrews

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BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION – SOMERSET & BRISTOL BRANCHANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & MEMBERS’ DAY

Ruishton Village Hall, 2pm Saturday 28th November 2015

Present: John Andrews, Keith & Eileen Gould, Julian Rawlings, Chris Iles, NigelCottle, Paula Hewitson, Andrew Daw, Jane Martin, David & Gay Lester, Geoff andMarjorie Brunt, John Bebbington, Bob & Sue Smith, P.J.S. Smith, Sue Davies,John Connolly, Roy & Faith Blackmore, Peter & Brenda Wilson, Peter & BrendaKing, Rupert Haynes, David Auld, Liz Marsden, Colin Sampson, Terry Mullin,Sue & Richard Ashton, Stuart Hill, John & Valerie Godsmark, Charles Hill, RogerDickey, Dave & Ginny Ayling, Richard Soulsby, Bob Winn, Glen Davis, RobinStamp, Hilary Raeburn, Peter Shirley, Geoff Hiscocks, Leanne Butt, SimonPhelps, Sue Sherry, John Burrell, Jeff & Celia Holmes, Alan Barrett, DavidEdmondson, Will Langdon.

The Chair, John Andrews, welcomed members to the meeting.

1. APOLOGIES: Roger Perkins, John Ball, Pat Owen, Agnes Auld,Joe Middleton.

2. MINUTES of the LAST AGM held on 8th November 2014, havingbeen published in The Arion Spring 2015, No.99, were unanimously approvedand signed as a correct record.

3. MATTERS ARISING: None

4. CHAIR’S REPORT.Butterfly Conservation is doing well. Our national membership is over

26000 and in the last financial year we spent £2.73 million on conservation work.The Branch is also thriving. Over membership is over 900, having increased bywell over a hundred in the last year.

One of our jobs is to provide members new and old with information and,we hope, help to increase their enjoyment of butterflies and moths. We ran a NewMembers event in the summer; the day was a success for all involved butattendance was not as good as we had hoped and we are giving further thoughtto venue and timings to see if we can attract more people. Three issues of TheArion were produced, with excellent articles and photos contributed by members.It is pleasing that an increasing number receive it as a pdf by email which meanswe save printing and postage costs and they get the whole magazine in fullcolour.

There were 15 guided walks arranged and led by members for membersand this programme goes from strength to strength. The new all-colour booklet onButterfly Walks has sold well and has already covered its production costs. Our

AGM Minutes

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Twitter and Facebook sites are well used and popular and the Branch’s newwebsite has just gone live. As well as keeping everyone up to date with activitiesand news, it will provide a great deal of information about butterfly identification,flight seasons, status in the county and distribution.

Our stock of display materials has been enlarged and the purchase ofnew gazebos allowed us to put on a very professional stand at the TauntonFlower Show as well as participating in other events and activities for children.The Munching Caterpillar project, aimed at 7-11 year-olds, has ended and theBranch will shortly consider whether to support a continuation project in theCounty.

Turning to conservation work, John Burrell’s long involvement withWestbury Beacon had finally borne fruit with the purchase of the site. The appealraised £120,000 including a magnificent anonymous donation of £80,000. On ourother reserves, management under the eyes of John Davis and Lucy Morton hasgone forward well despite the difficulties of managing grazing when reliant onothers’ livestock.

The Large Blue Project in the Poldens and the Two Moor Project onExmoor had successful years (and are reported separately in this issue of TheArion). An initiative headed by the Blackdown Hills AONB and involving us, DevonBranch, both Wildlife Trusts and Natural England is looking at developing a jointproject for key species such as Marsh Fritillary.

In all, there had been 69 transects walked through the summer. The valuethis work is underlined by a very recent study using BC data that shows acorrelation between the declines of many species and the use of neonicotinoidpesticides in agriculture. This is a profoundly important issue in which BC isplaying an essential role.

John Andrews concluded his report by stressing that although the Branchdoes a great deal we still need more help in many aspects of our work and to runmore activities in the Bristol and Bath areas. The Branch Committee would begiving thought to these matters as well as a possible Munching Caterpillarcontinuation and input to a Blackdowns species project.

5. TREASURER’S REPORT: Paula Hewitson presented her reportand highlighted the strength of the Branch’s finances. A copy of the Accounts toyear end 31 March 2015 was included in The Arion Autumn 2015, No. 101. Theaccounts were approved and adopted unanimously.

6. ELECTION OF BRANCH COMMITTEE: Roger Perkins, GinnyAyling and Derek Arthurs had all resigned during the year for personal reasons.Marjorie Brunt retired and did not wish to stand for re-election. David Ayling andJohn Bebbington retired by rotation; they were eligible and stood for re-election.Julian Rawlings had been co-opted onto the Branch Committee and now stood forelection. The three were all proposed by John Burrell and elected unanimously.

7. COUNTY BUTTERFLY RECORDER’S REPORT: David Ayling’sreport is published separately in this issue of The Arion.

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All The Moors Butterflies ProjectAfter the AGM a short presentation was given by Simon Phelps, the

Development Officer for the All The Moors Butterflies Project which is envisagedas a continuation of the Two Moors Project, covering Exmoor, Dartmoor and alsoBodmin Moor, seeking to protect five of the UK’s rarest butterflies: Pearl-borderedFritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, High Brown, Heath Fritillary, MarshFritillary and the Narrow-bordered Bee Hawkmoth which shares a similar habitatto the Marsh Fritillary. Many different environmental agencies would be involved.The two main aims of the project are to save species using the landscapeapproach and to engage people in as wide a variety of activities as possible:walks, talks, events, volunteering etc.

Simon is in the process of developing detailed plans for a funding bid fora three year project to be submitted for Heritage Lottery Fund money. For moreinformation e-mail: sphelps@butterfly-conservation.org.

Presentation to Marjorie BruntJohn Andrews noted that great financial

value to BC of the work of its volunteers, especiallybearing in mind the true commercial value of theskills deployed. He noted that while much of whatwe do is enjoyable there are, as with all jobs, timeswhen it is hard graft and much commitment isneeded. Marjorie Brunt, who was retiring from therole of Data Recorder after 17 years in which thenumber of transects had increased several timesover, exemplified these qualities. The Branchacknowledged her contribution to citizen scienceand species conservation, her hospitality, her adviceand not least her enthusiasm. John presented her with a copy of Matthew Oates'book In Pursuit of Butterflies and a bouquet of flowers.

Refreshments were served between 3.30 and 4 pm

The Secret World of MothsAfter tea John Walters, our invited guest speaker, delivered a fascinating

talk about aspects of moth behaviour of which some of us are completelyunaware. It was beautifully illustrated with photos, video clips and his owndrawings of moths doing the most amazing things or having having rather nastythings done to them!

John breeds moths and then uses the females in suitable habitats toattract males. An example is the Emperor moth (shown). One female releasesso much pheromone that dozens of males will be attracted to her but once amale has succeeded in coupling with the female all the other males fly away. Wewere shown a variety of macromoth larvae including the wonderfully camouflagedBrussels Lace and the Beautiful Yellow Underwing.

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Mimics shown included theMagpie moth pupa which mimics awasp, the Emperor Hawkmoth caterpillarwhich mimics a snake and the AngleShades which mimics a leaf.

We were shown the murderousDunbar moth which feeds on othercaterpillars, a carnivorous fungusconsuming a caterpillar and perhapsmost amazing of all a young birdmimicking a caterpillar to avoidpredation in South America. Stranger still are the tortrix moths which mimic birdpoo. What better way to avoid being eaten!

All in all a really wonderful talk and for those of us new to ‘mothing’ veryinspiring.

Photographic Competition - THE WINNERSThe final event of the afternoon was the announcement of the winners in

our first photographic competition. All images were anonymised and judged bythose present at the AGM. There was an excellent display of photographs. A bigthank you to all those who entered. Sadly we did not have any entries for theunder 12 category. We will repeat the competition at the next AGM. Categorieswill be announced in the Spring Newsletter. This winners will also be displayed onour Website, Facebook site and used in this year's editions of Arion.

1. Butterflies (images shown in this issue)First Brimstones Liz MarsdenSecond Brimstone "which way" Peter KingJoint Third Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary Nigel Cottle

Chalkhill Blue Will Langdon2. Moths (images shown in this issue)First Merveille du Jour John BebbingtonJoint Second Saxon Geoff Hiscocks

Angle Shades Will LangdonThird Large Emerald Valerie Godsmark3. Immature FormsFirst Pale Brindled Beauty larva John BebbingtonJoint Second Swallowtail caterpillar

Elephant Hawk-moth larva John ConnollyJoint Third Six-spot Burnet Moth Geoff Hiscocks

Peacock caterpillar Valerie Godsmark4. OverseasFirst Southern Swallowtail Keith GouldSecond Mountain Clouded Yellow John BebbingtonThird Scarce Copper Will Langdon

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Recorder's Report - 2015The Year in Perspective

The year started with some very wet weather in January which wasfollowed by a long period of cool strong winds lasting through into May.

April saw a bit of improvement with temperatures slightly higher than lastyear but by the time May arrived temperatures had dipped, winds had increasedagain and the rain came back.

The wind and rain continued into June but then an improvement camewith record temperatures heralding the beginning of July. It didn’t last long thoughand wind and rain soon returned along with cooler conditions and this set thescene for August as well.

September & October, however, were dry and warmer than average andeven though November was fairly wet the temperatures were still above average.

The effect of the weather on the butterflies shows in the numberscounted. At present I am still receiving records but the transects and results of BigButterfly Count both show a drop in total numbers of about 6% -7% against lastyear. Many of the common Wider Countryside species showed big loses withSmall Tortoiseshell being the worst hit.

Compared with 2014, on about 60 transects that were walked in bothyears, numbers for Small Tortoiseshell were down by some 76%.

Also badly affected were:Small Copper -52%Small Skipper -48%Green-veined White -43%Wall -43%Brown Argus -41%Red Admiral -39%Speckled Wood -32%Common Blue -27%Ringlet -27%Small Heath -17%

The chart shown in figure A. shows the week-by-week transect counts forthe 3 years 2013-2015. It can clearly been seen that the expected peaks for the 2annual broods were way down on previous years. The reasons for this are notimmediately clear but it is certain that weather conditions will have affected thesize of the broods.

Fortunately not all the news was bad for the year. Some species did dowell, with transect totals for Holly Blue being more than double those of 2014 andBrimstone, Gatekeeper and Large White also showed good increases alongwith Meadow Brown, Comma and Orange-tip.

Our immigrant butterflies had a mixed year with few Clouded Yellowsbeing recorded while Painted Lady did better than last year although not as well

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as had been predicted in the spring as the expected major influx from thecontinent failed to materialise.

The Fritillaries had a mixed year. Heath Fritillary, Small Pearl-borderedand Silver-washed all had a fairly good year but Dark Green numbers weredown. Only a few Marsh Fritillary were seen and the small introduced colony ofGranville Fritillary appears to have died out with none being reported for thesecond year.

Large Blue are reported to have had a better year and numbers of SmallBlue were slightly higher than in 2014 while numbers of Chalkhill Blue wereslightly down.

Duke of Burgundy and Grizzled Skipper were both reported less ontransects but the known colonies appear to be still viable although small. TheDingy Skipper showed a small but welcome increase in numbers.

White Admiral appeared to have a good year with numbers up at bothShapwick Heath and Lords Wood.

Other species that I haven’t mentioned appeared to have had a fairlyaverage year although it will be interesting to look at the final figures when all therecords for the year are in. I say this because I did notice that Peacock numbersin the second half of the year were down as can be seen from Fig. B page 10,which is based on 7 key sites.

My thanks go to all the members who send in their records each year.The more records we receive the better we will be able to start to understand howour butterflies are faring and how weather and other changes in conditions canaffect them.

A

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If you still have records for 2015 (even before that) which haven’t yetbeen sent in please do so as soon as possible.

Dave Ayling. Nov. 2015

aButterfly Walks inSomerset and Bristol £6

Available from:▶ TheMuseumof Somerset, Taunton,Telephone: 0117 922 357▶ BristolMuseumandArtGallery,Queen’sRoad,Bristol▶ MShed,Harbouside, Bristol.▶ Bypost fromThemembership Secretary,12, AlmaStreet, Taunton, TA1 3AH(+£2p&p).▶ Online from:www.butterfly-conservation.myshopify.com

(£8 inclusive of p&p).Cheques should bemade payable toButterflyConservation, Somerset and Bristol Branch.It features about fortywalks on thirty-seven sites throughoutBristol andSomerset. It isillustratedwith photos of all the butterflieswhich occur in our area, has amap for eachwalk anddetails of how to find each site. There is a section onday-flyingmoths andflight charts for both the butterflies and moths are included.

Supported By

Butterfly Walks in Somerset and Bristol

B

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Two Moors Project UpdateOverall it was a reasonable year for the Heath Fritillary butterfly on

Exmoor, considering the cool and rather dull weather conditions during thebutterfly’s flight period. The total number of Heath Fritillary recorded acrossExmoor has risen year on year since 2012, when wet and cool weather caused asignificant decline in numbers. Data from 2015 surveys indicated that 7 sitesshowed an increase in the number of butterflies recorded compared with 2014, 4sites were down and 7 sites remained stable. 13 sites were occupied in 2015,compared with 11 in 2014 and 2013. The data is currently being analysed, andthe Exmoor Heath Fritillary 2015 Status Report will be published by the end of theyear.

The introduction of Heath Fritillary adults in June 2014 into a coppiceclearing at Hawkcombe was successful in its first year, with both larvae and adultsrecorded in spring/summer this year. Further coppicing/ride wideningmanagement is planned in association with Exmoor National Park Authority whoown the woodland, and it is hoped that the butterfly will thrive here, and eventuallymove out to colonise the nearby historically occupied sites at Shillet Combe andBerry Castle.

A maximum count of 24 individuals was recorded from the Haddon Hilltransect route in 2015 (same as 2014), and HF were recorded on the transect for6 consecutive weeks, with 5 seen on 10th July (Dave Ayling will provide furtherdetails, no doubt).

Once again, sadly no Marsh Fritillary were seen at Codsend Moor, thesecond successive year of no sightings. However, this is a huge site and it is quitepossible that the butterfly or larval webs were missed during surveys, as onlyaround 10% of the potential breeding habitat can be covered during the survey. Itshould be noted that the habitat was looking in good condition, following a smallburn to encourage stock into rank areas.The Exmoor Mires Project will beundertaking ditch blocking in agreed areas, and it is hoped that this may improvehabitat conditions further.

Surveys in the Exe Valley bracken sites again revealed no definite HighBrown Fritillary, whilst habitat conditions appear rather grassy, clearly favouringDark Green over High Brown Fritillary.

Regarding progress with developing the ‘All the Moor Butterflies’ project,our Development Officer, Simon Phelps, is busy carrying out consultations withlocal community groups, volunteers and landowners to put together the details ofour 3 year HLF-funded project. The application is due to be submitted in Februaryand we hope to begin the delivery phase in the autumn next year. The project willcover Bodmin Moor as well as Dartmoor and Exmoor, and will have a strongfocus on community engagement as well as delivering land management adviceto farmers and landowners.

Jenny Plackett

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Summary of Large Blue Work in the Poldens

The Biffa Award funded project begun in September 2014 and runs untilFebruary 2016. This update was written in November 2015 and includes workfrom September 2014 to November 2015.Populations:

Although 2012 is widely regarded as a bad year for butterflies, the LargeBlue did exceptionally well in the Poldens. However, the cold and late spring of2013 was followed by a hot and very droughty July which impacted badly on boththe ants and the caterpillars. Numbers of Large Blue eggs laid in 2013 were downon 2012 and poor survival of caterpillars on desiccated Thyme meant that thePoldens population fell even lower in 2014.

The warm 2014 summer was interspersed with regular rain showersensuring that conditions were exceptionally good for the survival of both ants andLarge Blue caterpillars.

In 2015 Large Blue populations increased fourfold from their 2014 levels.Gratifyingly, this also led to an expansion onto to new sites and there were five re-colonisations during the summer. This was made possible by the improvedhabitat quality as a result of the practical work carried out under this project.

Summary by David Simcox (Habitat Designs Ltd). Survey work supportedby Oxford University, Network Rail, Habitat Designs Ltd, Natural England andButterfly Conservation.

Butterfly Conservation staff visited the restoration sites on the Aller Ridgeand Eastfield. No Large Blue were recorded on these sites yet.

Conservation work:September 2014 – September 2015Scrub: Since the start of the Biffa Award project 4ha of scrub has been cleared andmanagedoneight of the 14 project sites; this includes 2.9ha by contractors and1.1haof management by volunteers.Ruderal: Since the start of the Biffa Award project 35 days of ruderal control was

Large Blue, Collard Hill,© Will Langdon

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conducted overall across ten project sites: this included: spraying of bramble andbrush-cutting regrowth. 30 days of this was contracted and five volunteer work partydays were held.Fencing: 500m on one site and 450m on another to make them stockproof toencourage and help control grazing in the future.Winter 2015/16:Winter scrubmanagement has begun and includes scrub clearanceon theAller sites,GreenDown,GillingDown, Tannager andBlackthornmanagementon Collard Hill.

Community Engagement: Events up to December 2015Summary:

Overall 17 work parties and events have been held so far with eight moreto come in 2015 and January 2016. At the end of November 2015 it wascalculated that volunteers attending work parties, talks and training events havecontributed over 300 hours of their time and this involved 48 different people (notincluding the Large Blue Open Day).

30 volunteer days have been input into scrub management, 12 to assistwith ruderal control and 25 days into attending talks and training events (notincluding the Large Blue Open Day on Collard Hill and Green Down).

Events have so far included two local talks on the project and IdentifyingLarge Blue, the Large Blue training day on Collard Hill and Green Down, UKBMStransect training on New Hill and Tannager and the Large Blue Open Day (est. 80attended).We have had more tasks this winter including:• 01/12 at Green Down with Somerset Wildlife Trust (scrub management)• 13/12 at Gilling Down with Somerset Wildlife Trust (scrub management)Still to come in 2016:• 12/01 at New Hill with Somerset Wildlife Trust (Wild Liquorice seedingand scrub management)• 13/01 at Collard Hill with the National Trust (Blackthorn management)• 15/01 at Collard Hill with the National Trust (Blackthorn management)• 17/01 at Gilling Down with Somerset Wildlife Trust (scrub management)

Upcoming events12th January - Wild Liquorice seeding event at New Hill Reserve (see below)26th January - Brown Hairstreak egg count training event in the Polden Hills (seedetails here: (http://butterfly-conservation.org/244-10596/somerset-and-bristol-brown-hairstreak-egg-count-training.html)

Wild Liquorice, Astragalus glycyphyllos:In January we will be planting seed with the Somerset Wildlife Trust on their NewHill Reserve to help increase the area of habitat for the Liquorice Piercer moth(Grapholita pallifrontana).

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We are also looking for people to help monitor the success of this seeding and tokeep an eye out for Wild Liquorice whilst out surveying in Somerset. Please findmore details here:http://butterfly-conservation.org/244-10595/somerset-wild-liquorice-seeding-work-task.html

Publicity:We have had one regional press release (e.g. Western Gazette) two local articlesin the Somerton Sentinel and Langport Leveller.An article is due out this month in the Wet Moor magazine about the Large Blueproject to encourage volunteers and in December in the Langport Leveller andSomerton Sentinel about the Brown Hairstreak and the event.More will be planned to promote the Brown Hairstreak event and the WildLiquorice seeding event.

Project Funders and Supporters:Biffa Award,

Natural England, Butterfly Conservation Somerset and Bristol Branch,University of Oxford and all those who generously contributed to ButterflyConservation Match Pot Appeals.

The project would not be possible without the support of the partners inthe East Poldens Large Blue Landscape Partnership and the private landowners.

The East Poldens Large Blue Landscape Partnership work together torestore the East Poldens landscape, including re-establishing a viable Large Bluepopulation that formally went extinct in the UK in 1979.

The Partnership consists of Butterfly Conservation, J&F Clark Trust,Millfield School, National Trust, University of Oxford, Somerset Wildlife Trust andSouth Somerset District Council, with support from Natural England.

Rachel Long

Liquorice Piercer Moth©JohnBebbington, Charlton Mackrell 2013Wild Liquorice, Astragalus glycyphyllos

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Small Blue ProjectMSc STUDY BY POPPY HOOKINGS TO CONFIRM THE STATUS OF THESMALL BLUE IN SOMERSET AND BRISTOL AND TO IDENTIFY FACTORSWHICH MIGHT ENABLE B.C. TO MANAGE SMALL BLUE HABITATS MOREEFFECTIVELY.

The Small Blue (Cupidominimus) is described as U.K.’s tiniestbutterfly, dependent upon a single larvalfood-plant Kidney Vetch (Anthyllisvulneraria), scarce and in decline andtypically restricted to small colonies inchalk and limestone grassland.

On examining transect recordsfor 2013 and 2014, I recognised adramatic decline in the county’spopulation since 2011. In that peak yearwhen 243 were seen in the County, 176 were recorded at Stoke Camp, but by2014 only 4 were recorded there and 4 were recorded on the Cheddar Woodtransect. The species was then at a very low ebb. Coincidently, I noted a dramaticfall in Large Blue populations on the Polden Hills in 2013 and 2014 despite a peakin 2012. I raised my concerns about both species at the Branch Committeemeeting on 25th February 2015.

John Andrews then contacted Rachel Jones in the conservation team atHead Office about the Large Blue decline. Did the published transect figuresreflect the true position and was the Large Blue management on top of theproblem? Subsequently, John was approached by graduate Poppy Hookings fromBristol University seeking an opportunity to conduct a research study culminatingin a dissertation for an MSc degree. It was thought that this study could usefullyaddress the Small Blue issue. John, Poppy and I accordingly set about definingthe requirements of this study.

Firstly, it would be important to visit Small Blue sites sufficiently frequentlyto count adult butterflies, their eggs and larvae: then to observe the butterfly’schoice of aspect and shelter when selecting Kidney Vetch plants for egg-laying.Also, to compare the vegetation structure and management history where SmallBlue survives with some sites where it has been lost. The study would includeassessments of Kidney Vetch abundance and vigour in relation to sward structureand height. Our active and experienced but aging members were already fullystretched walking transects and other tasks, but inertia was unacceptable. Weneeded Poppy’s help with this research. BC would assist her by covering travelexpenses. Meanwhile, Dave Ayling and I were struggling to identify sufficient siteswhere there was still a prospect of encountering Small Blues. Our objective wasto name five managed sites which could be visited three times during the flightseason, but records from 2014 transects showed only the few Small Blue adults

Small Blue © SueDavies

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recorded at Stoke Camp and from the slopes above Cheddar Wood in thecounty. We had no option but to include Draycott Sleights and Dolebury Warrenon the basis of their past records. Fortunately I heard of a further Small Bluesite from which records were not published. This small site is situated on arailway embankment in the Polden Hills with restricted access, close to theLarge Blue site at Green Down and also managed and monitored by specialistecologist David Simcox and colleague Sarah Meredith MSc. I arranged to meetDavid and Sarah at this site known as Castley Hill. I explained that as numbersof Small Blue locally had crashed, BC was planning a research study on thefew remaining occupied Small Blue sites. David was very supportive andhaving read Poppy’s Research Project Plan, agreed that Castley Hill could beincluded as one of the study sites (subject to restricted access to this privatesite) and that he and Sarah could provide Poppy with some mentoring. I visitedCastley Hill on 22nd May 2015 to meet David and Sarah and we saw our firstSomerset Small Blue of 2015. (On this relatively low altitude site the butterflyappears to fly earlier than on our other, higher reserves.)

Poppy was due to start her 3-month study on 25th May 2015. This wouldenable her to view both first and second brood Small Blue butterflies. Initially itwas not known how familiar she was with the adults, eggs or larvae of thespecies, nor the proposed study sites. It was important to arrange a ‘start- up’meeting to introduce her to site managers should she need access to sites and asa source of information. On 26th May 2015 at SWT’s Office at Callow Hill she metwith Christopher Hancock and Neil Watson of SWT, Joe McSorley of AWT andwith John Andrews and me. Her study was discussed: suggestions and supportwere offered. Two significant issues arose. On sites where a fixed transect hadbeen walked for many years it was possible to overlook key butterfly species iftheir larval food-plants had shifted locus. Draycott Sleights later proved apotential example. In these circumstances, transect routes may need reviewingfrom time to time where scarce species are involved. After the meeting, SWTstaff introduced John and Poppy to the transectvia the steep slopes above the nearby CheddarWood but no Kidney Vetch was found. Thisimplied that no Small Blue could be present,that last year’s records were made in error andthis site should be omitted from the study.Poppy was then taken to visit DraycottSleights and Stoke Camp reserves whereKidney Vetch was found (but at DraycottSleights it was high on a steep rocky area,distant from the entrance, potentially off theexisting transect).

A week later Poppy joined me to meetDavid Simcox and Sarah Meredith at CastleyHill where Poppy was able to identify her first

Small Blue © John Burrell

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adult Small Blues and under the expert guidance ofSarah, find their eggs tucked between Kidney Vetchflorets. David recommended that timed counts werebetter than walking transects and that counts of eggsand larvae were at least as important as countingadults. David outlined the management of the site,showed Poppy a simple way of measuring swardheight, offered guidance on methodology, and furtherassistance should she need it. With this practicalexperience she was able to visit the other sites andapply what she had learned. Recording the adultbutterflies would be weather-dependent but theireggs and larvae less so. At Stoke Camp, Poppy wasfortunate to have guidance from Lucy Morton whoherself had worked with David Simcox previously. AtDolebury Warren, Poppy was already known to JoeMcSorley.

I had been keen to understand why Small Blue populations shouldplummet at what had recently been the County’s best site, Stoke Camp. Therewas adequate Kidney Vetch there and the butterfly had flourished on the lowerslopes, sheltered by Rodney Stoke wood where there was a mini-landscape ofwarm rocky hollows amongst the food-plant. This was regarded as ideal habitatwhere wind would not deter females from egg-laying. There would probably havebeen more than one contributory cause of the decline. Management issues suchas inappropriately timed or over-grazing and inclement weather could both beimplicated. In discussion with David Simcox, I learned more details about theLarge Blue collapse in 2013. Weather records showed that in February, March,April and May that year, temperatures were markedly lower than normal andrainfall lighter. These inclement conditions so delayed butterfly development thatDavid found Large Blue larvae to be three weeks later than usual. Then, during adrought in July 2013 at Green Down, data loggers at ground level showed that 25degrees Celsius had been exceeded for 300 hours instead of only 30 hoursduring that month normally. As a result, thyme plants were desiccated and manylarvae apparently failed to mature. At the same time, Sarah was experiencingsimilar problems with Kidney Vetch in Surrey. When handled, the desiccatedplants fell apart and drifted away on the breeze. Similar conditions at Stoke Campin 2013 could have taken a serious toll on Small Blue larvae. In 2012, the flightperiod of this and other butterflies was exceptionally wet and cool. Transectrecords indicated it was a very poor year for most species. The combined effectsof reduced numbers in 2012 and the contrary weather in 2013 could well havecontributed to a dramatic decline in Small Blue populations.

On natural Small Blue sites sward management is normally achieved bytimed grazing, preferably by cattle or alternatively by ponies. This is usuallyrestricted to winter. Sheep grazing in spring can result in the centres of their

Small Blues ©SueDavies

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rosettes being eaten out. Such plantsdo recover, but the risk is that floweringmay be delayed. This is significantbecause flowering needs to besynchronous with female Small Blueemergence. The timing of both floweringand Small Blue emergence appear tobe linked to the altitudes of our sites,but without human intervention theyshould normally remain synchronous.Kidney Vetch is a perennial but standsof it may need to be rejuvenated from time to time to keep it vibrant in the longterm. For it to continue to flourish, it needs some bare ground for seeds togerminate and cattle can assist germination by the soil disturbance they create.

Whilst Poppy was carrying out her study, transect walkers, site managersand leaders of BC walks were also recording adult Small Blues whichcomplemented the data Poppy was accumulating. This brought to light a furthersite at Littleton where manager Hamish Cole had seen 1 Small Blue adult in2014 and then 2 in 2015.

On completion of her research, Poppy submitted at dissertation thatreflected the assertion that the greatest threats to the rare and declining SmallBlue were the lack of habitat management or inappropriate techniques includingovergrazing, agricultural intensification, inadequate knowledge of habitatrequirements and insufficient monitoring. She conducted counts of adults onthe four selected sites by both transect and timed count methods, and with eggand larval counts following the random distribution of quadrats. She alsoassessed habitat quality factors including % cover of wildflowers, % of bareground / rock, % herb cover, sward height in cm, % gradient, soil depth anddensity of Kidney Vetch. She then assessed the types of management used in2014/2015 and in prior years, focussing on the type of management, time ofyear and intensity. She found Small Blue populations to be disturbingly low,with numbers too few to allow for statistical analysis. To prevent furtherdeclines in Small Blue populations she advocated monitoring rabbit grazing atCastley Hill and, on all other Small Blue sites, for cattle grazing to be restrictedto winter and at low intensities. Poppy might not have recognised that anotherlimiting factor was the relative dearth of Kidney Vetch. The Somerset AtlasFlora describes it as ‘scarce and localised’ in the County.

Much as her endeavours have been appreciated, overall, her study hasnot added greatly to our understanding of Small Blue requirements.

Poppy’s dissertation does pick up other relevant issues as follows:* The most reliable monitoring is best carried out by the same experiencedrecorder, year on year.* For its size, Small Blue has a high dispersal rate capability to colonisedistant Kidney Vetch habitats. This attribute has facilitated establishing new sites

Empty Small Blue egg case on KidneyVetch flower head ©Will Langdon

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seeded with Kidney Vetch.* Sites with high wildflower cover, particularly including Horseshoe Vetch(Hippocrepis comosa) and Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) the adultbutterfly’s favoured nectar sources, can help promote an abundance of SmallBlue.

Poppy has under-played the potential negative effects of inclement orextreme weather conditions (or indeed the positive effect of fine summers) whichare known to influence butterfly populations. (See Pollard and Yates, 1993).

Following the very poor showing of Small Blues in 2014, Poppy’s mostsignificant contribution was to galvanise efforts to establish their current status.It was encouraging to see that the combined counts in 2015 reflected asubstantial recovery at Stoke Camp and modest recoveries elsewhere. At StokeCamp, 27 adults were recorded on transects and guided walks between27th May and 18th July and Poppy recorded 2 other adults on different dates,plus 15 eggs. At Castley Hill, 16 adults were recorded between 22ndMay and17th August (10 recorded by Poppy and 6 by Sarah Meredith in my presence).Poppy also recorded 37 eggs there and Sarah found another 5 in my presence.Poppy recorded 1 larva also. At Draycott Sleights, 4 adults were recorded ontransect for the first time since 2012. Dolebury Warren’s site managerreported sightings of 1 adult Small Blue and 1 egg (the first we were aware ofsince 2011 from this former stronghold). So, together with the 2 adults seen atLittleton (above), 52 adults were recorded this year across the 5 sites, a tenfoldincrease on last year.

Given the relatively few natural Kidney Vetch sites in the County it is notsurprising that we have had several pioneers of Small Blue habitat creationschemes which have been seeded with the food-plant. These include CliveFarrell, Andrew George and David Simcox with successful sites at Rywater (inDorset), Noone Cottage, Carymoor Environmental Centre and at Castley Hill. Inthe latter case, with approval Network Rail, David Simcox created suitablysculpted habitat and seeded it with Kidney Vetch in 2006. Small Blue appearedthere in 2011and continues to flourish. On natural sites when populations peak,Small Blues may disperse to seek suitable new habitat. Conversely, as weknow from Dolebury Warren, strong populations can peter out. There is scopefor more of this habitat creation activity to guard against loss of sites for rarespecies if BC deems this appropriate. We have access to the expertise. Onthese normally smaller man-made habitats cattle grazing may be impracticaland as a consequence Kidney Vetch there might be relatively short-lived andneed more human management. Clive Farrell speaks of having to collect seedand re-sow it, to add more chalk on occasion and to keep his Kidney Vetchswards free of unwanted competitive weeds.

John Burrell, 5th December, 2015.

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Are Neonics Destroying our Butterflies?The first scientific study to examine the effects of this controversial group

of pesticides on British butterflies suggests that they may be contributing to theirdecline. Researchers found that 15 of 17 farmland species such as the SmallTortoiseshell, Wall Brown and Small Skipper, show declines associated withincreasing neonic use.ref: https://peerj.com/articles/1402/

Neonics are a new type of highly toxic chemical which acts a nerve agentfor insects. They were first introduced in 1994 and are now widely used on cropssuch as cereals, sugar beet and oil seed rape. They are also sold for use ingardens, so many gardeners may be unwittingly adding to the problem.

Population data from 1985 to 2012 gathered from more than 1,000 sitesacross the country was studied by scientists at the universities of Stirling andSussex, in partnership with Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology andHydrology. They found that neonicotinoid use better explained steep populationdeclines than other factors.

Although the study cannot definitively identify the cause of the populationdrops, Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, said that thecorrelation revealed by the research required urgent further investigation.“The debate up until now has been focused on bees. If neonicotinoids areaffecting a lot of other insects, we should be even more worried,”“What we really want is more research. It’s crazy that we’re using a potentiallydangerous-to-wildlife chemical and nobody has done those studies."“If we’re going to get smart about using chemicals in the countryside we need totest them better before they get out there.”

Dr Andre Gilburn, of the University of Stirling, who led the butterfly study,said: “Our study not only identifies a worrying link between the use ofneonicotinoids and declines in butterflies but also suggests that the strength oftheir impact on many species could be huge."

Neonics usage increased at its fastest rate during the first decade of the21st century, when farmland butterflies also experienced a precipitous decline,despite a doubling in conservation spending and predictions that climate changewould benefit most species.

The Small Skipper declined by 62% and the Essex Skipper by 67%between 2000 and 2009. Both species’ caterpillars live on grasses found on fieldmargins. In the same period the Large Skipper declined by 35%, the Wall Brownby 37% and the Small Tortoiseshell by 64%.

According to the study, published in the journal PeerJ, these declineshave largely occurred in England, where neonic usage is at its highest. Bycontrast in Scotland, where spraying of the pesticide is comparatively low,butterfly numbers are stable.

A US study published earlier this year found that dust emitted whenseeds treated with neonicotinoids are planted causes sub-lethal effects in

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caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly. Another study identified mobile dustcontaining a high concentration of neonicotinoids on the surface of fields,suggesting the pesticide could spread to effect insect populations which don’t liveadjacent to arable fields.http://bioscienceresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Pecenka-and-Lundgren-2015-Early-On-line.pdf

Matt Shardlow, chief executive of the charity Buglife, said: “Clearly theuse of neonicotinoid seed treatments has been an unmitigated ecologicaldisaster. It is such a shame that the government continues to support their usewhen the time has clearly come to extend the ban on seed treatments to cover allcrops, not just oilseed rape.”

In 2013, the EU introduced a temporary ban on certain types of neonicsfor flowering crops such as Oilseed Rape to allow scientists to better determinethe insecticides’ impact on bees. But neonics continue to be widely and legallyused on other crops, particularly Wheat.

Scientific studies have shown how neonics stay in the soil for years, leakinto water and can be absorbed by wildflowers and grasses growing in fieldmargins, which provide nectar for butterflies and food for their caterpillars.

Researchers in the Netherlands have linked neonicotinoids found insurface water to declines in insectivorous birds and there is widespread scientificevidence that neonicotinoids harm bees, reducing their ability to pollinate plants.However scientists judge that there is still not enough data to say whether thisharm ultimately leads to a decline in bee populations.

Dave Goulson, professor of biology at the University of Sussex, said:“Many of us can remember a time when our meadows and hedgerows had farmore butterflies, bees and other insects than today. This study adds to thegrowing mountain of evidence that neonicotinoids are one of the causes of thesedeclines.”http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dave_Goulson/publication/264056414_Ecology_Pesticides_linked_to_bird_declines/links/540cb99f0cf2d8daaacaeb2a.pdf

Butterfly Conservation launched a crowd-funding appeal to support amore detailed scientific assessment of the potential impact of neonicotinoids onfarmland butterflies. The charity also wants scientists to test butterflies and theircaterpillars to see if they have neonics in their bodies.http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/are-pesticides-killing-our-butterflies

There are many scholarly articles related to this issue. I have included afew salient references but there are many others readily accessible on the internetfor anyone wishing to read further on this extremely important subject.

Sue Davies

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Westbury Beacon is crowned by a Bronze Age tumulus standing some900 feet above the Bristol Channel, clearly in view to the west with the risingslopes of Exmoor beyond. Looking south, the eye is caught by the tower onGlastonbury Tor. Eastward, the edge of the Mendip scarp runs away hazilytowards Salisbury Plain. To the north sheep-grazed fields rise towards the top ofBlack Down at just over 1000 feet. On a sunny calm day, surrounded bywonderful views and with Chalkhill Blues busy around one’s feet, it is an idyllicspot. On a winter’s day with the wind from the northwest and scudding rain it canbe seriously bleak.

The tumulus is a bell barrow somewhere around 3300 years old.Excavated in the 1750s, bronze spear heads were found and are reputed to havebeen given to a local farmer in exchange for cider. In medieval times or later, it isthough to have been a signal beacon site. Just beside, shallowly undergroundand now infilled, is a Royal Observer Corps bunker that was created at the heightof the Cold War in 1961. The green barn was later used as a workshop by theelectronics firm Racal, working on radar here. Racal became part of Thales, aFrench multinational company that designs and builds electrical systems andprovides services for aerospace and defence industries. Now, after several yearsof trying, we finally own the site, Bronze Age, Cold War, butterflies and all.

Much credit for this goes to John Burrell, who started to survey andmanage the site in 2006. The bones of the Mendips are close to the surface hereand while the flat ground is still mostly grassy, the steep slope dropping away infront of you was never much use even as rough grazing and has for a good manyyears been clothed by old hawthorns and gorse. John began to work away at this,cutting bays and inlets where butterfly plants could grow sheltered from the wind.It is due to his efforts, supported by work parties from the Shapwick Volunteersand others, that the 2014 transect counts recorded a total of 4389 butterflies of 28species including a healthy Chalkhill Blue population as well as Dingy andGrizzled Skippers and Dark Green Fritillary (see John’s article in Arion 99).

Perhaps the most pressing need is to start grazing the grassy areas asthey are now very rank and suppressing the violets that the DGF’s caterpillars eat.This will need careful regulation to create the optimum sward height. At the sametime, the Horseshoe Vetch on which the Chalkhill Blues rely needs differentconditions. We will also continue to carefully open up new glades in the gorsewhile keeping plenty of shelter from the chill winds that can blow here even insummer. As it is an SSSI, what we do requires Natural England consent and willtake proper account of its Adders, its nesting birds and its 160-plus plant species.

Close to our Stoke Camp reserve, SWT’s Housegrounds and DraycottSleights and the Rodney Stoke Woodlands National Nature Reserve, Westbury isalso a most important acquisition strategically and I have little doubt that itsbiodiversity value will grow further.

We are lucky to have a strong team of transect walkers to whom Johnhas handed over this year and their knowledge of the site, plus of course his own

Our Newest Reserve - Westbury Beacon

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and the experience of BC’s reserves staff Lucy Morton and John Davis, to steerthe site’s careful development.

So, much thanks to all of you who contributed to the Appeal which whollycovered the costs of the acquisition. Reward yourselves by visiting, on a warmday.Access: You can follow the public footpath east from Stoke Camp or come in fromthe Priddy road, taking the footpath from OS ref ST506506.

John Andrews

CAN YOU HELP RUN OUR CONSERVATION PROJECT IN THE POLDENS?Since 2011 Butterfly Conservation has received funding to help secure

the Large Blue butterfly in the Polden Hills. Work has also been undertaken onother important species including the Brown Hairstreak. Although BC hopes tocontinue work in the Poldens the professional staff time will be limited.

So we are looking for somebody to give a day a week in the summer tohelp monitor species and habitats and undertake surveys; and one or two days amonth during the winter to assist with arranging and running work parties andpossibly also to liaise with the private landowners who have important sites.

You do not need to be an expert as BC staff will give training and theBranch will provide information and support. The skills to enthuse and work withothers will be most important.

This has the potential to be a very important post, taking forward ButterflyConservation’s great achievements of the last five years in the Poldens andextending them to other key species.

Fuller information including a job description will be posted on the Branchwebsite during January. Go to www.somersetbutterflies.org.uk or contact us byemail.

John Andrews

Can You Help?

At the MShed, Harbourside, Bristol.Sat Nov 28th - Sun April 10thFor more details: 0117 352 6600. www.bristolmuseums.org.uk

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Haircuts and Hairstreaks - Julian RawlinsIf you just google frohawk you will be presented first with images of

extraordinary haircuts; but if you google F W Frohawk you will cut straight toinformation about the great entomologist and zoological illustrator, who is bestknown for his two-volume work Natural History of British Butterflies. It tookhim nearly 25 years to complete, which he did just before the First World War butit was not published until 1924.

Over 50 years ago my eldest brother bought a copy of both volumes,which he subsequently took with him when he emigrated to Australia. Icorresponded recently with him about Brown Hairstreaks. Between us wecollected a specimen, I spotted it and he caught it, very many years ago. He feltthat his treasured Frohawks would now be more useful back in the UK, so hegave them to me and they arrived a few weeks ago.

Frohawk bred every species of British butterfly from ovum to imago andat each stage he described and drew or painted them from real life. The result isa wealth of fascinating and almost unimaginable detail, beautifully illustrated.Great browsing on winter evenings.

Flitter

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Fivehead Death's Head emerges! - John Bebbington (© images)The Death's Head larva (shown

right), which Sally Pizii found inFivehead in August, emerged yesterdaythe 6th November - just in time forSomerset Moth Group AGM thismorning! It was much admired by all.

I am grateful to Sally forallowing me to exhibit and laterphotograph the moth, a magnificentfemale. I will release it this evening inthe hope that it will find favourable

winds and make it back to the Med!

Female Death's Head Hawk-mothAcherontia atropos from larva found inFivehead (above)Detail of head of the moth - amazingclaws! (right)

Purple Hairstreak Caterpillar -Liz Marsden (© images)Taking a leaf (almost literally) out ofChris Iles's book, I've taken to searchingthe leaves of fallen twigs - on a rathersquashed lot.

On the 6th June, along the path atMount Fancy I found a PurpleHairstreak caterpillar (above).It hatched on Sunday 5th July, (right)and when released flew straight up intothe tree-tops.

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In search of some late season sun and late season butterflies beforewinter my wife and I booked a holiday to the north of Italy. After searching thebrochure we decided on the little town of Pieve at the head of Lake Ledro about60 miles from Milan. After the short flight from Bristol to Bergano, a transfer alongLake Garda with a passage through some spectacular tunnels brought us to ourhotel beside Lake Ledro situated some 650 metres above sea level.

The following day was bright and sunny allowing us a chance to takestock of our surroundings. The lake is surrounded by a steep sided valley forestedwith mixed woodland on the lower slopes and conifers at a higher level. The areais very well signposted and using the excellent map of the area provided free bythe local tourist office we began by walking up the valley on the well surfacedcycle track. Leading into the lake was a dry water course with steep concrete andstone sides. From these walls sprouted many large Buddleia bushes. A quickglance revealed they were feeding many butterflies, Red Admiral, Painted Lady,Brimstone, Clouded Yellow and many Silver-washed Fritillaries. These wereinteresting in that at least half of them were of the female variety valezina theyappeared to have been around for some time as many looked well worn. Theother find was six Hummingbird Hawkmoths on one bush; this moth seemed to bevery common in the area. Over the period of our stay many good finds were madeon these bushes.

We continued our walk along the valley passing a large factory makingwooden pallets. The fields provided Common Blue, Brown Argus, and a largenumber of Small Heath. The fields had been partially cut for hay but there weremany corners and odd bits that still sported a luxuriant number of flowers. After agood first day we retired to try some wonderful Italian ice cream and prepared foranother day. Dryad

Walking After Italian Lakeland Butterflies

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The lake is approximately 8.5km around and so we decided to walkaround the perimeter. We walked fromPieve along a surfaced path beside theshore to the next village of Mezzolago.At this point the path crosses the mainroad and goes inland through the villageto cut off a large corner. We wereadvised by the hotel receptionist, thehelpful Lisa, that if you walked up theroad for about 150 metres you could

pick up the old path and avoid the detour. This advice was indeed worthwhile as itlead us to a wonderful sunny bank and flat area above the lake; over the holidayperiod this was to provide a great variety of species. The first seen flying was theDryad (above), both male and female. This is a large slow flying species that isnot easily seen as it tends to hide low down in vegetation. We were lucky as theywere warming up and basking as they nectared with wings flat open, manylooking well worn. Further along the stone path we came across fresh specimensof Wall Brown, again of both sexes, feeding on Fleabane.

There were a number of whitesin flight: the usual Large, Small andGreen-veined were found. Two smallspecimens needed following, theseturned out to be Wood White (right).During our stay we found them all overthe area up to a height of 985 metres atone of the mountain huts, in a variety ofhabitats. We noticed they seemed to bestronger fliers than those seen inBritain. This area was revisited severaltimes and produced a strong colony ofSmall Heath, Small Copper, Brown Argus and very fresh Adonis Blues. Theseagain were to be found at several sites again to high altitude. The flowers werepast their best but the bright pink flowers of Bloody Cranesbill and the blue of

Meadow Cranesbill were still much inevidence together with othersunidentified.

There are a number of sidevalleys running down to the lake someof which were explored. They producedsome good finds including WhiteAdmiral, Geranium Bronze andSwallowtails. A small rough field abovethe village of Lenzumo contained a

Wood White

Dryad

Scotch Argus

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colony of Scotch Argus (left) . Manywere worn but gave good pictures of topand underside. These valleys containmixed forest with Beech, SweetChestnut and Walnut trees together withHornbeam and a fair few Spindle withtheir bright pink fruits. Together withconifers made for very pleasant walking.Here we also found good plants such asHerb Paris, Flower of Parnassus,

Jupiters Distaff and Clarys.Most days we revisited the

lakeside Buddleia bushes andsometimes found new species. Silver-spotted Skipper (above) was seen ontwo days and most days we saw HighBrown Fritillaries (left), some fresh,some worn. These all seemed to be thestandard specimens, not the varietycleodoxa which is common further east.The two species we did not find wereSmall Tortoiseshell and Gatekeeper

which was surprising given the numberof other Nymphalids and Satyridspresent.

Our last find was aptly on ourlast day when eating our lunch on thelakeside when an odd looking butterflyflew over. A short chase proved it to bea female Large Wall Brown inreasonable order (right).

Our holiday butterfly wise wasmuch better than we expected with 28species seen and 6 species of dayflying moth. The flowers were stillreasonable and the area was well worth naturalists visiting. The accommodationwas very comfortable with good food and facilities and we were left wonderingwhat an early season return visit would bring.

Keith Gould, 30th August to 11th September 2015 (© images)

Silver-spotted Skipper

female Large Wall Brown

High Brown Fritillary

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At the end of July 2014, Iattended a joint RSPB/ BC HighlandBranch moth trapping event at InshMarshes, the RSPB reserve nearKingussie.

My main hope was to see someof the moths that are concentrated inthe North of England and Scotland and Iwas not disappointed. Multiple trapshad been employed and it was great tosee and photograph such species asHaworths Minor, Angle-striped Sallow,Lempke's Gold Spot and Suspected,along with many others I'd not seenbefore.

The highlights however wereDark Bordered Beauty - now found atonly three sites in Scotland and one inYorkshire ( Strensall Common) - andCousin German, a rather indistinctlymarked reddish grey moth which is veryscarce and a species of the CentralHighlands and Wester Ross.

It only rained (poured down! )after we'd seen the moths andcompleted an interesting butterfly walkon the reserve during which we sawScotch Argus and found a Narrow -bordered Bee Hawkmoth larva.

Geoff Hiscocks (© images)

Moth Trapping in the Highlands

Dark Bordered Beauty

Cousin German

Haworths Minor

Angle-striped SallowLempke's Gold Spot

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This striking continental butterflyhas emerged in the South of England inrecord numbers for the second time inthree years.

More than 60 Long-tailed Bluebutterflies have been seen from Suffolkto Devon since August in what isthought to be the second largestemergence of the butterfly in UK history.

The Long-tailed Blue, Lampidesboeticus is a migrant from theMediterranean with a handful typicallyreaching UK shores each year. Expertsbelieve climate change may be behindthis butterfly reaching our shores more

regularly and in vastly increased numbers.Migrating butterflies crossed the Channel in August and laid 1000s of

eggs in gardens and allotments along the South Coast.BC’s Neil Hulme said: “I can’t stress how exciting this is – we have seen one ofthe largest ever migrations of this butterfly into the UK, only exceeded by therecord numbers of 2013. Coming so soon after the last major invasion, despite acollapse in the August weather, this really is amazing"

The majority of sightings were in Sussex, where nearly 40 were spotted,but the butterfly has also been seen in Devon, Dorset, Hampshire & Isle of Wight,Kent and Suffolk.

UK-born Long-tailed Blue butterflies started to emerge in late September,taking advantage of the unseasonably warm end to the month. They were seenup to the end of October and one was spotted at Brighton Racecourse on the 1stNovember.

The Long-tailed Blue butterfly has previously been considered a very rarevisitor to the UK, despite being abundant across southern Europe, Africa, Asiaand Australia. It was seen for the very first time in Britain in 1859, but over thenext 80 years only 30 adults were recorded here. Significant influxes occurred in1945 and 1990, but these events were relatively small when compared to theinvasion of 2013. 109 sightings were recorded between July and October of thatyear. This is one of the world’s more successful species of butterfly. It may besmall, but it’s a very powerful flyer capable of crossing mountain ranges and seas.

In hot weather it can go through its entire life cycle in just over a month,which is half the period taken by many species. The woodlouse-shaped larva firstfeeds on the flowers of the foodplant, but eventually enters a pod where it feedson the contents, relatively safe from predators. This stage lasts between 3 and 4weeks. The primary larval foodplants are Bladder-senna (Colutea arborescens),

Long-tailed Blue Heading Our Way?

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Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea (Lathyruslatifolius), Broom (Sarothamnusscoparius) and Narrow-leavedEverlasting-pea (Lathyrus sylvestris).Mange-tout pea (Pisum sativum) is alsoused. It can be an agricultural pest incontinental Europe.

The one thing which holds itback is that it cannot normally survivethe winter this far north, but to see thisnumber of Long-tailed Blues enteringthe UK again does suggest that thespecies is undergoing a significantchange in its geographical spread. Itmay be that its zone of permanentresidency in southern Europe isextending northwards possibly in response to climate change.

The butterfly gets its name from the wispy ‘tails’ on the trailing edge ofeach of its hindwings, which flutter in the breeze. Adjacent eye spots fool birdsinto thinking this is the head of the butterfly, allowing it to escape any attacksunharmed.

The male (above) is a striking violet-blue colour, while the female is a mixof duller blue and brown. The underside of both sexes is a sandy brown colourcrossed by numerous white, wavy lines.

By way of contrast the notdissimilar Lang's Short-tailed Blue,Leptotes pirithous, (left) very rarelyreaches our shores.

Although it has a similardistribution across Southern Europe,Africa and Asia Minor, there is only onerelatively contemporary record. A singlespecimen of this species, a male, wascaught on the edge of an uncut Cloverfield at Bloxworth in Dorset on 13thJune 1938. This specimen is believed tohave arrived with a general influx ofimmigrants on the south coast ofEngland.

Sue Davies (© images)

Photographs:Long-tailed Blue, Andalusia in October;The Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Languedoc in September.

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The butterfly season has all but finished, and the large variety of Autumnmoths has dried up. Nevertheless, take heart, as there's still a way to find moreLepidoptera and make useful records - leaf mines!

Some species of micro moth burrow inside the lamina of leaves, leaving acharacteristic pattern, unique to each species. By searching for these patterns,known as 'leaf mines', and using a mine key, the species that made the mine canbe identified.

It's important to note that many species of beetle and dipteran larvae doalso mine leaves, making the differentiation of species and families something ofa 'minefield', generally speaking. However the mines of micro moths have a lotmore frass (poo) in than those of other types of miner, and if the mine you'vefound is not featured on the excellent Lepidoptera mine key on this website....

http://www.leafmines.co.uk/index.htmit's probably not been made by a micro moth!

Fortunately, even after the leaves have fallen off, some species docontinue to feed, leaving 'green islands' where the rest of the leaf has turnedbrown, the area around the mine remains green, allowing the larva to continue tofeed, and making them very obvious to observant lepidopterists!

Here are some examples of commonly found Mines to get you hunting.A. The Mine of The Apple-Leaf

Miner, despite the name, also found onBirch, Cherry, Blackthorn, and a wholehost of other plant species!

B.The mine of Parornixdevoniella, by identifying species as leafmines, and breeding them to adulthood,you can see and have confirmed IDs for

adult moths that can normally only beseparated by genitalia dissection in thisstage, the Parornix species are a casein point!

C. The mine of Phyllonoryctercoryli, an extremely common blistermine, found on the upperside of Hazel

Mining for Lepidoptera

Adult bred outby Chris Iles

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leaves - often several to a leaf.D. The mine of Phyllonorycter

maestingella, another common blisterfound on Beech leaves, in common withmost Phyllonorycter species, the larva

overwinters and pupates inside the mineE. Everyone's favourite leaf

mine - Stigmella aurella, this species ismost commonly noted on Bramble,where it makes this meandering mine

with its distinctive purple edges. It'slikely in the future that this species willbe separated into several species thatcan only be separated by DNA analysis- pity our county recorder!

F. The mine of Stigmellafloslactella on Hazel, perhaps you'rebeginning to notice a pattern here -Phyllonorycter species generally form

papery blister mines, whilst Stigmellasgo for these wonderful wigglyconstructions!G. This is the mine of Stigmella tityrella

on Beech, a common one at this time ofyear, which leaves distinctive greenislands. This one is tenanted, with thegreen, semi-transparent larva at the top(note its long green gut!), and can beseparated from Stigmella hemargyrellaby the absence of coiled frass (whichlooks much more dispersed).

Will Langdon (©mine images)

Adult bred outby Chris Iles

Adult bred outby Paul Wilkins

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In September I had the goodfortune to spend two weeks in NorthernSpain enjoying the Lepidoptera. Therewere still quite a few butterflies on thewing. Plenty of Scarce, Sooty andSmall Coppers; blues includedChalkhills, Adonis, Long-tailed, Short-tailed and Turquoise Blue. Thecommonest species was probably theMap (the late summer form, right).Weaver’s Fritillary were still plentiful andLa Sófia and Meadow Fritillary, aEuropean endemic, were occasionallyalso seen. Wood Whites and Silver-spotted Skippers were common.

The first week wasspent in the beautiful lushlowlands of La Cerdanya (left)

just south of the Pyrenees. Here I saw my firstStraw Belle, Chalk Burnets (right) in largenumbers, Chalk Carpet, Burnished Brass andDew Moth, (Setina flavicans not S. irrorellawhich is occasionally seen in the UK). Plenty of

commoner day moths were alsoencountered, Common and LatticedHeath, Shaded Broadbar, BurnetCompanion, lots of Vestals,

A 'Mothfest' in Northern Spain

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Hummingbird Hawkmoths, Nettle-tap, andnumerous Blood-vein in a particularly dampmeadow. One was beautifully posed in the sunas if waiting for a passing photographer.

The second week was spent in thePicos de Europa (below) which is undoubtedlyone of Europe’s Lepidoptera ‘hot spots’. Here

we put out moth traps for several nightsand amassed a total of 124 species.This included more day-flyers, theTreble-bar, Yellow Belle, Straw Belle,Spanish Carpet and ConvolvulusHawkmoth. There were also specieswhich can be encountered during theday such as the Chinese Characterwhichlooks

like bird droppings and can easily be overlooked.L-album Wainscot, Rosy Footman and RedUnderwing can all be encountered during the dayeither by disturbing vegetation or more likely justluck.

Hilary Raeburn (© All images exceptDew Moth © Daniel Morel)

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Field Studies Council 2016 CoursesThe list below shows the current butterfly and moth identification courses

available. Butterfly Conservation fully supports the aim of promoting activeconservation through learning. Full details of each course can be found at;http://www.field-studies-council.org.

2016 programmeDissection techniques for moth ID verification

Preston Montford Sat 02 April - Sun 03 AprilTutor Dave Grundy Level Beginners

Discovering Moths in Bushy ParkLondon Sat 14 MayTutor Martin Harvey Level Beginners

Moth Trapping for BeginnersPreston Montford Fri 27 May - Sun 29 MayTutor Dave Grundy Level Beginners

Butterfly and Moth IdentificationBlencathra Sat 28 May - Fri 03 JuneTutor David Brown Level Open for Everyone

Identifying Moths and ButterfliesFlatford Mill Fri 08 July - Sun 10 JulyTutor Sheila Wright Level Intermediate

Focus in on Micro-Moths of Epping ForestEpping Forest Sat 09 JulyTutor Martin Harvey Level Beginners

Identifying Butterflies, Moths and DragonfliesFlatford Mill Fri 15 July - Mon 18 JulyTutor Richard Lewington Level Intermediate

Moths of the Pembrokeshire CoastOrielton Sat 16 July - Tue 19 JulyTutor Dave Grundy Level Open for Everyone

London’s Butterflies in Bushy ParkLondon Sat 23 JulyTutor Martin Harvey Level Beginners

Butterflies and MothsMalham Tarn Mon 25 July - Fri 29 JulyTutor David Brown Level Open for Everyone

Chalk and Limestone Grassland MothsJuniper Hall Fri 29 July - Sun 31 JulyTutor Dave Grundy Level Open for Everyone

An Introduction to Moths and ButterfliesSlapton Ley Fri 29 July - Mon 01 AugustTutor Adrian Spalding Level Open for Everyone

Butterflies and Moths of Chalk GrasslandsAmersham Fri 29 July - Sun 31 July

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Tutor Martin Harvey Level Open for EveryoneButterflies and Moths

Preston Montford Mon 08 August - Fri 12 AugustTutor David Brown Level Open for Everyone

Micro-MothsFlatford Mill Fri 12 August - Mon 15 AugustTutor Dave Grundy Level Open for Everyone

Highland Butterflies and MothsKindrogan Fri 19 August - Mon 22 AugustTutor David Brown Level Open for Everyone

Autumn MothsFlatford Mill Fri 09 September - Sun 11 SeptemberTutor Dave Grundy Level Open for Everyone

Moths In AutumnEpping Forest Sat 17 SeptemberTutor Martin Harvey Level Beginners• Location: FSC Centres have been chosen for their stunning

locations and access to wonderful flora and wildlife, ensuring you enjoy yourbutterfly and moth identification course

• Expert staff: FSC butterfly and moth identification courses are ledby expert tutors who are passionate about the subject

in KEYNSHAM on SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARYIf you live in Bristol or Bath (or even if you don’t) and would like to know

more about the butterflies and moths of Somerset and how Butterfly Conservationworks to save them, do come to our special members’ meeting at the MasonicHall, Keynsham, on Sunday 28th February from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Though we may still be in the grip of winter’s gloom at the end ofFebruary, the start of spring will only be a few weeks away and we will be lookingat how different species, both common and rare, are doing; at the success of ourreserves including our new acquisition Westbury Beacon; at our conservationprojects; and our ideas for an education project working with primary schools inBristol and Bath.

There will be time to chat too when we break for tea and cake from 3.00to 3.30. To conclude the afternoon John Bebbington FRPS will speak on GoingWild in the Garden, illustrated with his superb photos.

The Hall is close to Saltford on the edge of Keynsham, just off theKeynsham bypass at 99 Bath Road, BS31 1SR (see www.keynshamhall.co.uk fora map). There is parking for 40 vehicles.

There is no need to book but if you’re likely to come it would be helpful toknow so that we can ensure we have enough cake for everyone.

Email Keith Gould on keithgould126@btinternet.comJohn Andrews

Special Members' Meeting

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Our New-Look Website

www.somerset-butterflies.org.ukWelcome to the new Branch website. It is still a work in progress so some

parts of it are incomplete at the moment and some of the planned functions arenot yet set up. We will be developing it further over the coming weeks. Meanwhile,in the following pages you will find information about:

• the butterflies in our area,• walks, talks and other events,• places to visit to see butterflies,• ways you can help their conservation.We know that most of our members have busy lives and are happy to

support Butterfly Conservation and to enjoy the butterflies that they encounter buthaven't the time to play a more active part. So we have designed the website tomake it easy to find out things you may wish to know and participate as much oras little as you wish.

For those with the time, you can upload your butterfly records, postsightings, ask for help with identifications and help other members with theirqueries.

If you want to get more involved, there are several ways in which you canhelp. For instance, Branch members monitor butterfly populations at over 60 sitesfrom spring to autumn and the data feed into a long-running national study thatguides conservation priorities and helps track the effects of climate change.

Members also help with managing four Butterfly Conservation reserves inthe county – Stoke Camp and Westbury Beacon in the Mendips, Mount Fancy inthe Blackdown Hills and Haddon Moor on Exmoor – as well as other work such asthe Large Blue Project running in the Poldens.

Do feel free to contact us with questions or suggestions relating to ouractivities at any time. Sue Davies

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A Big Welcome to our New MembersOctoberDobner Mrs L T & Mr MA, StreetJones Mrs N, WellingtonNovemberBeeson Miss E, BristolBillingsley Miss N, YateBirch Miss K, Weston-s-MareBreeze MrS, StreetBriant Mrs H, BristolElliott Miss K, Chilton PoldenField Dr. M, Wookey HoleFisher Mrs C, BridgwaterGarrard Mr P, BristolGodden Mrs J, BristolGraham Mrs J & Mr D, BurrowbridgeGrant Miss J, BristolGrenfell Mrs D, BristolGuy Mrs P, Midsomer NortonHaddell Mr J, Creech HeathfieldHand Mrs C, BristolHeymans Mrs A, BackwellHiscock Mrs J, YeovilHyde Ms c & Keirl Mr R, BridgwaterJones Miss V, WillitonMahony Ms V & Staynings Mr R,StockwoodMills Mr J & Mrs E, ThornburyMitchell Mr J,Weston-s-MareMurphysmith Mrs C & Mr A, FiltonPentney Mrs J,Creech St.MichaelScreech Miss A, BristolSeal Mr G, Stoke GiffordSpode Mr B, ChesterbladeStaynings Miss J, SouthmeadTett Miss E, IlminsterTheobald Miss E, BridgwaterVickery Miss H, BristolWilkinson Miss K, Weston-s-MareWilliams MrC & Mrs J, WinscombeWilliams Mrs H, BristolCampbell Miss A,TauntonFullom Miss SM, Henry

Jessup Mrs L, MineheadMckee-Smith Mrs H, CrewkerneTincknell Mr C & Mrs G, MidsomerNortonWilliams Mrs H, Bristol

NovemberArnold Miss J & Aldridge Mr C & family,TauntonBaber Mrs V, Ashley DownBrimble Mrs J, StockwoodBritton Mr P, BristolCooksey Mrs E, KingswoodFairburns Ms S, BristolFarrar Ms R, BristolGriffey Ms F, Shepton MalletHarris Mr S, BathJarvis Mr J, ChilcomptonJones Mrs D & Mr R, HorfieldKing Mrs C, PiltonLadd Mr R, High LittletonLee-Potter Mr J, AllerMardon Mrs C,WiveliscombeParker Mrs G, CroscombePorter Mrs J, DunkertonPike Mrs C, Chidden FitzpaineRichardson Mrs V, FromeRogers Mr D, BristolSharpe Dr. H, FishpondsSingleton Miss J & Burrows Mr M &family, BathWheeler Mrs S, WellsGoldie Mr P J, Monkton Heathfield

We hope to see you at the Winter Get-Together on Saturday 6th February atRuishton (pag 41) and at the SpecialMembers Meeting in Keynsham onSunday 28th February (page 37)

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Chairman John AndrewsTrinity View, Church Road, Chilton Trinity, Bridgwater, TA5 2BH,Tel:01278 426500. Email: john.andrews@aecol.co.uk

Branch Secretary Hilary Raeburn164, Westbury Rd. Bristol BS9 3AHTel: 01172 398110 Email: irburn@tiscali.co.uk

Treasurer Paula HewitsonTel: 07805 170374 Email: Blueberries10@outlook.com

Membership Secretary, Branch Contact Keith Gould12, Alma Street, Taunton, TA1 3AHTel: 01823 277462 Email: keithgould126@btinternet.com

Butterfly RecorderHonorary Warden Haddon Moor Reserve Dave AylingLeeside, 2, Grove Road, Blue Anchor, Minehead, TA24 6JXTel: 01643 821664 Email: dave.ayling@somerset-butterflies.org.uk

Transect Data Recording Co-ordinatorHonorary Warden, Mount Fancy Farm Nature Reserve Liz MarsdenFernside, Watergore, South Petherton, TA13 5JQTel: 01460 240184 Email: watergore@btinternet.com

Honorary Warden Westbury Beacon John BurrellThe Willows, 20 Church Road, Wembdon, Bridgwater, TA6 7RPTel: 01278 456851 Email: johnburrell66@yahoo.co.uk

Honorary Warden of Stoke Camp Reserve Christopher IlesArborfield, Holcombe Hill, Holcombe, Radstock BA3 5DHTel: 01761 414798 Email: kifill22@hotmail.com

Newsletter Editor Sue Davies4, Mounsdon Close, Butleigh, BA6 8RXTel: 07702 151312 Email: suedavies28@btinternet.com

Facebook Coordinator Gill ColesSpringfield, Allowenshay, Hinton St George, Somerset TA17 8TBTel: 01460 57573 Email: gillcoles8@hotmail.com

Committee Members

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John Bebbington(also Chairman of Somerset Moth Group and macro moth recorder for VCs 5&6)Quantock View, Newtown, Langport, TA10 9SETel: 01458 253027 Email: john.bebbingtonfrps@btinternet.com

Geoff BruntKea House, Chapel Lane, Butleigh, BA6 8TBTel: 01458 850919 Email: gakbrunt@gmail.com

David Lester1, Holmans, Butleigh, BA6 8UDTel. 01458 850772 Email: dglester@talktalk.net

Andy EllardRidge House, Greenham, Wellington, TA21 0JSTel: 01823 672885 Email: cafe.bird@mypostoffice.co.uk

David AuldWest Close, Church Road, Edington, Bridgwater, TA7 9JTTel: 01278 722529 Email: david@dauld.wanadoo.co.uk

Julian RawlinsOld Barn, North Barrow, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7LZTe: 01963 240245 Email: jrs1@waitrose.com

Webmaster webmaster@somerset-butterflies.org.uk

Saturday 6th February at 2-5pmRuishton Village Hall, near Taunton,Cheats Road, Ruishton,TA3 5JD

This is the time when we meet to chat over last year’s happenings andour plans for the spring and summer soon to come. We share photos and videos,perhaps help each other with the identification of some tricky Fritillary or have thesimple pleasure of provoking envy in those of us less well-travelled or skilled witha camera. Rewards and consolations are provided in the lavish supply of cakesand tea.

If you propose to bring slides or CDs can you please inform Dave Aylingbeforehand on 01643 821664 or dave.ayling@somerset-butterflies.org.uk so thathe can plan the batting order.

As we are often hard-pressed to fit everyone in please limit the number ofphotos to a maximum of 20 and any video to not more than 5 mins.

We look forward to seeing you there. John Andrew

Winter Get-Together

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Index

Websites:www.somerset-butterflies.org.ukwww.somersetmothgroup.org.uk

Our Facebook site:Somerset and Bristol Branch of Butterly Conservation

This open group is a forum for everyone to post and share all their sightings andphotos - from Nature Reserves to back gardens and everywhere in between.

Our Twitter site: BC Somerset (@BCSomerset)Arion by email:

If you would like a full colour version by email and are not yet receiving one,please email me at suedavies28@btinternet.com. All new members with anemail address now receive Arion this way. This saves the cost of printing andpostage, increasing funds for Conservation work. Please remember to let usknow if you change your email address.

Winning Photo, Butterflies Front Cover2nd & 3rd places, Butterflies 2View from the Chair 3AGM Minutes 4Photographic Competition Winners 7Recorder's Report 2015 8Two Moors Project Update 11Summary of Large Blue Work in the Poldens 12Small Blue Project 15Are Neonics Destroying our Butterflies? 20Our Newest Reserve, Westbury Beacon 22Flitter 24Walking after Italian Lakeland Butterflies 26Long-tailed Blue Heading our Way? 30Mining for Lepidoptera 32A 'Mothfest' in Northern Spain 34Field Studies Council Courses 2016 36Special Meeting 37Our New-Look Website 38New Members 39Committee Members 402nd and 3rd places, Moths 43Winning Photo, Moths Back Cover

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F

Joint2nd

Angle Shades(above)

©Will Langdon

Saxon Moth(right)© GeoffHiscocks

3rdLarge Emerald

Moth(left)

© ValerieGodsmark

CompetitionWinnersMoths1st

Merveille duJour

(back page)

© JohnBebbington