Spring 2012 - Glasgow & SW Scotland Branch of Butterfly ...

On the Spot 

Glasgow & South-West Scotland 

Branch Newsletter April 2012 

www.southwestscotland-butterflies.org.uk

Contents 

Chair’s notes………………………………………………….............................. 3 

Glasgow & SW Scotland branch Committee News......................................... 4 

Butterfly Identification Workshop..................................................................... 5 

Third Butterfly Conservation Reserve for Scotland………….......................... 6 

Glasgow’s Butterfly Leaflet Renewed.............…………….….......................... 7 

Robroyston Park Local Nature Reserve Butterfly Transect............................ 8 

New Butterfly Transect – The David Livingstone Centre................................. 9 

Insect Photographic Competition for National Insect Week.......................... 11 

Show Your Support for Butterfly Conservation with a Fleece or T-Shirt....... 12 

Mountain Ringlet Surveys 2011.................................................................... 12 

Results From 16 Wider Countryside Butterfly Sites in 2011......................... 15 

Small Blue Reintroduction Project Update ................................................... 17 

Butterfly Records Update 2011.............. ....………………................…......... 19 

Butterflies of Southwest Scotland Atlas .........................................................23 

Why Not Moths – They’re Just as Wonderful as Butterflies.......................... 23 

2011 Dumfries and Galloway Moth Update ...................................................25 

2011 Stirlingshire, West Perthshire & Dunbartonshire Moth Update............ 26 

2011 Mid Ebudes (Mull, Coll & Tiree) Moth Update.......................................29 

2011 Argyll Main (Vice County 98) Moth Update .......................................30 

2011 Isle of Bute (Vice County 101) Moth Update.........................................30 

Garden Moth Scheme....................................................................................31 

Field Trips and Events in 2012.......................................................................35 

Recorder/Committee Member Contact Details...............................................38 

If you would like to receive a copy of the newsletter by e-mail rather than by 

post, please send an e-mail to the editor: steph_holbein@hotmail.co.uk. 

This will ensure that more funds can be spent on conservation projects rather 

than postage costs! 

Butterfly Conservation Scotland Head Office 

Balallan House, Allan Park, Stirling, FK8 2QG 

Tel: 01786 447753 . Email: scotland@butterfly-conservation.org 

Butterfly Conservation Head Office and Membership enquiries to: 

Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP 

Tel: 0870 7744309. Email: info@butterfly-conservation.org,. 

Web site: http://www.butterfly-conservation.org 

This magazine is published by the Glasgow & 

South West Scotland branch of Butterfly 

Conservation. Copyright © 2012. All Rights 

Reserved. All photographic images and text 

remain the copyright of the original creators as 

indicated. 

Views expressed by contributors are not 

necessarily those of the editors or 

2 On the Spot – April 2012 

Cover photo 

Northern Brown Argus 

© Scott Shanks 2011 

of Butterfly Conservation either locally or 

nationally. 

The editor would welcome written and/or 

artwork contributions on all aspects of 

butterflies and moths in south west Scotland or 

further afield. Contributions for the next 

newsletter should be sent to the Newsletter 

Editor (contact details at back).

Chair’s Notes 

Welcome to the spring 2012 edition of On the Spot, and a particularly 

warm welcome to the members who have joined Butterfly Conservation 

and the branch in the last year! I’m pleased to announce that the branch 

membership has grown by a fantastic 12% during 2011! Your 

membership and support makes a huge difference to what the branch 

can do each year. 

In 2011 the branch ran over 45 events, including butterfly walks, moth 

nights, practical conservation days, school visits and talks to other 

groups. We also had stalls at 9 public events including 2 days at the 

Glasgow Show, 2 days at ‘Big on the Beach’ at Irvine, and the Wildlife 

Garden Festival at Threave Castle, among others. 

In the last year we’ve also ran three well-attended butterfly and dayflying 

moth identification workshops (May 2011, January 2012 and 

March 2012) and three butterfly transect training days (April and May 

2011 and March 2012) to encourage more butterfly and moth recording. 

We hope to run more of these workshops during 2012 (see p35). 

Collecting the Kindrogan Cup 

© Ronald MacLean 


One of my 2011 highlights was 

when the branch won the 

Kindrogan Cup at Butterfly 

Conservation Scottish Member’s 

Day in October! Congratulations 

to the winning team that 

consisted of Scott Donaldson, Jo 

Davis, Heather Young, Gerry 

Mercer and Stella Armstrong. 

They were kind enough to let me 

collect the trophy from Barry 

Prater, Chair of the East of 

Scotland branch who won last 

year. 

This edition of the On the Spot has a number of articles on marvellous 

moths in SW Scotland and I hope these will encourage members to 

attend one of our popular moth nights in 2012. 

National Moth Night returns this year on the 21-23 June, and we hope to 

have a number of moth events that weekend, or you could try hunting for 

these fantastic creatures in your own garden. You don’t need fancy moth 

lights or other equipment; a bathroom window left open with the light on

should attract a few passing moths, and searching flowers in your 

garden at night with a torch can be surprisingly productive! 

2011 was pretty mixed weather-wise, with a fantastic April, and then a 

cold, wet and windy May and June. Despite this, it was a great year for 

butterfly records, including 600 records that were sent in by new 

recorders during the Big Butterfly Count alone! 

There are lots of great articles inside, so I’ll leave it at that, but I wish you 

all a great spring and summer, and I hope to see many of you at our 

events or in the field watching butterflies and moths this year! 

Scott Shanks, Chair and Butterfly Recorder 

.................................................................................................................... 

Glasgow & SW Scotland Branch Committee News 

There have been a number of changes in the branch committee in the 

last year, including our chairman Neil Gregory standing down in April 

2011 after 4 and a half years in the driving seat. The committee would 

like to express its gratitude to Neil for all his hard work and the fantastic 

job he’s done promoting Butterfly Conservation’s work in South West 

Scotland. The branch was considerably strengthened during Neil’s 

chairmanship with an enlarged membership, the launch of the branch 

website and the beginning of our Small Blue reintroduction project 

among many other accomplishments. Neil will continue in his role as the 

Moth Recorder for Ayrshire (VC75) and Inverclyde/Renfrewshire (VC76). 

We wish him all the best for the future. 

As a temporary measure, I took on the role of ‘acting Chair’ until the next 

AGM. The AGM was held on the 21 st of January 2012, when I was 

voted in as branch Chair. The branch also has a new Treasurer, Mrs 

Gillian Rae, and new Secretary, Joe Davis, who took over from Anne 

and David Welham at the start of May 2011. The Committee wish to 

thank Anne and David for all their hard work and dedication to the 

branch over the years. 

The current branch Committee consists of Scott Shanks, Chair and 

Butterfly Recorder; Gillian Rae, Treasurer; Joe Davis, Secretary; Scott 

Donaldson, Events & Sales Coordinator; Stephanie Holbein, Newsletter 

Editor, plus committee members Richard Sutcliffe, Marianne Ward and 

Paul Maplebrook. Contact details for the committee may be found at the 

back of the newsletter and on the branch website. If you are interested in 

coming along to a Committee meeting or joining the Committee please 

get in touch (see contact details on p39) 

4 On the Spot – April 2012

Butterfly Identification Workshop (Saturday 7 th May 2011) 

Glasgow & SW Scotland branch had a fantastic turnout of 44 people at 

our spring Members day & ID workshop on the 7th of May in Glasgow. 

Talks were given on butterfly identification by Richard Sutcliffe, followed 

by a talk on 10 easily-recognised day-flying moth species by Scott 

Shanks, and a talk by Neil Gregory on how to set up your own butterfly 

monitoring transect . 

Butterfly id workshop by Neil Gregory 

Many thanks to the Glasgow Museums 

Resource Centre (GMRC) & its staff 

for use of this superb venue, and 

access to their British butterfly and 

moth collection. There have been a 

number of new butterfly transects 

started since the workshop, which is 

fantastic! 

Following on from the success of 

this day, similar workshops will be held 

at Eglinton Country Park, Kilwinning 

on the 18 th of March 2012, and again 

at the GMRC in the 21 st of April (see 

events page for details). We are 

particularly hoping to encourage 

members and community groups to 

set up a butterfly transect in their local 

park or greenspace. 

Museum specimens by Neil Gregory 


Third Butterfly Conservation Reserve for Scotland! 

In March 2011 a new Scottish Butterfly Conservation Reserve was 

created at Wester Moss, a lowland raised bog at Fallin, near Stirling. 

The 30 hectare site is one of the best places in Scotland to see the 

Large Heath butterfly (subspecies polydama), which is a bog specialist. 

It’s caterpillars feed on Hare’s-tail cotton grass. 

Wester Moss from Fallin bing © Scott Shanks 

Wester Moss was already designated as a Site of Scientific Interest 

(SSSI). Drainage channels installed in the past had dried out areas of 

the bog allowing birch scrub and pine trees to invade and further dry out 

the peat. With the help of Butterfly Conservation volunteers, the 

Stirlingshire Ranger Service and students from Stirling University a great 

deal of work was carried out in 2011, removing the invading trees and 

installing dams to block the drainage channels, which has allowed some 

previously dry areas of the bog to begin to recover. 

A number of volunteer days at Wester Moss have already occurred 

in 2012, with more planned for later in the year (see events page and 

check the branch website for updates). A bioblitz held at Wester Moss 

in 2011 uncovered a wealth of species living on the reserve including the 

rare Bog sun-jumper spider (Heliophanus dampfi), which was previously 

known from just 3 other places in the UK. 

Wester Moss is situated next to a large colliery bing which is 

covered with wildflowers in mid-summer, and hosts a good population of 

Common Blues and Six-spot burnet moths. Large Heath can be seen 

mid-June to mid-July. 


Glasgow’s Butterfly Leaflet Renewed. 

The very popular ‘Butterflies and day-flying moths of Glasgow’ leaflet 

has been reprinted with a few important changes to bring it up to date. 


It is now an identification guide to 20 

species of butterfly (instead of 19), with 

the addition of the Holly Blue, which is 

moving north and may reach Glasgow 

soon. Have a look at the photo in the 

leaflet and let us know if you find one, it 

may be a first record for Glasgow if you 

do! The Comma has finally been 

recorded within the city boundary. The 

Ringlet, which was described in the 

original leaflet as a recent arrival in 

Glasgow, is now a common species and 

on some sites can be found in large 

numbers. 

It's amazing the difference a few years 

make to our picture of Lepidoptera in the city, and a reminder why it is 

important to keep recording and monitoring species as widely as 

possible! 

The new leaflet also promotes the Glasgow's Buzzing project, 

which is a partnership between Glasgow City Council, Buglife and 

Butterfly Conservation to create and maintain wildflower meadows for 

the benefit of butterflies, moths and other invertebrates. 

The ‘Butterflies and day-flying moths of Glasgow’ leaflet can be obtained 

from Butterfly Conservation Tel: 01786 447753 or e-mail: 

Scotland@butterfly-conservation.org or from Glasgow City Council Tel: 

0141 287 5665 or e-mail: carol.maclean@glasgow.gov.uk or 

catherine.scott@glasgow.gov.uk 

.................................................................................................................... 

Robroyston Park Local Nature Reserve Butterfly Transect 

Robroyston Park LNR in Glasgow has a rich mosaic of habitats, mainly 

species-rich diverse grassland, marshy grassland, open wetlands and 

woodland. The site is good for a variety of butterflies and moths, 

including the locally uncommon Six-Spot Burnet moth. 

To help monitor the species diversity and abundance, a butterfly 

transect was set up last year, co-ordinated by one of the Council’s 

Countryside Rangers, Jimmy Huis. Jimmy organised volunteers to help

walk the butterfly transect, and thanks to their good work, it produced 

some interesting results. 

Firstly it confirmed that butterflies 

won’t fly in windy, rainy or 

overcast conditions! On more 

promising transect days a variety 

of common species were 

recorded, including Large White, 

Green-veined White, Orange-tip, 

Small Tortoiseshell Meadow 

Brown and Peacock. 

Common Blue - which despite 

their name, are not very common 

in the City, turned up in 

reasonable numbers on the 

species-rich grassland in the 

south of the site. This was very 

positive as the species has 

declined in recent years and 

appears to now be following a 

national trend of returning 

increased numbers in 2011. 

Pair of Common blue © Scott Shanks 

Ringlets were present in large numbers, for example 87 were counted 

on one summer transect walk, in the diverse and marshy grasslands. It 

is now resident in the City and yet five years ago was a newcomer to our 

area. Robroyston Park is also a good site for Small Heath which can be 

present in their hundreds in the grassland. 

The results of the transect have confirmed both the value of the LNR for 

butterflies. We are already managing large plots of grassland as 

meadows by cutting regimes and wildflower planting. The transect 

results in future years will help to tailor the management for the best 

results, which will not only benefit butterflies and moths but other 

invertebrates too. 

Glasgow currently has active butterfly transects running at Hurlet 

Hill, Commonhead Moss, Garscube Colliery and Nitshill in addition to 

Robroyston. We are really keen to get more volunteers to help for all 

these sites and to set up a new transect at Hogganfield Park LNR, which 

has a good variety of suitable habitats and is sure to produce some 

fantastic results. But we need your help! 

If you would like to get involved, please contact Helen Simmons, 

our Community Engagement Officer on 0141 287 5087 or email: 

helen.simmons@glasgow.gov.uk. 

Carol Maclean, Glasgow City Council 


New Butterfly Transect – David Livingstone Centre 

Nestled on the bank of the river Clyde and a stone’s throw from Bothwell 

woods, the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre is a haven for many 

different species of wildlife from badgers to butterflies. It was the 

birthplace of David Livingstone in 1813 and is now a museum dedicated 

to his life and work. But the David Livingstone Centre is better known to 

me as the birthplace of my interest in butterflies and moths. After 

volunteering for only 1 week, the manager at the time sent me to a 

butterfly ID course run by Butterfly Conservation (7 th May 2011). 

As I sat there wondering how I was ever going to get the hang of this 

butterfly identification thing, I couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the 

beauty and diversity of the species of moths and butterflies that this 

country has to offer. After a few talks and the all important coffee break, I 

was ready to take on the challenge of walking the new David Livingstone 

Centre transect. 

Stuart Whittaker and Stuart Bence had already been walking the 

transect for a few weeks before I took over and had seen many species 

of great interest. Our transect incorporated many different habitats from 

open grassland, to formal garden and wooded areas, so we held high 

hopes for some important species to turn up, and were excited at the 

prospect of the Painted Ladies returning for another season. It was soon 

my turn to take the reins and I did so apprehensively. What if this was 

harder than it looked? But with the help of the Stuarts and armed with an 

ID sheet, I breezed through my first walk! 

In the weeks that followed, the weather was miserable at best and there 

were very few sightings on my weekly walks, but on favourable days the 

butterflies turned up in their numbers to grace my path with their 

presence. We recorded the more common species including Large and 

Small whites, Small Tortoiseshells, Orange Tips and Small Coppers. To 

our dismay there were no Painted Ladies this year, however, we were 

amazed when Comma butterflies turned up to grace the David 

Livingstone Centre for the first time! Even Butterfly Conservation 

Committee members turned up to take photographs of the local 

celebrities! We were excited to say the least. The recurring visits from 

the Commas prompted us to look into the history of butterfly records 

from our site and discovered just how significant our new transect was! 

Full details can be found in the species table below. 

David Livingstone Centre Species Table 2011 

Species Last Recorded in Area (1km square: NS6958) 

Small Tortoiseshell May 2000 

Orange-Tip April 2009 

Ringlet 1876! 

Peacock April 2009 


Small Copper New Record 

Meadow Brown New Record 

Large White New Record 

Small White May 1995 

Comma New Record 

Red Admiral New Record 

As you can see, a lot of new records for this area were made in 2011 

and there had been no records of ringlets since 1876! Most of our 

butterflies were found in the formal garden area of the transect that was 

planted by the gardeners, and the Commas loved the Buddleia! 

Comma at DLC © Stephanie Holbein Red Admiral © Stephanie Holbein 

We are hoping that the butterfly species seen in 2011 will return this 

year in greater numbers and with continued conservation work, hopefully 

we will see even more new species! 

Stephanie Holbein 

................................................................................................................... 

Insect Photographic Competition for 

National Insect Week! 

As a celebration of National Insect Week 

(25 th June – 1 st July), Forestry 

Commission Scotland are organising an 

insect photography competition. The entries will be displayed at the 

David Marshall Lodge Visitor Centre, Aberfoyle during this week and the 

winners will be announced on Saturday 30th June. 

Instructions for Entry 

There are three categories:- Digital photographs of insects taken by 

persons aged 12 and under, aged 13-17 and over 17 years. Only one 

insect photograph per person is allowed and the photograph must be 

taken within the British Isles during 2012. The entrant must be the 

person who took the photograph and owns the copyright. 


Submit photographs by to cowal.trossachs.fd@forestry.gsi.gov.uk 

no later than 15 th June 2012, with your name, age (if under 18), 

address, a contact telephone number and a title or brief 

description. 

By entering your photograph in the Competition, you grant the 

Competition organisers a free non-exclusive license to use the image in 

their corporate promotion, publicity and publications, and in any 

promotional material connected to this competition. However, the 

copyright remains with you as the photographer, and your name as the 

photographer will – wherever possible – be credited if the image is used. 

The competition will be judged by Craig Macadam from Buglife and the 

Trossachs based photographer, Phil Crowder. 

The two prizes for under 18’s will be appropriately aged insect collecting 

equipment and guides. The adult prize will be ‘The Royal Entomological 

Society Book of British Insects’ and a one year subscription to an insect 

related organisation up to the value of £30.00. 

Note photographs submitted for the Competition should feature Insects 

(butterflies, moths, caterpillars, dragonflies, flies, beetles, bugs, ants, bees, 

wasps etc). Other invertebrates which are NOT insects include: spiders, 

woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, snails, crabs and lobsters. 

.................................................................................................................... 

Support Butterfly Conservation with a Fleece or T-Shirt 

Last year saw the production of the branches first set of high quality 

clothing items. The rationale behind these items was mainly to promote 

the charity while raising funds for the branch. All of the clothing is Fruit 

of the Loom branded and carries the Butterfly Conservation Scotland 

Logo. The items of clothing available include polo shirts, long-sleeved 

polo shirts, sweatshirts and full-zip fleeces but there is the opportunity to 

have any item of clothing made up with the logo if you wish something a 

little different! 

For further information and prices please contact Scott Donaldson via 

email at BCS_clothing@hotmail.co.uk. 

................................................................................................................... 

Mountain Ringlet Surveys 2011 

During 2011 Scottish Natural Heritage 

funded survey work for the Mountain Ringlet 

to build on the data collected during 2008 

and 2009 when 221 1 km squares were 

surveyed and Mountain Ringlet was found in 

144 (65%) of them. Seventy-two of the Mountain Ringlet © Jim Asher 


2008/2009 1 km squares were new for Mountain Ringlet and a total of 

2274 individuals recorded. 

One hundred and forty-two 1 km squares were surveyed during late 

June/July 2011 and mountain ringlet was found in 50 (35%) of these 

squares. Twenty-four of these squares were new for Mountain Ringlet 

(Figure 1). This increases the number of 1 km squares with Mountain 

Ringlet in Scotland from 302 in 2009 to 326 (8% increase). Most of these 

new 1 km squares were adjacent to squares with historical Mountain 

Ringlet records but a few were from mountains with no previous records. 

Up to 2009, Mountain Ringlet was known from 53 10 km squares and 

one new 10 km squares was gained in 2011: NN23. 

Figure 1 Distribution of 1 km squares with mountain ringlet in Scotland. 

During 2011, 587 Mountain Ringlet were recorded by the author and a 

further 274 by volunteers giving a grand total of 861 Mountain Ringlet. A 

Geographical Positioning System (GPS) device was used to record the 

location and altitude of 599 Mountain Ringlet observations. The mean 

altitude where the butterfly was seen was 704 m which is similar to the 

comparative statistics of 684 and 675 m in 2008 and 2009 respectively. 

The lowest altitude was 409 m and the highest was 978 m with 95% 

occurring between 516 and 891 m (pooled 2008 and 2009 data: 95% 

occurred between 460 and 902 m). The altitude range of the data in 

2011 was 569 m compared with 568 and 576 m in 2008 and 2009 

respectively. 


During the 2008/2009 survey, a scoring system was devised to measure 

the quality of Mountain Ringlet habitat in a 1 km square using 

measurements of aspect, and altitude, the extent of mat-grass (Nardus 

stricta, the larval foodplant) swards, the abundance of five different 

nectar plants and the presence/absence of sheep grazing. High scores 

(maximum of 20) indicate herb-rich Nardus grassland which is ideal the 

habitat of Mountain Ringlet. Scores were obtained for 173 different 1 km 

squares in 2009 and scores for a further 130 1 km squares were 

obtained in 2011. 

A major issue with Mountain Ringlet is that temperatures in the 

mountains are frequently below 13 o C which is the low-temperature 

threshold for butterfly flight. Weather conditions were unfavourable for 

butterfly flight on 10 of the 17 survey days in 2011 resulting in none, one 

or just a few Mountain Ringlet being found on these days. However, 

habitat data was recorded even in poor weather, providing useful data 

on the probability of these squares being occupied by Mountain Ringlet. 

Mountain Ringlet habitat data collected during 2011 has helped increase 

the known distribution of herb-rich Nardus grassland on all mountains 

surveyed in both 2009 and 2011. The table below summarises the 

survey data obtained on ten mountains in 2011. 

1 km squares surveyed for Mountain Ringlet in 2011 

with 

previous with MR new for 


with 

High* 

Mountains No. MR record in 2011 MR Scores 

Beinn Fhionnlaidh, Glen Creran 5 5 3 0 0 

Stob Ghabhar, Rannoch Moor 7 5 5 3 4 

Beinn Donachain, Glen Orchy 6 1 2 1 0 

Beinn a Chreachain/Beinn Achaladair 15 3 3 2 8 

Beinn an Dothaid/Beinn Dorain 7 1 0 0 4 

Beinn Chleibh, Tyndrum 7 3 0 0 4 

Sgiath Chuil, Glen Dochart 11 1 8 7 7 

Sron a Choire Chnapanich/An Grianan 8 5 5 2 6 

Meall na Aighean, Glen Lyon 8 2 2 2 5 

Sgurr Choinnich Beag/Mor, Mamores 8 7 3 0 1 

*Habitat Score 15 or more out of a maximum of 20 

The habitat scores for a total of 303 1 km squares in Scotland indicate 

that vast areas of herb-rich Nardus grassland are present in the 

mountainous areas of Scotland. It is likely that further areas of suitable 

habitat still remains to be discovered in the mountains of west and 

central Scotland. Mountain ringlet is undoubtedly still very underrecorded 

in Scotland.

One exciting result in 2011 was the discovery of herb-rich Nardus 

grassland on Beinn Bhan, Glen Loy which is just to the north of the 

Great Glen. There are currently no Mountain Ringlet records north of the 

Great Glen and unfortunately the weather was poor when Beinn Bhan 

was visited and no mountain ringlet was found. However, the presence 

of suitable habitat on this mountain would suggest that other mountains 

to the north of the Great Glen may also have suitable habitat and that 

Mountain Ringlet may be present here. More survey work in this area is 

a priority for volunteer effort in 2012. 

Many thanks are due to Zoe Clelland who used part of her RSPB 

sabbatical in 2011 to participate in mountain ringlet surveys. And the 

efforts of other volunteers are also gratefully acknowledged. 

Andrew Masterman 

.................................................................................................................... 

Results from 16 Wider Countryside Butterfly sites in 2011 

Funding was provided by Scottish Natural Heritage for ‘Wider 

Countryside Butterfly Surveys’ in 85 1 km squares in Scotland during 

July/August 2011. I surveyed a total of 16 1 km squares across the 

branch area and the following is a summary of the results. 

The map below shows that the 16 1 km squares were widely scattered 

across the branch area with squares near Helensburgh and Stirling in 

the north and four squares near the Solway coast in the south. And there 

was one square on the Isle of Bute just south of Rothesay. The sites are 

colour-coded to reflect species richness and the total number of 

butterflies recorded over the two visits appears after the square name: 

species richness and butterfly totals in some cases include butterflies 

recorded in the square but not along the transect route. 

The most important features to note are: 

Three of the six most species-rich squares occurred near the Solway 

coast as you might expect, and this mainly owed to the Wall being 

present in three of the four Solway coast squares. 

The most species rich square was Port Logan with a modest total of 

eight. This was the only square to contain Common Blue and Painted 

Lady – despite having a total count of only 18 butterflies. Three squares 

with seven species each occurred further north at Stirling, Kilmarnock 

and Carstairs. 

Four squares shared the lowest species richness of just 4, three of these 

being in the NW of the branch area and the fourth being New Cumnock. 


The square with the highest total of butterflies (102) was at Gatehouse 

of Fleet where lots of Scotch Argus were found: this species was only 

found in one other square, New Cumnock, and both these 1 km squares 

were new for Scotch Argus although there are records for nearby sites. 

The square with the lowest total of butterflies (8) was Cumbernauld, but 

this square nevertheless had six species. 

Distribution of the 16 WCBS squares, species richness and the total number of 

butterflies recorded (number after square name). 

A total of 15 butterfly species was recorded over the two visits to the 16 

squares. The table below shows the percentage occupancy of the 16 

squares for each species. The main points to note are: 

Green-veined White and Meadow Brown occurred in all 16 squares with 

Ringlet and Small Tortoiseshell also having a high level of occupancy. 

Small Heath, a species that is declining at the UK level, and is 

designated a UK BAP (research only) species, was found in 50% of 

squares, which is a good result. The migrant, Red Admiral, was quite 

abundant being present in 44% of squares. Seven species (46% of the 

15 species total) were only found in one or two squares but it was 

nevertheless very pleasing to come across them during the limited time 

spent in each square. 

Overall, these results are positive as they show that the common 

species are abundant in these randomly selected 1 km squares in 


Scotland which are likely to be typical of Scottish farmland. Transects 

were along field margins, farm tracks and stream edges where tall 

vegetation and flowers were present. Transects across the middle of 

fields would have yielded very few butterflies but clearly there are 

butterfly friendly habitats on farmland in Scotland. However, the low 

species richness of many squares would suggest that agri-environment 

schemes which increase the diversity of habitats on a farm would likely 

have a significant effect by increasing species richness of butterflies. 

The higher species richness of Kilmarnock, Stirling and Carstairs in the 

northern area of the map owed to greater habitat diversity on these 

farms and flower-rich field margins: in two of these cases, these were 

barley field margins sown with flowers. 

Percentage occupancy of the 16 WCBS squares with each species. 

Species % of squares occupied (Number) 

Green-veined White 100 (16) 

Meadow Brown 100 (16) 

Ringlet 88 (14) 

Small Tortoiseshell 75 (12) 

Small Heath 50 (8) 

Red Admiral 44 (7) 

Peacock 31 (5) 

Wall 19 (3) 

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 13 (2) 

Small White 13 (2) 

Scotch Argus 13 (2) 

Painted Lady 6 (1) 

Small Copper 6 (1) 

Common Blue 6 (1) 

Dark Green Fritillary 6 (1) 


................................................................................................................... 

Small Blue Reintroduction Project update 

The 15th of May 2011 saw 19 volunteers assemble at SWT Gailes 

Marsh reserve near Irvine to plant kidney vetch, (the foodplant of the 

Small Blue) for our Small Blue reintroduction project. Despite the cold 

and windy weather, the volunteers made short work of the 900 kidney 

vetch plants that needed to be planted! 

Many thanks to Gill Smart, the Scottish Wildlife Trust Ayrshire reserves 

manager; Owen Figgis who grew the plants for the project , and drove 

up with them on the day, and to Frank Clarkson, course manager of 

Dundonald Links golf course for allowing us to plant kidney vetch in the 

roughs and banks of his course. 


Later in the summer the reserve was a sea of colour, with an amazing 

display of kidney vetch in the habitat strips that were created in 2010. 

Patches of KV were in bloom all over the southern part of the reserve. 

Some of these had been planted by volunteers in 2010 and 2011, but 

other patches suggest seed has been spread by the horse’s hooves. 

The KV flowers are absolutely loved by bees, and consequently Gailes 

Marsh must be one of the best places in Ayrshire to practice your 

bumblebee (and butterfly) identification skills! 

Kidney vetch in flower © Scott Shanks Small Blue volunteers © David Welham 

In early June 2011, Gill Smart of the SWT and I attended a ‘Small Blue 

Action Day’ in Warwickshire to discuss projects and management advice 

for the Small Blue. There were some fantastic talks on management and 

field craft tips, and a visit to see some of the habitat work carried out by 

the Warwickshire branch of Butterfly Conservation with funding from 

local businesses. Following the workshop, a number of branches, 

including the Glasgow & SW Scotland branch helped update and fund 

the new Small Blue habitat management factsheet with the new 

information. The updated Small Blue factsheet is available at: 

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/uploads/Small%20Blue%202012.pdf 

Due to the success of the habitat management work at Gailes Marsh, we 

hope to go ahead with the reintroduction this summer. However this will 

still depend on the condition of the site in the spring of 2012, and the 

state of the donor population. 

2011 was a particularly poor year for the Small Blue population at the 

donor site in Cumbria (aggravated by the poor weather in May and 

June). The coastal brownfield site at Workington has been threatened 

by development for the last few years and it was hoped that we could 

save some of the colony before it was destroyed. A couple of years ago, 

up to 1000 Small blues could be counted on a single visit, which is 

enormous compared to most Small blue colonies. Unfortunately since 

then numbers have fallen, in part due to the developers filling in ditches 

where kidney vetch was growing. The developers, Eatonfield, went into 


liquidation last year, which was a temporary reprieve for the colony. 

However, the site has already been purchased by another developer, 

Persimmon, who appear less inclined to allow access at the moment. 

We’ll have to wait and see what happens here. I’d like to thank Dave 

Wainwright of Butterfly Conservation and the Cumbrian branch for their 

support of this project. Look out for updates on the branch website. 

Scott Shanks, Butterfly Recorder 

………………………………………………………………………………… 

Butterfly Records Summary for 2011 

During 2011 an amazing 12,171 butterfly records (representing 48,229 

individual butterflies) were sent in from all over the Glasgow & SW 

Scotland branch area (see map). 

This is significantly up 

(16% increase) on 

previous years and 

highlights the growing 

popularity of butterfly 

and moth recording. 

600 of those records 

were sent in as part of 

the Big Butterfly Count, 

which is really fantastic! 

date as far back as 1804!) 


A further 4,000 older 

records were also 

received (mostly from 

2009 & 2010, but some 

uncovered by Richard 

Weddle of the Glasgow 

Natural History Society 

2011 started with a bitterly cold, dry winter; followed by a fantastic sunny 

April and then unseasonably cold, wet and windy weather in May and 

June. The rest of the year wasn’t fantastic, but mild weather did continue 

late into the year, which led to a surprising number of butterfly sightings 

in November (mostly Red Admirals).

Red Admiral (The first species on the wing in 2011) © Scott Shanks 

The warm and sunny April had a distinct effect on the emergence of 

many of our spring butterflies, with quite a few species recorded 1 to 3 

weeks earlier than usual. For example Green-veined Whites were 

recorded 2 ½ weeks earlier than in 2010, and Pearl-bordered Fritillaries 

were almost 3 weeks earlier than 2010! The subsequent cold, wet and 

windy May and June appeared to reverse the trend with summer species 

such as Northern Brown Argus, Meadow Brown and Ringlets emerging 

closer to their normal emergence times. 

Holly Blues were one of the species that benefited from the good 

weather in April. There were 10 times as many sightings in April 2011 

than during the whole of 2010! Most 

of the sightings were from around Ayr, 

where this species was first recorded 

in 2008. There was also a scattering of 

records from across Dumfries & 

Galloway and a sighting in Airdrie too. 

The second brood in July/ August 

appeared less abundant, but a single 

Holly blue was recorded in Ardrossan 

on the 24 th of July, so hopefully it won’t 

be too long before they colonise 

Holly Blue © Owen Figgis 


Glasgow! Keep a look out for females 

around holly bushes this April/May! 

Orange–tips had a fantastic year, with records from many new sites 

including 12 new 10km squares. The prize for most adventurous 

butterfly of 2011 goes to a male OT which visited a garden in Balephuil 

on the Isle of Tiree! This is 40 km from the nearest sighting on Mull and 

would require a flight over at least 20km of open water! There is plenty 

of cuckooflower on the island, so hopefully he managed to find a mate!

Pearl-bordered fritillaries (PBF) had a bumper year at our Mabie Forest 

reserve south of Dumfries. 500+ individuals were recorded on one visit, 

with reports of these rare butterflies jostling for space on every available 

dandelion flower! Record numbers were also counted on the reserve’s 

butterfly transect by Jessie Wormell in April, however the poor weather 

in May prevented many visits during the butterfly’s peak flight season. 

Jessie has kindly provided the Annual Index (roughly equates to 

numbers seen over the flight period) for PBF over the last few years for 

comparison: 2008 = 56, 2009 = 243, 2010 = 494, 2012 =761! The 

recent increases appear directly related to conservation work by 

volunteers helping to clear scrub along the forestry tracks, which has 

benefited violets, the PBF caterpillar food plant. 

Dingy Skippers also had a great spring, with record-breaking numbers 

seen at a couple of locations along the Solway coast, and the discovery 

of a healthy new colony at a brownfield site near Rankinston in Ayrshire. 

This is the most northerly sighting in Ayrshire for over 100 years! It’ll be 

interesting to see if other colonies can be found nearby in 2012. 

Stormy weather hit Scotland at the end May 2011 and devastated much 

of the vegetation on the west coast. It also appeared to wipe out many 

of the adult butterflies that were on the wing at that time. I personally 

didn’t see any white butterflies around Glasgow for about 3 weeks after 

the storm! The table below shows a summary of butterfly sightings 

during the year. You can see that Large, Small and Green-veined 

Whites all had a poor year. 

Summary of SW Scotland Butterfly Records during 2011 (updated 29/02/2012). 

Species 

Number seen 

2011 (2010) (2009) 


Earliest /latest 

Sighting 2011 

10km 

squares 

2010 (new)* 

Chequered Skipper 95 (294) (592) 4 th May / 14 th June 3 (0) 

Small Skipper 15 (0) (0) 24 th July / 27 th July 1 (0) 

Essex Skipper 69 (0) (2) 23 rd July / 9 th Aug 1 (0) 

Large Skipper 96 (100) (15) 29 th May / 9 th Aug 14 (2) 

Dingy Skipper 216 (39) (142) 1 st May / 1st July 9 (1) 

Clouded Yellow 4 (2) (2) 6t h June / 7 th Oct 3 (0) 

Brimstone 0 (0) (1) / 0 (0) 

Large White 480 (2,074) (808) 18 th April / 9 th Oct 75 (2) 

Small White 932 (3,986) (1,123) 10 th April / 7 th Oct 94 (2) 

Green-veined White 5,903 (8,136) (7,377) 11 th April / 28 th Sept 194 (0) 

Orange-tip 2,983 (2,390) (1,993) 10 th April / 13 th July 131 (12) 

Green Hairstreak 572 (805) (570) 18 th April/ 23 rd June 32 (7) 

Purple Hairstreak 258 (626) (47) 16 th July / 27 th Aug 13 (2) 

Small Copper 515 (737) (569) 24 th April / 9 th Oct 99 (2)

Common Blue 2,415 (2,020) (1,258) 1 st May / 8 th Sept 106 (3) 

Holly Blue 41 (4) (3) 12 th April / 31 st July 6 (4) 

Northern Brown Argus 72 (141) (90) 31st May / 30 th July 4 (1) 

Red Admiral 938 (959) (1,096) 10 th Jan / 12 th Nov 125 (2) 

Painted Lady 44 (128) (5,885) 4 th April / 28 th Aug 24 (1) 

Small Tortoiseshell 2,584 (2,287) (2,276) 28 th Feb / 26 th Nov 148 (0) 

Peacock 3,126 (3,165) (2,353) 18 th March/ 19 th Oct 143 (2) 

Camberwell Beauty 1 (0) (0) 23 rd June 1 (1) 

Comma 78 (89) (18) 30 th March / 6 th Nov 23 (7) 

Pearl-bordered Fritillary 1,818 (705) (705) 27 th April / 3 rd June 8 (1) 

Small Pearl-bordered 1,719 (1,852) (1,385) 26 th April / 15 th Aug 69 (6) 

Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary 752 (1,022) (264) 10 th June / 21 st Sept 52 (8) 

Marsh Fritillary 195 (278) (486) 22 nd May / 26 th July 16 (1) 

Speckled Wood 564 (631) (722) 25 th April / 29 th Sept 38 (6) 

Wall 381 (559) (408) 28 th April / 28 th Sept 32 (3) 

Grayling 318 (268) (258) 1 st July / 4th Sept 35 (2) 

Mountain Ringlet 697 (145) (361) 1 th July / 26 th July 11 (1) 

Scotch Argus 4,225 (3,695) (2,328) 19 th July / 28 th Sept 61 (2) 

Ringlet 8,827 (5,929) (3,685) 10 th June / 24 th Aug 122 (11) 

Meadow Brown 3,678 (4,569) (3,134) 12 th June / 28 th Sept 149 (1) 

Large Heath 237 (250) (279) 14 th June / 3rd Aug 16 (0) 

Small Heath 3,080 (4,614) (2,508) 19 th April / 28 th Sept 130 (1) 

12,171 records (of 48,229 individual butterflies) received during 2011. Records 

for 2010 and 2009 include those received during 2011. * Number of 10km 

squares with records in 2011 (number of new 10 km squares for this species) 

Visitors to the Isle of Colonsay in June reported that the A’ Chollie Mhor 

oak wood on the island, which supports a colony of Purple Hairstreak, 

had been almost completely defoliated. It would be good to confirm if 

this colony has survived, so anyone planning a visit to the island in 

July/August 2012, please have a look for this species in the late 

afternoon or early evening. 

Worryingly, one of our key species, the Chequered Skipper which flies 

during May and June also had a really poor year, with numbers of 

records plummeting. Hopefully this was due to fewer visits by recorders 

because of the poor weather, and the butterfly will have managed to 

cling on! We’ll have to wait and see how they fare in 2012! Butterfly 

Conservation has launched a special appeal to help with conservation of 

this species. 

Please help if you can at http://www.justgiving.com/chequeredskipper. 

Butterflies that emerged later in the summer appeared to do better, with 

Ringlets and Scotch Argus very abundant at some sites. Mountain 

Ringlets benefited from targeted surveys in 2011 (see page 11), which 

significantly increased the number of records for this species. 


Targeted searches were made for the Small Skipper and the Essex 

Skipper after no records were received for these species in 2010. Both 

species were found at Birkshaw Forest near Lockerbie in late July and 

early August. 

There are many under-recorded areas in the branch (see map above) 

including the islands of Coll, Jura and Islay, the Cowal peninsula, the 

North of Kintyre, lots of areas in Argyll and South Lanarkshire. Please 

get in touch if you’re interested recording in these areas and I can supply 

more information. 

Many thanks to everyone that sent in their records this year! Keep up the 

great work! Butterfly Conservation is blessed with the largest collection 

of invertebrate records in the world, and that’s all down to our wonderful 

members and volunteers who take part in our surveys and send in 

records of the butterflies they see. Recording really is the heart of 

conservation. Without knowing what is out there, we can’t take the next 

steps in protecting important sites, or identifying trends in distribution 

and abundance. 

There’s lots of ways to get involved: Keeping a note of butterflies you 

see in your garden, or when out hill walking, take part in the Big Butterfly 

Count, or help with a butterfly monitoring transect in your local park. Let 

us know about the butterflies you’ve seen and you will be contributing 

directly to the conservation of these beautiful creatures. 

Scott Shanks, Butterfly Recorder 

.................................................................................................... 

Butterfly Records Coordinators for 2012 

All Butterfly Records 

Scott Shanks 

Flat 1/2, 113 Haugh Road 

Yorkhill, Glasgow. G3 8XT 

07793052501 

scottshanks01@msn.com 


Mull/ Mid Ebudes 

Alan Skeates 

Dunellen, 

Craignure 

Isle of Mull, Argyll, PA65 6AY 

alanskeates@btinternet.com 

.................................................................................................... 

Butterflies of South West Scotland Atlas 

Copies of this beautiful full-colour hardbacked book are 

still available at the bargain price of £5 plus £2 P&P. 

Money raised is used to support projects and 

conservation work in the branch area. Cheques should 

be made payable to ‘Butterfly Conservation’ and sent 

to the branch Treasurer: Mrs G Rae, 11 Miller Street, 

Hamilton, ML37EW. 

2012 species map updates are available to download: 

http://www.southwestscotland-butterflies.org.uk/butterfly_records/swscotland_butterfly_atlas2012.pdf.

Why not Moths? – They are Just as Wonderful as Butterflies 

A singularly lovely summer afternoon alongside a cascading burn 

running down to join the River Nith near its origin in Ayrshire. Around us 

on all sides is a maturing forestry plantation, which as part of a Wider 

Countryside Butterfly Survey has revealed little in the way of butterflies. 

Six-Spot Burnets © Jo Davis 


It’s a commercial monoculture that does 

little for biodiversity. But here in this glade, 

unmolested by the commercial ambitions 

that surround us is a natural break about 

200yds wide filled with a rich collection of 

native grasses, plants, shrubs and 

mosses. At last some butterflies Ringlets 

and Green Veined Whites and here a 

month earlier the area was populated with 

Orange Tips. In six week’s time the valley 

will be awash with Scotch Argus. Yet 

these are much to be expected. More 

interesting are the day flying moths to be 

found here, all equally exquisite as their 

butterfly brethren. 

We have found an Emperor moth languishing on the heather. A 

Vapourer moth, Common, Twin-spot and Silver Ground Carpet 

moths, Barred Straw, Northern Spinach, Latticed Heath, Small 

Angle Shades, Chimney Sweepers, Fox Moth, Straw Dot and the 

ubiquitous immigrant the Silver Y have all turned out to greet us during 

our surveys, some in larger numbers than any of the butterflies. Best of 

all was a stunning little moth, the Haworth’s Minor, found flying along 

the woodland edge on a particularly dreich afternoon. 

Don’t these names alone make you want to find out more and look into 

their lives. True some moths have the epithet ‘Drab’, but even these are 

qualified such as the Clouded Drab a lovely little noctuid that welcomes 

in the spring throughout the UK. It has very variable markings, with 

regional variations and graces the moth trap in my garden every April. It 

will in yours if you consider investing in one. 

So mothing is both a day and a night time activity. If you are 

adventurous, moths can be searched for by torch light on nectaring 

plants at night - try your buddleia or honeysuckle. Or by use of the 

sugaring technique, whereby a mixture of black treacle, brown sugar and 

rum is painted on tree trunks, fence posts or telegraph poles – old 

experts say at exactly ‘4ft 9ins’ from the ground!

The most productive method is of course a light trap, which harmlessly 

collects a sample of your resident moths while you sleep. You can then 

identify and count them at your leisure next morning. Be warned you 

cannot do this in a few rushed 

minutes, by midsummer there 

will be hundreds of specimens 

and maybe up to 50 species 

represented and potentially 

many more. Some will be frisky 

and try to escape, others will be 

especially captivating – just wait 

until you catch your first Garden 

Tiger moth or large Elephant 

Hawkmoth – while others will 

be so indistinguishable that it 

will take you ages to work out 

just which species it is! 

Elephant Hawkmoth © Jo Davis 

Your photographic skills will improve, your fridge will find a new use, you 

may even discover that a desperate pregnant specimen has left you the 

responsibility of being midwife to its brood of freshly laid eggs. 

Of course all these creatures are unharmed and can be let loose into the 

shrubbery to fly again another night. A morning examining a trap is 

captivating for children, who can learn how harmless they are and 

especially enjoy releasing these delicate creatures after their night in jail. 

There are excellent reference books to help with identification and more 

are being published in the immediate future, not to mention the 

availability of expert support on the web-based Scottish Moths forum. 

Records should be registered with the local Vice County recorder so that 

nationwide data can be assimilated to show trends and changes in 

distribution. Several moth species are extending their range into 

Scotland and it is very satisfying when you realise some of your 

sightings are unique. 

Even better why not become part of the UK wide Garden Moth Scheme 

a project requiring no expertise, just enthusiasm and a moth trap. Setting 

up a moth trap weekly throughout the months of March and October is 

providing valuable data year by year and North Britain needs more 

recruits. Don’t worry holidays and away days are accepted. 

Insects are valuable indicators of the health of our environment, and 

moths are more so than most. Many studies use moth light trapping to 

reveal the effect of agribusiness on our countryside. In Central Scotland 


such work has revealed the value of changing farming practice in 

relation to hedgerows, field verges and river banks that increase the 

diversity of species. 

The work of conservation organisations such as Butterfly Conservation 

or Buglife relies on accurate information to support their discussions with 

an increasingly unsympathetic government. So becoming a ‘moth-er’ is 

not only intellectually rewarding, but reveals the changing habits of a 

common group of insects as well as supporting the arguments that are 

essential to maintain the well being of our environment and perhaps 

even the planet. 

Jo Davis 

.................................................................................................................... 

2011 Dumfries & Galloway Moth Update 

2011 started with the first ever Checklist of Moths for Dumfries & 

Galloway, which was published for local moth-ers in January and was 

also available on our new web site www.dgmoths.org.uk as a 

downloadable pdf file. 

New micro-moth VC records totalled sixty: 23 in VC72, 13 in VC73 and 

24 in VC74. It was a good year for migrants with 50 records of Rusty 

Dot Pearl thirty records of Diamond-backed Moth and 26 records of 

Rush Veneer, but the cream on the cake was of two pyralids and a 

plume moth. The migrant pyralids were Spoladea recurvalis which was 

trapped at MV on 1st October at Milton (VC73) and on the 4 th the same 

person trapped Diasemiopsis ramburialis at the same site, both moths 

being the second ever for Scotland. Two specimens were caught of the 

migrant plume Crombrugghia laeta at different sites on Luce Bay 

(VC74) but both on 8 th July. 

Regarding macros, a first for Scotland was found in Mabie Forest on 27 th 

July, Clay Triple-lines). A regular visitor from Hamilton caught the 

second ever Scottish example of Tawny Pinion at Sandgreen on the 

Solway coast (VC73), the first record being in 2009 at Glencaple (VC72). 

Another second for Scotland was a Dingy Footman (abberation. 

Stramineola) caught on Lochar Moss (VC72) on 9 th September. 

Cloaked Carpet (3 rd record) and Shore Wainscot (3 rd record) were 

caught at Mersehead RSPB and verified by Roy Leverton from 

photographs. Southern Wainscot (six records, three previously) was 

found at three sites, while Fen Wainscot was trapped on the Old Torr 

side of Auchencairn Bay concurring with former sitings from the other 


side of the bay. Barred Carpet was trapped at Duirsdeer in the north of 

VC72 for our sixth record, with Brindled Ochre producing the 7 th to 9 th 

records. 

Pugs featured heavily this year with Marsh Pug being trapped twice at 

different sites. Previous records were from 1996 and 2005 when Scottish 

Entomologists’ visited the area and four specimens in the NMS from 

1970s and 80s. 

Plain Pug was recorded for the first time since 1870 when one was 

caught on Luce Bay (VC74) on 8 th July, while two specimens of Shaded 

Pug were caught at Kirkton a few days earlier for our 7 th and 8 th records. 

Two specimens of Oak-tree Pug were photographed, one near 

Palnackie, the other at Carsluith, both VC73, being the 3 rd and 4 th 

records. Previously found in 2002 and 2008. And, finally Sloe Pug was 

trapped at Durisdeer on 10 th July and verified by Roy Leverton. 

Work continued throughout the year on the web site to add the micromoth 

species accounts and this has now been achieved to a reasonable 

level. 

Currently 1,051 species have been seen in Dumfries & Galloway, 470 

macros and 581 micros. 

Keith Naylor, Moth Recorder for Dumfries & Galloway (VC72,73 ,74) 

.................................................................................................................... 

2011 Stirlingshire, West Perthshire & Dunbartonshire Moth Update 

Micro Moths: In central Scotland we regularly see Bird Cherry trees 

defoliated by the larvae of Bird Cherry Ermine. We do not however 

usually see Spindle Ermine because Spindle, its main foodplant, is a 

plant of the chalky soils of southern England. However, Japanese 

Spindle is less calcium-dependent, is often grown as a garden hedge 

and can be an alternative foodplant for Spindle Ermine. During the 

summer of 2011, such a hedge at the Wickes Home Improvement Store 

in Stirling was totally defoliated by the larvae of Spindle Ermine - a new 

species for Stirlingshire. 

Pugs: It was a good year for pugs. There have been no records of the 

day-flying Marsh Pug in central Scotland since1983 until Martin 

Culshaw caught one near Killearn on 3 rd June and another on 14 th 

August. Neil Gregory caught a third on Carman Muir on 1 st September. 

Its preferred foodplant, Field Mouse-ear is rare, indeed probably absent 

from vice counties 86, 87 and 99 and it is probably feeding on Common 

Mouse-ear. A Bordered Pug caught by Stan Campbell on the banks of 

the River Leven is a first ever for record vc99 and the first for the region 

since 1995 and the Thyme Pug has been re-found. Iain Christie first 


discovered this uncommon, largely coastal species in 1981 on Conic Hill 

near Balmaha at the south 

eastern corner of Loch 

Lomond. After multiple failed 

attempts to find the species 

on Conic Hill, the author rediscovered 

it on a ridge to the 

NW called Druim nam 

Buraich. On 27 th July, two 

hours of tapping thyme plants 

over a lunch box produced 

two small caterpillars. 

Thyme Pug caterpillar © John Knowler 

Other Geometrid Moths: 

Helen Dawson caught yet another Dark Spinach in her garden in Fallin, 

Stirlingshire on 26 th July and Martin Culshaw recorded one in Killearn on 

31 st . Arthur and Jane Jones recorded a Grass Emerald in Jubilee Pine 

Woods in the Trossachs and Lesser Treble-bar has finally made it to 

the Stirlingshire list. A number of previous claims have not been 

presented with the evidence necessary to add a new species to a vice 

county list but this all changed on 29 th and 30 th July when Bob Dawson 

found a colony associated with extensive St John’s Wort on Fallin Bing 

near Stirling. 

Hawkmoths: Norman Brodie had a very large visitor to his house in 

Dullatur. It was identified as Convolvulus Hawk Moth when his 

daughter Barbara circulated a photograph. A Narrow-bordered Bee 

Hawkmoth seen by Scott Shanks in a flower-rich meadow near 

Rosneath Point on the shores of the Firth of Clyde was the first record 

for the region since 1985. 

Noctuid Moths: Helen Dawson caught the increasingly rare Garden 

Dart at Fallin, Stirlingshire on 13 th August; a freshly emerged male 

Brindled Ochre was caught in a trap at Mugdock Country Park on 29 th 

September and Martin Culshaw had a Butterbur come to house lights in 

Killearn on 10 th September. His house is not far from patches of the 

foodplant on the banks of the Endrick Water where the author has run 

traps specifically aimed at the species but with no success. Time to look 

again. A single specimen of the Silky Wainscot in the collection of Iain 

Christie, labelled 5 th July 1985, Garlea, Dunbartonshire, was until this 

year the only record for the region. However, Bob Dawson recorded no 

less than four at Polmaise Lagoons, Stirlingshire on the 2 nd August. 

Furthermore, Silky Wainscot was one of many interesting species on a 

list that surfaced in the autumn of moths caught at Torry Burn LNR 

during 1999 and 2000. Torry Burn is in a finger of vc87 that sneaks 

along the Forth estuary from Kincardine Bridge. 


Impressive numbers of new species continue to move north into central 

Scotland. The rapid spread of Pale Pinion has already been 

documented. In the autumn of 2010 Stan Campbell added it to the 

Dunbartonshire (vc99) list and this year the author added it to the 

Stirlingshire (vc86) list when he caught one in a trap at Mugdock Country 

Park on 10 th April and another in Lennoxtown on 18 th April. Another 

species continuing to move north is Blair’s Shoulder-knot. It first 

arrived in the UK (on the Isle of Wight) in 1951. It found that its preferred 

larval foodplants, Lawson’s and Leyland Cypress, are common garden 

trees in the UK and it spread rapidly. By 1996 it had reached Cumbria 

and by 2001 had crossed the border into Kirkcudbrightshire. Since then, 

it has spread to Ayrshire, the Borders, Lothians and into Fife as far north 

as Anstruther so it was not unexpected when one found its way into a 

trap in Milgavie on 4 th November 2011. 

The most unexpected new 

arrival, however, was Buff 

Footman. The map in vol. 9 of 

Moths and Butterflies of Great 

Britain and Ireland shows that in 

1978 the Buff Footman had a 

patchy distribution mainly south 

of a line from the Severn to the 

Wash. However, by the time 

that the Provisional Atlas of the 

UK’s Larger Moths was 

published in 2010 there had 

been considerable northward 

Buff Footman © John Knowler expansion into northern 

England and southern Scotland. In 2011 the species made it into central 

Scotland. The first was caught by the author at Lennoxtown on the 11 th 

July, another was in the catch for the 2 nd August of the Rothamsted trap 

at Rowardennan on Loch Lomondside and a third was caught by David 

Bryant at Bridge of Allan on 11 th August. 

Keeping up-to-date: Moth highlights for vice counties 86, 87 and 99 can 

be followed in the Central Scotland Moths Blog 

(http://centralscotlandmoths.blogspot.com/ ). 

JohnKnowler, Moth Recorder for Stirlingshire, West Perthshire and 

Dumbartonshire (VC 86, 87 and 99). 


2011 Mid Ebudes (Mull, Coll & Tiree) Moth Update 

2011 was a mixed year for Mid Ebudes with a very good early spring for 

lepidoptera species, but the rest of the year was less good, perhaps 

negatively affected by the unseasonal and very stormy weather during 

May. Nevertheless, four new macro moth species were added to the vc 

list during 2011, these being Bordered Grey, Small Clouded Brindle, 

Angle-barred Pug (Ash Pug) and Scallop Shell. 

Bordered Gray © Nick Cooke Scalloped Shell © Allan Skeates 

Bordered Grey (which has national status "Na") was caught by Nick 

Cooke on the Ross of Mull at an event organised by the Wildlife Ranger 

from the Mull & Iona Community Trust. Nick had two specimens in a 

125w MV Skinner trap and one in a 15w actinic battery trap. As well as 

being a first for Mid Ebudes, this record at the time was only the second 

Scottish record for this species this century. 

Small Clouded Brindle was caught by Anne Thomson trapping in her 

garden in Tobermory on Mull with a 25W blacklight trap. Ten days later a 

second record came when Mike and Helen Boothman caught one while 

on holiday on Coll. Mike risked life and limb by cycling round Coll and 

Tiree with a Skinner trap strapped to his bike. 

Although not a new species to the VC list, another notable record was 

achieved by Barry Prater who caught a Gothic in a 15w actinic trap 

while on holiday on Mull. This was the first vc record of that species 

since 1969. 

In addition to the macro species, first VC sightings were recorded for 

three micro moth species, these being Acleris abietana, Semioscopis 

avellanella and Apotomis betuletana. 

Finally some more "new" small colonies of Slender Scotch Burnet were 

found on Mull in 2011 and Highland Branch are hoping to organise a 

field trip during June this year to have a look at this unique moth. 

Alan Skeates, Moth Recorder for Mid-Ebudes (VC 103) 


2011 Moth Report for Argyll Main (Vice County 98) 

2011 was a good year for moths in VC98 with 990 Macro-moth records 

and 127 Micro-moth records. These included 8 new Macro-moth species 

(number of records): Black Mountain Moth (17); Flounced Rustic (1); 

Frosted Orange (2); Large Wainscot (1); Lempke’s Gold Spot (1); 

Pale Pinion (1); Plain Wave (1); and White-line Dart (2). And four new 

Micro-moth species: Ditula angustiorana, Eriocrania unimaculella, 

Pammene regiana and Mother of Pearl. 

Other notable records were 11 Powdered Quaker, 3 Little Emerald, 3 

Red-necked Footman, 4 Elephant-hawk Moth, 1 Light Arches, 2 Lunar 

Underwing and 3 Oak Beauty. There were also two interesting larval 

records. First, a larval record of the Argyll speciality, Transparent Burnet, 

in Glen Feochan, which demonstrates that this species can be searched 

for in April/May when the larvae are fully grown and not just in June/July 

when the adults are on the wing. Second, a larval record of the Common 

Footman near Oban which despite its name is not a common species 

with only three previous records in VC98: two in 2010 and one in 2001. 

There were also records of the following pugs which were notable: Larch 

Pug; Narrow-winged Pug; Juniper Pug; and Wormwood Pug. 

Many thanks are due to all recorders who contributed records in 2011 

but especially to Steve Petty, Carl Farmer and the Seil Natural History 

Group, and Dan Watson. 

Three moth events are currently planned in Argyll in 2012 on the 26 th 

May, 16 th June and 14 th July (see events pages for details). 

Andrew Masterman, Moth Recorder for Mid-Argyll (VC98) 

.................................................................................................................... 

2011 Isle of Bute (VC101) moth update 

There were 2 highlights from the Isle of Bute this year. The Small 

Marbled is a small moth resident in the south of Europe, Africa and 

Asia. It occasionally turns up in the UK as a migrant species. Until 

2011, there had only been two previous records in Scotland (both in 

Dumfries and Galloway), then two were recorded in 2011 within a few 

weeks of each other. One of these was attracted to a 40W actinic in our 

garden in Ascog, Isle of Bute on the 7 th of July 2011. This appears to be 

the fourth record for Scotland, the third being in West Lothian where it 

was recorded by Carina Convery a couple of weeks earlier. 


Small Marbled © Glyn Collis Ebulea crocealis © Glyn Collis 

Another species in the garden trap on 27th July 2011,was the pyralid 

moth, Ebulea crocealis. This was first seen on Bute at the same site on 

12th July 2010 (photo attached). This species therefore seems to be 

established on Bute, which appears to be the northern most site in the 

UK. However, none of its known food plants (Common Fleabane or 

Ploughman’s Spike) have been recorded on Bute. Ebulea crocealis is 

known from Arran (same VC), where one of the food plants grows, but 

that's very different to its habitat on Bute. 

Glyn Collis, Moth Recorder for Bute (VC101) 

.................................................................................................................... 

The Garden Moth Scheme 2011. 

The Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) runs from early March to early 

November, with people recording the numbers of around 260 species of 

the more common moths in their gardens once a week throughout this 

period. Further information on the findings of the GMS for the whole of 

the UK and Ireland, both current and historical, is available in the form of 

annual reports and quarterly newsletters, which can be found in the 

Downloads section of the web-site: http://www.gardenmoths.org.uk 

At the time of writing (early January 2012), 21 sets of results have been 

returned from Scottish gardens for the GMS 2011. Of these, 8 are from 

the Glasgow & South-west (G&SW) BC branch region, 8 from the East, 

and 5 from Highland (including 2 from Shetland and 1 from the Outer 

Hebrides). 


Members counted 26,696 individual moths of 228 species at an average 

of 1,271 per garden over 679 trapping events (ideally everyone traps 

once a week for 36 weeks – inevitably some weeks are missed, but 

these are kept to a minimum), and not including any ‘extra’ species 

encountered that are not on the monitored list of common moths. The 

figures ranged from a total of 66 on a Glasgow balcony to 5,509 in a 

large rural garden on South Uist. 

Average / garden 

Scotland G&SW East Highland 

Dark Arches 144.0 79.6 89.9 333.4 

True Lover's Knot 94.0 0.9 0.3 392.8 

Hebrew Character 89.4 27.0 173.3 55 

Large Yellow Underwing 82.6 91.0 69.0 90.8 

Common Quaker 68.5 25.0 153.6 1.8 

Common Rustic aggregate 42.8 28.5 48.0 57.2 

Square-spot Rustic 33.9 1.3 8.6 126.4 

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 31.0 21.1 58.5 3 

Chestnut 30.0 6.5 72.0 0.2 

Small Wainscot 28.2 0.6 3.3 112.2 

Clouded Drab 24.8 9.8 53.8 2.4 

Dotted Clay 24.4 23.1 37.4 5.6 

Lesser Yellow Underwing 21.2 14.1 34.3 11.6 

Antler Moth 19.1 6.0 14.8 47.2 

Rosy Rustic 16.5 3.5 23.3 26.4 

Red Chestnut 16.2 0.4 4.5 60.4 

Bird-cherry Ermine 15.7 5.3 35.9 0 

Beautiful Golden Y 13.4 6.9 8.5 31.8 

Agriphila tristella 13.0 8.5 18.0 12.4 

Burnished Brass aggregate 12.0 3.5 14.9 21 

Dark Arches was the commonest moth overall, occurring in every 

garden from Shetland to the Borders, and in triple figures in 9 / 21 of 

them. The Scottish top 20 are shown below, along with their regional 

averages – figures highlighted in bold designate the regional number 

one species. 

Occasionally, a locally abundant species can occur in such large 

numbers in a single garden that it ends up in a high position in the charts 

– True Lover’s Knot is an example of this, with almost all of them 

recorded from South Uist. 

Regionally, on average Highland recorders trapped the highest number 

of moths, with the fewest being encountered in Glasgow & South-west, 

as shown below. 

Average / garden 

Scotland 1271.2 

G&SW 637.3 

East 1507.6 

Highland 1907.4 


This can be slightly misleading though, as other factors such as trap 

type do have an effect. The members in G&SW have a greater diversity 

of trap type than those in the rest of the country, with a much greater use 

of actinic tubes, as shown in the figure below: 

4 

3 

2 

1 

0 

Trap type by Region 

GSW East Highland 

Robinson 125W MV Skinner 125W MV Skinner 40W Actinic 

Skinner 15W Actinic Heath 40W Actinic Heath 15W Actinic 

Heath 6W Actinic Bucket 25W Actinic 

The top 20 for the G&SW branch region is shown below, along with their 

overall rank in Scotland as a whole. It is interesting to note that some 

species are far more common in the region than they are in other parts 

of Scotland, notably Willow Beauty and the Marbled Minor aggregate 

species. 

Average / Rank in 

garden Scotland 

Large Yellow Underwing 91.0 4 

Dark Arches 79.6 1 

Common Rustic aggregate 28.5 6 

Hebrew Character 27.0 3 

Common Quaker 25.0 5 

Dotted Clay 23.1 12 

Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing 21.1 8 

Heart & Dart 14.1 25 

Lesser Yellow Underwing 14.1 13 

Marbled Minor aggregate 12.1 41 

Clouded Drab 9.8 11 

Six-striped Rustic 9.5 33 

Double Square-spot 8.8 30 

Agriphila tristella 8.5 19 

Beautiful Golden Y 6.9 18 

Chestnut 6.5 9 

Silver Y 6.4 26 

Common Marbled Carpet 6.3 29 

Yellow-line Quaker 6.1 21 

Willow Beauty 6.0 82 

Antler Moth 6.0 14 


When all results for 2011 have been returned, a slightly more detailed 

report will be available in the Scotland section of the GMS web-site, and 

eventually a full Annual Report for the whole of the UK will be published 

and be available for download by interested parties. The GMS is still 

relatively new to Scotland, although it has been operating since 2003 in 

the West Midlands, and it will be a few years before any trends can be 

established in terms of ‘winners and losers’ amongst our common 

garden moths. There is still plenty of opportunity for new members to 

take part, and I would welcome enquiries from anyone, experienced 

moth-er or complete beginner, who would like more information on the 

scheme. The new recording season starts at the beginning of March, 

and there are lots of gaps in coverage across the country that we would 

like to fill, but even two different gardens in the same town can have very 

different moth communities, so please get in touch if you can trap 

regularly (at least 27 / 36 weeks) between March and November. 

Heather Young, 

GMS Co-ordinator, Scotland. heather.young@tiscali.co.uk 

.................................................................................................................... 

Field Trips and Events in 2012 

Please check the branch website for further events and updates. All 

butterfly walks are dependent upon good weather. Check with organiser 

before setting off. Non-members welcome too. 

If you would like to attend an event, but have difficulties with transport let 

us know, as there may be someone locally who can off you a lift. 

If you have an idea for an event near you – whether a butterfly walk in 

your favourite wildlife patch or perhaps an evening of moth trapping in 

your back garden, please get in touch (an autumn ‘Mulled Wine and 

Moths’ evening anyone?). If your town or village has a summer fete or 

gala day, and you would be interested in running a stall to tell people 

about Butterfly Conservation’s work, please get in touch for a chat. 

We are keen to get more volunteers to help at our big public events. 

You don’t need to be an expert, just enthusiastic about butterflies 

(and moths too!). Even if you can only manage a few hours to 

ensure that everyone gets a break that would be fantastic! This is a 

great opportunity to gain experience in outreach- an essential skill 

for conservation workers and is useful on a CV too! 

If you are able to help at one of the public event please contact the 

organiser or e-mail: scottedonaldson@hotmail.co.uk. 


Key for event type: 

Butterfly Conservation event 

Non-BC event, but Butterfly Conservation presence 

Other Lepidoptera-related event 

Saturday 21 April 

Butterfly Identification workshop. 

10am – 1.30pm. Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. Nitshill, Glasgow. 

Brush up on your Butterfly and Day-flying Moth Identification skills with a 

training workshop suitable for beginners (and the more experienced too!). Tea 

and Coffee will be available, but please take along a packed lunch. To book 

and for more details contact: scottshanks01@msn.com (07793052501) 

Saturday 19 May to 27 May 

Save Our Butterflies Week! 

Details to be confirmed 

Sunday 20 May 

Green Hairstreak Butterfly walk at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park 

A walk with a ranger through the blaeberry to search for these extraordinary 

little butterflies. Bring a camera! Meet at the Muirshiel Visitor Centre, Calder 

Glen Road near Lochwinnoch Renfrewshire. 1pm-3pm. Booking is essential. 

Please call 01505 842 803 for more information. 

Saturday 26 May to Sunday 27 May 

Chequered Skipper Weekend 

Visit well known Chequered Skipper site at Glasdrum NNR, near Oban on the 

Saturday - Pearl-bordered may also be on the wing. On the Sunday you may 

wish to head off to historical Chequered Skipper sites in North Argyll or 

Lochaber. If the Saturday is rained off, the CS event will be re-scheduled for 

the Sunday. Meet at Glasdrum NNR car park NN001454 at 10.30AM. Moth 

trapping from 8.00AM. Walking boots, warm waterproof clothing, packed 

lunch and water required. Ticks are present in the area so please take 

appropriate precautions. For further details please contact Scott Donaldson 

07768 156542 or scottedonaldson@hotmail.co.uk 

Saturday 2 June 

Habitat management work for Green Hairstreak and Small Pearl 

Bordered Fritillaries at Loch Ardinning SWT reserve, Milngavie 

Joint Butterfly Conservation/ SWT work party with reserve convener David 

Shenton. For further details contact Scott Shanks (07793052501) or David 

Shenton (0141 776 5506) 

Saturday 16 June 

Marsh Fritillary Event 

Meet at Taynish Mill (NR738849), Taynish NNR from 9.00am for moth 


trapping. Marsh Fritillary event to Tayvallich Peninsular follows at 11.00 am. 

Only small numbers of Marsh Fritillary are likely to be seen as few were on 

wing last year but this is an opportunity to visit some amazing Marsh Fritillary 

habitat on the Tayvallich Peninsular. If the Saturday is rained off, event will 

occur on Sunday 17 June. To register, please contact John Halliday 01546 

603611 or john.halliday@snh.gov.uk 

Sunday 17 June 

Family Day at Loch Ardinning Wildlife Reserve 

Day event - Family Day at Loch Ardinning Wildlife Reserve. 11.00 am. to 

approx, 4.15 pm. Butterfly Conservation will have a stand. Wildlife Quizes, 

Pond dipping and minibeast hunts. Dam on east side of A81 between 

Milngavie and Strathblane. O.S. Map 64, grid ref. NS 563 778. For more 

details tel: 0141 776 5506 

Thursday 21 June to 23 June 

National Moth Night 

Details to be confirmed 

Sunday 24 June 

Butterfly Day at Clyde Muirshiel Country Park 

A celebration of some of the most colourful members of Scottish wildlife with 

the opportunity to walk a transect and improve your identification skills. Meet 

at Castle Semple Visitor Centre. 1pm -4pm.tel 01505 842 882 Ex20 for more 

information and booking. 

Saturday 7 July 

Habitat management work for Green Hairstreak and Small Pearl 

Bordered Fritillaries at Loch Ardinning SWT reserve, Milngavie 

Joint Butterfly Conservation/ SWT work party with reserve convener David 

Shenton. For further details contact Scott Shanks (07793052501) or David 

Shenton (0141 776 5506) 

Saturday 14 July to Sunday 5 August 

The Big Butterfly Count 

Spend 15 minutes recording butterflies and day-flying moths in your garden, 

park or local nature reserve. http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/ 

Saturday 14 July 

Moth Trapping Event at Glen Nant NNR: 0900-1100am 

Meet at Glen Nant NNR car park NN019272. Registration not required. For 

further enquiries, email andrewmasterman@hotmail.com 

Tuesday 17 July 

Fluttering Forage in Clyde Muirshiel Country Park 

A hunt for all insects that flutter and fly like dragonflies, damselflies & 

butterflies.Meet at the Muirshiel Visitor Centre, Calder Glen Road near 

Lochwinnoch Renfrewshire. 1pm – 2pm. For more information call 01505 842 

803, booking is essential. 

Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 July 


The Glasgow Show at Glasgow Green. 

An exhilarating weekend of amazing entertainment and exciting activities. 

With live music, dance performances, street theatre, countryside activities, 

children’s funfair rides and a main arena filled with international acts it’s the 

place to be this summer. Butterfly Conservation will have a display. Why not 

drop past and say hello, find out about current surveys and our local 

conservation projects, and tell us about your butterfly and moth sightings. 

Saturday 4 August 

Pollok Park Family Day, Glasgow 

10am- 5pm. This fantastic free family event in Pollok Park, Glasgow has been 

running for over 30 years. Featuring a host of entertainment acts, displays 

and activities to satisfy even the most demanding family members. Butterfly 

Conservation will once again be running a stall. Drop past to find out about 

current surveys, our local conservation projects and to tell us about your 

butterfly and moth sightings. 

Friday 10 August 

Marvellous Moths at the Clyde Muirshiel Country Park 

A mercury lamp is used to attract the moths and a range of patterned, 

colourful and friendly insects may be expected. Moths are very photogenic, so 

bring a camera and perhaps take part in the CMRP photo competition! At 

Barnbrock Farm, Park HQ, Near Kilbarchan. 9pm - 10.30pm. Please call 

01505 614 791 for more information and bookings. 

Friday 7 September 

Marvellous Moths at the Clyde Muirshiel Country Park 

A mercury lamp is used to attract the moths and a range of patterned, 

colourful and friendly insects may be expected. Moths are very photogenic, so 

bring a camera and perhaps take part in the CMRP photo competition! At 

Barnbrock Farm, Park HQ, Near Kilbarchan. 8pm - 9.30pm. Please call 01505 

614 791 for more information and bookings. 

Saturday 10 October 

Wester Moss Action Day, Fallin, Stirlingshire 

Joint Butterfly Conservation/Stirlingshire ranger event to remove invasive 

scrub & conifers from the Wester Moss SSSI raised bog. We will meet at 

10.30am at the outdoor mining museum car park (Grid Ref: NS 836907 

/Postcode approx FK7 7GY), and the work will involve pulling up and/or 

cutting pine saplings that are invading the bog. Please come along for as 

much of the day as you can. Bring wellies, waterproofs and old clothes, a hot 

drink and packed lunch. Please bring small bowsaws and/or loppers if you 

have them. Contact Paul Kirkland pkirkland@butterfly-conservation.org 


County moth recorders in South West Scotland 

Please send any records of moths from the branch area to the local 

moth recorder shown below. If you are not sure of the species ID, try to 

get a photograph and send it with the location and date to: 

VC 72, 73 & 74 Dumfries-shire, 

Kirkcudbrightshire & Wigtownshire 

Keith Naylor, 

c/o Dumfries and Galloway 

Environmental Resources Centre, 

7 Church Crescent, 

Dumfries, DG1 1DF 

mothrecorder@dgerc.org.uk 

VC77 Lanarkshire & Glasgow 

Richard Weddle 

Glasgow Museum Resource Centre, 

200 Woodhead Road, 

South Nitshill Industrial Estate, 

Glasgow, G53 7NN 

richard.weddle@tiscali.co.uk 

VC98 Argyll Main 


Flat 1/3, 214 Calder Street 

Glasgow, G42 7PE 

0141 4231336 

andrewmasterman@hotmail.com 

VC100 Isle of Bute & Inchmarnock 

Glyn Colis 

Seasgar, 

Ascog 

Isle of Bute,PA20 9ET 

glyn@butemuseum.org 

VC100 Little Cumbrae & Great 

Cumbrae 

Neil Gregory 

(details as above) 

VC102 South Ebudes 

John Armitage 

Airigh Sgallaidh, Portnahaven 

Isle of Islay,Argyll, PA47 7SZ 

jsa@orquest.plus.com 


VC75 & 76 Ayrshire, 

Inverclyde & Renfrewshire 

Neil Gregory 

32 Oldhall Drive 

Kilmacolm, PA13 4RF 

01505 874275 

droitwich@btinternet.com 

VC86 & 87 Stirlingshire, 

West Perthshire (with 

Clackmannanshire) 

John Knowler 

3 Balfleurs Street, Milngavie 

Glasgow, G62 8HW: 

john.knowler@ntlworld.com 

VC 99 Dunbartonshire 

John Knowler 

(details as above) 

VC100 Arran, Holy Isle & 

Pladda 

Kate Sampson, Senior Ranger 

National Trust for Scotland 

Brodick Country Park, 

Isle of Arran, KA27 8HY 

01770 302462 

ksampson@nts.org.uk 

VC101 Kintyre 

Helen Bibby 

Gowanlea, Kilduskland Road 

Ardrishaig, Argyll, PA30 8EH 

gowanlea4@btinternet.com 

VC103 Mid Ebudes 

Alan Skeates 

Dunellen, Craignure 

Isle of Mull, Argyll, PA65 6AY 

alanskeates@btinternet.com

Glasgow and SW Scotland Branch Committee 2012 

Chairman 

Scott Shanks 

Flat 1/2 113 Haugh Road 

Yorkhill, Glasgow 

G3 8XT 

07793052501 


Butterfly Recorder 

Scott Shanks 

Flat 1/2 113 Haugh Road 

Yorkhill, Glasgow 

G3 8XT 

07793052501 


Events Coordinator 

Scott Donaldson 

103 Earlbank Avenue 

Glasgow 

G14 9DY 

0141 959 5221 

scottedonaldson@hotmail.co.uk 

Committee Member 

Paul Mapplebeck 

29 Main Road, 

Elderslie, Johnstone 

PA5 9BA 

01505 348024 

Paulm3@ntlworld.com 

Web Master 


Flat 1/3, 214 Calder Street 

Glasgow 

G42 7PE 

0141 432 1336 

andrewmasterman@hotmail.com 

Treasurer 

Gillian Rae 

11 Miller Street 

Hamilton 

ML37EW 

01698 458398 


gillian.rae@blueyonder.co.uk 

Secretary 

Jo Davis 

8 Bonnington Avenue 

Lanark 

ML11 9AL 

01555 663485 

jo.davis60@btinternet.com 

Newsletter Editor 

Stephanie Holbein 

03 Spruce Drive 

Lenzie, Glasgow 

G66 4DW 

0141 578 6302 

Steph_holbein@hotmail.co.uk 

Committee Member 

Richard Sutcliffe 

68, Rowan Drive 

Bearsden, Glasgow 

0141 942 1563 

Committee member 

Marianne Ward 

mariannefox1@yahoo.co.uk

Glasgow and South West Scotland Website: 

www.southwestscotland-butterflies.org.uk 

www.facebook.com/saving.scottish.butterflies 

http://twitter.com/BC_SWScotland 

Female Wall, basking 

© Scott Shanks 

Butterfly Conservation. Company Limited by Guarantee. 

Registered in England (2206468). Registered Office: Manor Yard, East 

Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP. Charity registered in England & 

Wales (254937) and Scotland (SCO39268)

Spring 2012 - Glasgow & SW Scotland Branch of Butterfly ...

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