Butterflies of Northamptonshire Order your copy now! Details of content, publication date, price and how to order are given overleaf e buery habitats of Northamptonshire Details of ten important sites with public access to see the bueries of the county Descriptions, life cycles, trends and distribution maps of the 36 species resident in the county Historical summaries of rare migrants and extinct species 300 photographs in full colour Features on the work of Buery <strong>Conservation</strong> and management for key species, Gardening for Bueries, ‘BB’ and the Purple Emperor UK Price £11.99 ISBN 978-0-9520291-3-7 Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines Male (wingspan 46mm.) e Orange-tip is a well distributed and common buery in our area and its conspicuous markings and tendency to roam over a wide area mean that it is well recorded, though the vagaries of the s pring weather ensure that there are uctuations in the population of the adults and the number of observations from year to year. It would have been much more numerous in the past but the destruction of hedgerows, drainage of wet meadows, and intensive agricultural practices have changed the scale of abundance. Local Distribution and Status 00 90 80 70 60 50 50 40 e delicate male Orange-tip cannot be confused with any other species, the orange tips to the forewings being visible from some distance when the species is in ight. On closer inspection these can be seen to have a black edge and a clear, black discal spot. e female can be confused with other Whites unless observed closely; it possesses similar markings to the male but lacks the orange markings. When at rest with wings closed both sexes have a moled green appearance on the hindwings created by an arrangement of yellow and black scales. Male Orange-tips are very photogenic when on Bluebells or Bugle owers. 30 50 60 70 80 90 00 10 e appearance of the Orange-Tip in spring marks the true arrival of the buery season. Its principal habitats are lanes, hedgerows, river banks, damp meadows, roadside verges and woodland rides where its great mobility makes it a common species. May is the usual month to look for it though in recent years the rst specimens have begun to appear consistently in April. ere is a single generation and by June few are seen, except in late springs when it can be on the wing even into July. Breeding success is determined by the weather since the buery only ies in bright sunshine. If conditions are warm, it can still be on the wing into the evening. As soon as the sun disappears behind a cloud it closes its wings. Cow Parsley and Garlic Mustard are common roosts and the cryptic underside colouring creates an excellent camouage. As the sun returns, it slowly opens its wings before resuming the steady, undulating ight which takes this mobile lile buery over a wide area. Males will patrol endlessly up and down a set area looking for females. Days of intermient sun and cloud are ideal for photographing this prey insect. e beautiful underside markings of the male L i f e C y c l e <strong>Butterfly</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> A number of foodplants of the crucifer family are used for egg-laying. By far the most successful is Garlic Mustard, but Hedge Mustard provides a good substitute while in damper areas and woodland rides Lady’s Smock is also utilised. All three of these are also readily accepted as nectar plants though the species will feed from a wide variety of owers. Caterpillars have also been found on Tower Mustard, Bastard Cabbage, Honesty, Garlic Mustard and even Oilseed Rape. Eggs have been recorded on Shepherd’s Purse, but without success. When rst laid, the egg is translucent but turns a bright orange within a few days and is the most conspicuous of any buery species as it is laid on the stalk of a plant just below the ower head. Several eggs found on the same plant stalk will be the product of dierent females. e caterpillars of the Orange-tip are renowned for their cannibalism when young. e caterpillar usually feeds on the seedpods of its chosen plant. When it rst hatches, it is orange with black spines and a black head. Later it becomes greener, until when fully grown it exhibits a ne example of counter-shading, lighter above and dark green below. is prevents it from casting a shadow which would betray its presence as it rests alongside the stalks or seedpods, a position which makes it quite dicult to spot. Even so, many are eaten by birds. e chrysalis is extremely dicult to nd in the wild and the buery spends around ten months in this stage, including the winter. e mustard oil which it has derived from the A mating pair, male above, female below foodplants of the caterpillar makes the adult buery unpalatable to birds and the bright orange of the male advertises this, an example of warning colouration. Over-enthusiastic trimming of roadside verges destroys the species in its early stages but cutbacks in Local Authority spending have arrested this trend and the buery has actually extended its range in Britain in recent years. A few more wild patches le here and there in parks and gardens would assist it further. Long may we continue to see this harbinger of spring. F e m a l e E g g Caterpillar Chrysalis <strong>Butterfly</strong> Douglas Goddard & Andy Wyldes e egg is easy to nd on Lady’s Smock Butterflies of Northamptonshire e caterpillar feeds on the developing seed pods of its foodplant Jan F e b Mar Apr M a y Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 51 Buerflies Northamptonshire Douglas Goddard & Andy Wyldes ‘BB’ and the Purple Emperor Denys Watkins-Pitchford, who wrote under the pseudonym ‘BB’, was an eminent naturalist-writer who was born in Northamptonshire and spent his life here. His fascination for the Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) began when he was young -“I used to spend hours reading about it in my Frohawk’s British Bueries, looking longingly at the colour plate which showed the insect in all its regal purple sheen, and I used to think that the outside of its wings was even more beautiful, with its greenish whorls and marblings and the rich coloured eye on the forewing tips.” ‘BB’ began a persistent search for it, when he found that it was ‘most frequent in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.’ Old sites for the buery were Barnwell Wold and the woods around In his book Ramblings of a Sportsman-Naturalist, ‘BB’ describes the life Polebrook, while in Geddington Chase in 1878, a man had captured over cycle of this beautiful insect in great detail and reveals what a marvellous a dozen in a single day. ‘BB’ also mentions newspaper cuings referring observer and entomologist he was. On hatching the caterpillar eats the to an Emperor being seen and captured at Yardley Chase. A well-known eggshell and then moves to the leaf tip where few predators explore and Victorian entomologist, the Rev. William Bree, rector of Polebrook, once where the moisture drains o to protect it. He describes the minute beetle caught a specimen in his hat down a riding in Ashton Wold. On a visit Anthocoris nemorum and its devouring of the tiny caterpillars. Much skill is to his church, ‘BB’ surmised that he must have preached on many a hot needed to protect them from other enemies, such as spiders and earwigs, summer aernoon, his mind no doubt wandering to the rides of the and to tend them so that they survive the winter. adjacent woods where the Purple Emperor was found. He tells us the buery was still at Ashton in 1943, but only as a rarity. In 1973, ‘BB’ tells us that he released 25 adult Purple Emperors into ‘the Chase’. It is not clear exactly where he means, but this was most probably ‘BB’s early searches for the Purple Emperor found much of the habitat the ride in Fermyn Wood known as ‘Emperor Ride’, a few minutes’ walk unsuitable. In 1940 while wandering round Monk’s Wood, a former good from his home. e following year, he found eggs to conrm that they site for it, he describes meeting an entomologist of the old school with his had indeed bred there. On July 28th 1978 he found 18 eggs and a female Emperor net 15 high, and he was amused by his pretended ignorance, intent on laying. In 1980, he refers to them as, “the Purple Emperors of while ‘his sly thirst for information suggested he was a professional mine (they really were mine, of my own stocking, for as far as I know, iris collector.’ Aer a brief view of his long sought aer prize in Salcey Forest, did not occur in this forest in recent years).” ‘BB’ nally ‘came face to antennae with iris’ properly for the rst time in 1946. He accompanied Stuart Humfries, an eminent eye-surgeon, to a wood in Oxfordshire. Having seen a Purple Emperor sele high up on an oak leaf, he and Humfries seeing a timber truck with wheels nearby dragged it under the tree, so that ‘BB’ could reach with his net. He made a sweep for it but it had vanished into thin air. e same day a worn male circled twice round his head and seled on his knee. It is clear from his writing that oak woodland was ‘BB’s favourite habitat, and he extols the wide rides bathed in hot sunlight on a July aernoon, the cool shadows banding the rides, the sound of the turtle doves and bullnches, humming ies and the smell of the Meadowsweet. Subsequent visits to Salcey Forest brought many happy sightings of the Purple Emperor before spraying to eliminate Oak Tortrix moths led to its extinction in the 1960s. In 1948, he saw a female laying an egg and plunged into a ditch to pull down a sprig of Sallow to inspect it. Salcey also inspired his book Brendon Chase and here in a shady ride one day, he encountered John Phillips, a Keering surgeon who taught him how to nd the buery’s eggs successfully. Eggs can be found on the lower branches of large Sallows but climbing high into the upper branches may yield even more. One eminent entomologist, a very big and heavy man, fell and injured himself so badly that he died later. ‘BB’ regarded the death of a well-known collector, killed aer falling in a ditch while searching for eggs, as a ing end, and was prepared to take the risk on many occasions. Once able to gather eggs, he admied that the ‘iris bug’ had bien even deeper and he vowed to tend the caterpillars through the winter. It became his mission to reintroduce the Purple Emperor to its ancient stronghold. BB watches the release of his bueries into “Emperor Ride” in the mid 1980’s photographed by Jack Steward 78 of In the 1982 season, he only found two eggs as the vision in his right eye had become impaired to the extent that locating them was becoming too dicult. By then, however, his labours had begun to bear fruit. Ian Flinders’ survey of the bueries of Northamptonshire 1976-81 had deemed the Purple Emperor extinct but subsequent to this, local enthusiasts had begun to nd it again in the woods around Brigstock. It could be seen only a few hundred yards from the Round House in Sudborough. During the 1990s it had begun to appear regularly and extended its range here so that it is now found throughout most of the old Rockingham Forest. In the current millennium Purple Emperors have been seen regularly in the Silverstone area, particularly Bucknell and Hazelborough Woods and, on one occasion, Whistley Wood. e species was recorded again in Yardley Chase from 2009 and a discovery of a caterpillar by a Northants Wildlife Trust worker conrmed its breeding there in 2011. is year also saw its return to Salcey Forest aer half a century with two separate sightings. Above: A male and female Emperor raised by ‘BB’ are released into ‘Emperor Ride’ in the mid 1980s. Photograph by Jack Steward Right: e Round House at Sudborough, ‘BB’s home for a number of years, right on Fermyn’s doorstep Below: ‘Emperor Ride’ in Fermyn as it is today As a result of climate change the Purple Emperor is extending its range nationally. It has become widespread in Oxfordshire, another old haunt, and has been recorded in Warwickshire, Suolk and Cambridgeshire in recent years. Sallow regenerates quickly on the clay soils of our county and Fermyn Wood has the perfect conditions for it, the habitat developing particularly aer ‘BB’s death in 1990. What role the writer played in its current expansion is dicult to establish. It may be that the buery was there all along and his intervention helped the population to reach the level where it began to be seen more readily. It is nonetheless a source of great pleasure to feel that current buery enthusiasts are treading in the same woodland rides into which he ventured and to reect that his cherished dream of seeing ‘His Imperial Majesty’ ying there again is now an ongoing success, a ing monument to this great naturalist. By Douglas Goddard & Andy Wyldes 79
Butterflies of Northamptonshire The first book exclusively on the butterflies of the county, 112 pages, 300 photographs in full colour Descriptions of the butterfly habitats of Northamptonshire with details of ten important sites with public access to see the butterflies of the county Descriptions, life cycles, trends and distribution maps of the 36 species resident in the county plus historical summaries of rare migrants and extinct species Features on the work of <strong>Butterfly</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> and management for key species, Gardening for Butterflies, ‘BB’ and the Purple Emperor Publication price is £9.99 plus £3.00 postage and packing e buery habitats of Northamptonshire Details of ten important sites with public access to see the bueries of the county Descriptions, life cycles, trends and distribution maps of the 36 species resident in the county Historical summaries of rare migrants and extinct species 300 photographs in full colour Features on the work of Buery <strong>Conservation</strong> and management for key species, Gardening for Bueries, ‘BB’ and the Purple Emperor UK Price £11.99 ISBN 978-0-9520291-4-4 To order your copy now, send cheque (payable to ‘Beds and Northants Branch <strong>Butterfly</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong>’) with your name and address, contact details (phone and email) to Doug Goddard, 34 Ashley Way, Westone, Northampton NN3 3DZ or arrange to meet Doug to collect if within 15 miles of Northampton. (Tel. 01604 408670, goddarddouglas@hotmail.com) <strong>Butterfly</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> Douglas Goddard & Andy Wyldes Butterflies of Northamptonshire Bu No Dougl
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