Comma No92 Autumn 2015

A little help
Richard Southwell delights
in garden butterflies and
moths, with a little help
from his grandson.
Our wildlife garden has really
given us some treats this year
with two Hummingbird Hawkmoths,
nectaring on Valerian and
Buddleia, and a number of
Painted Ladies. However, the star
has been the colony of Six-spot
Burnets which have successfully
been breeding on the Bird's-foot
Trefoil that is allowed to grow
through our patio slabs.
‘stuck together’
Our two-and-a-half year old
grandson was down with us at the
time and delightfully told us two
were 'stuck'. Since then, we have
been reporting to mum on a daily
basis about what had been taking
place. The picture, taken in June,
was of Oliver being introduced to
'his' small field that is no more than
a 100 yards from home, which is
in the tiny hamlet of Dilhorne in
North Staffs. We were counting
seven species of butterfly and
moth at the time, including 42
Chimney Sweeper. To me this
gives a huge message as to why
good habitat is essential to the
future well-being of this country.
Kirsty, Oliver's mum, did not tick
off grandad for her son’s wet shoes
on this occasion!
By Richard Southwell
Do you know what sort
of Tortoiseshell this is?
Andrew Tullo took this photo in his Oswestry
garden in September 2011. He wonders if it could
it be the Scarce Tortoiseshell, also known as the
Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell, which has not been
recorded in the UK between 1953 and 2014?
Or is it an aberration of the much more common
Small Tortoiseshell. Or is it something else?
Comments to the editor please.
8
the Comma