In addition to the colourful display of flowers the plants play host to hundreds of bees and butterflies. The garden is positively buzzing when the sun shines and the bees are at their most active.
It's hard to believe that bees are in danger when you see the numbers on these plants
In butterfly terms the large white is among the regular visitors,
The Small Copper looks resplendent amongst the lavender coloured flowers
The Common Blue is a frequent visitor...
Then yesterday, Colin spotted one we hadn't seen before. It's a bit of a weary specimen and my photos don't help matters... but, taking the intricate markings on the under-wing and the overall size of the butterfly, we think it is a Lang's Short-tailed Blue..
1 comment:
I think it is a Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus. I've had this species once in the orchard. According to Lafranchis Langs Short-tailed Blue is extinct in 37, although if you were to see it, end of summer is the time. Long-tailed Blues are also a southern, highly migratory species, but even their appearances here are becoming less and less frequent. This is the only butterfly species that I have recorded both here and in Australia, btw. The two species are very similar, but can be distinguished by differences in the white submarginal band on the hind underwing -- which of course is the one bit these photos don't show. The caterpillars eat plants in the pea family. Whichever it is, it is a really good record!
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