Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) A daily visitor to the garden was up early today #lepidoptera #moth #mothsmatter #hummingbirdhawkmoth @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Meleager's Blue (Polyommatus daphnis)Romania Male wing is bright blue, females blue bordered with dark brown.Hindwings are distinctly scalloped, esp in females Habitat grassy, bushy areas, clearings in scrub & open flowery meadows Larvae feed on Horseshoe/Crown Vetch &Sainfoin #MeleagersBlue

Lesser Purple Emperor (Apatura ilia) Romania Two forms - blue form ilia & orange form clytie,the latter is more commonly encountered in southern regions of its distribution Found in woodlands often near rivers or damp areas Caterpillars feed on Aspen (P tremula) etc #LesserPurpleEmperor

Today on Rodborough, a day cut short due to the heat, but still managed: Chalk-hill Blue x 18 M 5 F Meadow Brown x 9 Clouded Yellow x 3 Small Heath x 27 Brown Argus x 12 Adonis Blue x 11 M 2 F Small Copper x 1 Common Blue x 4 M Small White x 9 Silver Y x 2 Kestrel x 1 #Butterflies #Lepidoptera

Eastern Short-tailed Blue (Cupido decoloratus) (Staudinger 1886) Romania Locally distributed & rare in Romania & elsewhere A small butterfly with a sexual dimorphism Larvae feed on Medicago sativa & Medicago lupulina Found in grassy flowery places & woodland clearings #EasternShorttailedBlue

Large Skipper(Ochlodes sylvanus) Romania Russet-brown wings are edged with large, dark brown patches and dotted with small, light orange patches.Larger than similar Small Skipper Fly between June and August Larval food plants include cock's-foot, purple moor-grass and false broom #LargeSkipper

Hungarian Glider Butterfly (Neptis rivularis) Romania Similar to Common Glider,but a faint white band on the upper side forewing cell and only one broad band on the hindwing separate them Found in forest habitats in alpine valleys. Caterpillars feed on Spiraea & Aruncus species #HungarianGlider

Eastern Rock Grayling (Hipparchia syriaca) Romania Almost as large as the Woodland Grayling a species it is most incorrectly identified as, dissection needed to be reliable June to August depending on location Larvae feed on Brachypodium sp #EasternRockGrayling

Today was meant to be a butterfly hunting day, however due to another request I ended up on the Stroud Navigation A fairly good day counting Dragonflies & Damselflies. Was surprised by a good show of both male and female Red-eyed Damselflies as well as a fluttering of Banded Demoiselles #Odonata

Chapman's Blue (Polyommatus thersites) Often overlooked as similar to Common Blue. Separated by the absence of an underside forewing cell spot and andriconal scales in the basal areas Habitat is warm sunny flowery meadows at low to mid altitudes Larva feeds on Onobrychis #ChapmansBlueButterfly

Chequered Blue (Scolitantides orion) Romania Species of dry rocky banks Its chequered fringes make it stand out Found Europe and east to Japan Foodplants are Sedums Bivoltine except in the montane zones Larvae are attended by ants of the species Camponotus aethiops #ChequeredBlue

3 x Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) 28.7.26.to my garden in Stroud to a lure within 5 mins #Moths #Mothsmatter #Gypsymoth

Hammond’s Organic Farm in Stroud last night (27.7) produced 68 moths of 59 species, best of which were Iron and Pale Prominent, Lobster Moth and Cydia amplana. Also had 7 Jersey Tigers

RIP Bill I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Oddie at the Anti Badger cull rally arranged by Brian May A champion for wildlife and will sorely be missed He is the only celebrity I’ve met that knew how to spell my name right thanks to his colleague in The Goodies lol #billoddie

5 Traps ran at Sladebank Woods, that has targeted itself with increasing the rare & scarce moths Results of first 4 traps are in - 355 Moths of 66 species, which included 9 Mocha Moths one of the target species which previously we only caught 1 of at each trapping #Mothsmatter #Nationalmothweek

Apodia bifractella Known by some as Dark Fleabane Neb I was very excited to find this wee little moth in my garden tonight, I planted for it deliberately. Not seen one in a decade. Moth number 269 for my garden list #Moths #Mothmatter #Fleabane #Apodiabifractella See less

Hummingbird Hawk-moth at Stroud Hospital

Remember in hot weather wildlife needs water I have switched the foxes food for water and they have apples left on the ground nearby for food They have actually increased their visits to drink #fox #water #wildlife #wildlifeinhotweather

Yesterday I had the pleasure of accompanying the world's leading expert on White-letter Hairstreak's in Hereford (failed on those) This included my 3rd Clouded Yellow for the year and my 3rd ever sightings of Wood White & first Silver-washed of the year: Wood White x 56 (2 coupled)

Please object to this development that threatens a great White-letter and Purple Hairstreak site amongst other great wildlife #WyreForest #butterflies #developmentthreat

First Clouded Yellow record of the year… and didn’t leave my house. 2nd ever garden record #butterflies #butterfly #CloudedYellow @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Back in the very hot Uk after a weeks butterflying in Romania 🇷🇴

Last day butterflying in the wonderful country that is Romania… warning… butterfly pics imminent

Romanian butterfly hunts before the storms

Bear's-breech (Acanthus dioscoridis)Turkey In the genus Acanthus, family Acanthaceae, commonly known as Dioscorides’ Bear’s Breech Native to wetlands from southern Turkey to western Iran It is an herbaceous perennial Listed by the IUCN as rare but not endangered #Turkey #Botany

Eastern Green Bush-cricket (Tettigonia caudata) (Charpentier 1842) Turkey Family Tettigoniidae, often called Katydids in America Found over most of Europe mainly in the East (it is absent from Britain, France and Spain) Inhabit tall and dense vegetation #EasternGreenBushcricket

Beautiful Orb Weaver (Neoscona adianta) (Walckenaer 1802) Turkey In the family Araneidae, North Africa and Europe to Central Asia A distinctively marked spider that spins its orb web on low vegetation such as heather/gorse/grasses in a range of open habitats #BeautifulOrbWeaver #Spider

Today's butterfly walk at NT Boundary Court Results Marbled White x 180 Large Skipper x 1 Small Skipper x 37 Small Tortoiseshell x 1 Meadow Brown x 95 Common Blue x 5 Ringlet x 5 Painted Lady x 2 Small White x 7 Speckled Wood x 1 Red Admiral x 4 Comma x 2 @savebutterflies.bsky.social

A warm but overcast trip to the Surrey common yesterday produced 145 Silver-studded Blues (119 males and 26 females) #butterflies #butterfly @savebutterflies.bsky.social