Tuesday 2nd July 2013

With the promise of some breaks in the cloud this morning , I set off to search for another butterfly species not found in Kent . The nearest sites to me for the Silver-studded Blue are in Sussex and Surrey , so I packed my passport and headed around the M25 to the latter , Esher Common . It was cool and windy on my arrival , far from ideal conditions , but I set off to se what I could find . I knew that no butterflies would be flying , so looked amongst the Bell Heather , which is one of it's foodplants . Worryingly , in the area where I had seen them last year , I didn't get a single sighting , but it was being more effected by the cool wind , so I headed for other parts of the site . Eventually , a

few males were found , still in the head down roosting position . The species gets it's name from the blue 'studs' surrounded by black , just behind the orange spots on the underside if the hindwing , but

the blueness of the male doesn't show them as well as does the female , which I found in fewer numbers . It was around midday that there was a slight increase in brightness , and this encouraged the first specimens into flight . Naturally , it was the males that got airborne first , frantically searching the ground vegetation for a female . But without the sun , they didn't fly for long , and

landed giving an opportunity to photograph the topwing . It was a while later before the first female was found with wings open , and shortly after I got this shot , the brightness went , and it was back to

roost for all . Like several of the Blue butterflies , this species has a relationship with ants , in this case Black Ants , whereby the ants look after the caterpillars , and in return the caterpillars supply the ants with sugar rich secretions in return . Searching for the butterflies other interest was found in the form of ,

Volucella zonaria , one of two of the larger Hoverflies seen ,

the other being Volucella pellucens , often seen hovering at head level and above ,

a black beetle I helped , struggling to get off it's back , turned out to be the Bloody-nosed Beetle / Timarcha tenebricosa , so called for emitting red liquid from the head end when upset ,

and one of several Cinnabar Moth caterpillars seen , but not very mobile due to the conditions .
A few plants of interest around the site included ,

Lots of Biting Stonecrop / Sedum acre ,

Common Centaury / Centaurium erythraea , a member of the Gentian family , just beginning to come into flower ,

an unusual white form of Musk Mallow / Malva moschata , that I haven't seen before ,

Common Evening Primrose / Oenothera biennis , a member of the Willowherb family ,

and Common Cudweed / Filago vulgaris , a member of the Daisy family , to name a few .
I had intended to go on to Thursley Common after lunch , in search of dragon/damselflies , but with the temperature dropping and the odd spots of rain , I decided it wasn't worth while , and will go on a warmer , sunnier day , so headed home .