Speckled Wood Butterfly
Posted: 12 September 2013
It was another bright sunny day and time to go patrolling the grounds round the house to see if there was anything to photograph.
By the bridge that crosses to the island I turned up a bee collecting nectar from a thistle as I had a couple of weeks ago.
The only other thing to catch my eye nearby was what I later read is a Speckled Wood Butterfly. The site I found said:
They are widespread throughout Europe.
This species inhabits woodlands and hedgerows. Adults feed on aphid honeydew, a sticky sugary substance secreted by aphids as they feed on plant juices. Caterpillars feed on various grasses.
Speckled wood butterflies are common throughout Britain but are becoming more localised in the north.
So not a great find, but if you are a visitor from the north then maybe you would have to hunt about a bit to find one.
The thing I always wonder about when you see a butterfly with notches out of their wings, as this one does, is whether the notch is a defect that was there from the time the butterfly emerged or is it more likely to be the result of accident or injury, even fights for a mate?
