Bucking the Trend

Small Copper on some late flowering Hemp Agrimony
A Small Copper on some late flowering Hemp Agrimony.
On the back of a disastrous summer for Butterflies on reflection I think we must have been lucky. Certainly plenty around Durlston Country Park in mid September.
Small Copper Butterfly
Great to see the sun really bringing out the iridescence of the Small Copper’s scale covered wings.
Male and female Adonis Blue on Greater Knapweed
Male and female Adonis Blues on Greater Knapweed.
An increasingly rare sight. Restricted to south facing chalk downs the Adonis Blue is in rapid decline. Fortunately where their habitat is managed their numbers appear to be more stable.
 Female Adonis Blue on a Greater Knapweed flower.
 Female Adonis Blue on a Greater Knapweed flower.
A Small White feeding on Valerian
 A far more familiar Small White feeding on Valerian.
Small Heath again feeding on Greater Knapweed.
A Small Heath again feeding on Greater Knapweed.
 Meadow Brown  Small Heath
 The closely related Meadow Brown  Another Small Heath
 Peacock Butterfly  Painted Lady
 The widespread and familiar Peacock butterfly.  A Painted Lady on the same Buddleia bush
A female solitary wasp hunting for a suitable victim
A female solitary wasp hunting for a suitable victim.
Spiders and caterpillars are normally high on the list but in general most Solitary Wasps aren’t too fussy. Once their prey has been paralysed it then becomes a source of energy for the next generation of wasps.

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