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| Brown Hairstreak ♂, Thecla betulae on grassland |
On Sunday morning I met Mark Colvin at Steyning Downland. At 9:13am Mark spotted a male Brown Hairstreak land in a tree high up above the fenced area. It came down to the grassland and kept moving from grassy patch to grassy patch. Later I spotted one at the top of the hill in the trees. At 10:52 Mark saw a female on a one metre high prunus by the fence in the reserve area. It then flew to the grassland and moved from grassy area to grassy area. There were 4 Wall at the top of the hill, plus plenty of Gatekeepers, Comma, Large White, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Whites.
Afterwards I did my Mill Hill transect: Essex Skipper, Brimstone, Small White 9, Chalkhill Blue 15, Red Admiral 4, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock 9, Marbled White, Gatekeeper 19, Meadow Brown 25, Small Heath 2. Moths: Common Purple and Gold, Wavy-barred Sable, Six-spot Burnet, Lesser Treble-bar, Small Fan-footed Wave, Cinnabar larvae.
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| the rifle range (from WW II) |
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| first sighting of male Brown Hairstreak at 9:13 |
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| it then come down into the fenced area |
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| Brown Hairstreak ♂ on grassland |
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| Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus |
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| Gatekeeper, ab. partimtransformis |
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| Gatekeepers mating |
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| Large White, Pieris brassicae ♀ |
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| Large White ♀ |
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| Turf Running-spider, Philodromus cespitum (a crab spider) |
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| Wall ♀, Lasiommata megera |
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| Wall ♀ |
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| Wall ♂, Lasiommata megera |
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| Wall ♂ |
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| Wall ♂ |
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| Brown Hairstreak ♀, Thecla betulae, when first seen |
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she then flew to the grassland
proboscis on top of leaf |
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| proboscis on under leaf |
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| proboscis curled |
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| showing abdomen |
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| proboscis curled on top of leaf |
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| moving along grass stem |
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| proboscis uncurled |
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| best shot of upperside showing female's orange flash |
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| she moved to brambles |
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| these 3 photos show the two galea, the parts of the proboscis |
these links provide some info about the proboscis, and the way the two galea are joined by
legulae to form the feeding tube:
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