Meadow Butterflies

[Brian Nicholas]

Hundreds of Meadow Browns gracing the meadows this year along with Ringlets,Common Blues and Large Skippers……but yet to see a Marbled White .Elsewhere on the farm topping has had to be curtailed as the Peacocks have taken over a nettle patch.

[Jane W]

Hundreds of Meadow Browns gracing the meadows this year along with Ringlets,Common Blues and Large Skippers……but yet to see a Marbled White .Elsewhere on the farm topping has had to be curtailed as the Peacocks have taken over a nettle patch.

It's a great pleasure to see butterflies increase in the meadows year on year. Like you, Brian I have seen a great increase in Meadow Browns and Skippers, also Gatekeepers, Marbled Whites, and my favorites the Ringlet.
One butterfly who's numbers have remained stubbornly low though, I've noticed, is the lovely White Admiral (Limentis Camilla), so I decided to do some looking to see if I could find out why.
It may be of interest to some forum members so I thought I'd share it.
The answer to my question came very quickly, in that it isn't really a meadow butterfly....more a creature of woodland, woodland edges and rides. Nonetheless, if, like me, your land is partly woodland or adjoins woodland you may have seen it too.
The adult is very fond of bramble flowers, and I have only ever seen the adults feed on 2 plants. One is bramble and the other a wild privet ( which, incidentally is the single most popular plant on our land for butterflies). According to the internet they will also feed on Honeydew, Betony, Thistles and Umbellifers.
The caterpillar, however, is very particular and will only eat the leaves of honeysuckle.
I was interested as to whether the kind of hybrids that we have in gardens would also do, but I'm not sure they will. On French sites the say clearly that the caterpillars will only eat Lonicera periclymenum ( Common Honeysuckle or Woodbine) native in Britain, Lonicera xylosteum (Fly Honeysuckle) native in Britain, Lonerica caprifolium ( Italian Honeysuckle or Perfoliate Woodbine) native in Europe but not Britain and finally Common Snowberry.
But, the native honeysuckle is so lovely, and available to buy easily, that I don't know why we'd want any other kind anyhow!
I went on a mission around our place to see how much honeysuckle was around, and there's surprisingly a lot, but, it has taken me some years to realise that the straggly tendrils hanging from our trees were attached to the lovely clumps of leaves and flowers way above my head. It's very easy to damage them as we go about our business. They often grow a good metre out from the trunk, and look like they're dead. They also have a habit of always being in the way somehow.
Anyhow, if anyone knows any more about this lovely butterfly, or has it on their land, I'd be keen to hear.
Those wanting to encourage it may think about planting some native Honeysuckle (push the berries that you find in hedgerows or woodland edges in around newly planted trees maybe) .

[Jane W]

Just to add a couple of photos I took here of the White Admiral. Probably female as they're slightly larger and lighter brown than the males.

[Donna Cox]

I have never seen a White Admiral on Dartmoor, where I live, though according to the handy Butterflies of Dartmoor ID Guide, they are present! The habitat on my own land is suitable; partly wooded, with plenty of native honeysuckle. Does anyone who if there are hotspots in Devon to see them?

Butterflies of Dartmoor ID guide:
https://butterfly-conservation.org/site ... aflet.pdf