life - COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING
Our island of
Butterflies
Main Picture: Orange Tip
Below: Peacock
By Tony Ridd
[email protected]
I’m sure that a lot of
things we come across
in everyday life is as, a
result of inspiration from
the countryside, colours
being one of the biggest
influences!
Butterflies can no doubt lay claim
to being a market leader in this
field with their mix of bright and
subtle effervescence colours. They
form one of the largest groups of
insects known as the Lepidoptera,
a name which means ‘scale wings’.
Although there are about 15,000
species of butterflies in the world
we have only 56 native species
resident in Great Britain.
Unlike most other animals,
58
butterflies
go
through,
a
fascinating, metamorphoses from
egg, to caterpillar then to chrysalis
and on to become a beautiful
insect.
As delicate as they appear
butterflies are remarkably resilient,
Red Admirals, Clouded Yellows
and Painted Ladies fly across the
sea, migrating to our shores in the
summer. The Brimstone can live
for over a year hibernating during
the winter months and emerging
early in the new year as one of the
earliest sighted.
The UK is a relatively cold country
for butterflies which is why we
associate them with the summer
when they are at their most prolific.
Fortunately the Isle of Wight
warms up slightly earlier than the
mainland and
this
means
that
each
year
many
species
are
spotted here
first. This year
the Glanville,
Fritillery was
spotted
on
the 18th April
at Wheelers
Bay by Dennis
Britton
and
Andy Butler,
the
earliest
ever recorded
on the island.
The Glanville Fritillery butterfly
was named after Lady Eleanor
Glanville who was the first to
capture a British specimen in
Lincolnshire during the late 17th
Century, it rapidly declined due
mainly to loss of habitat over the
Island Life - www.isleofwight.net