"Not more bloody butterflies!" I hear you cry. But I make no apologies for posting a taste of today's veritable butterfly bonanza – the culmination of a warm summer and a wonderfully balmy late-September afternoon, which brought out at least 50 Small Tortoiseshells; most crowded onto
Sedum flowerheads, others on
Aster 'Little Carlow' and
A. novi-belgii 'Herbstgruss vom Bresserhof'. With them were about 6 Commas, 10 or more Red Admirals, 4 Small Coppers, a couple of Large and Green-veined Whites and a single Silver-washed Fritillary, still hanging on. In the evening we found the striking caterpillar of an Elephant Hawk-moth on a container-grown
Fuchsia 'Delta's Sara'. The large false 'eyes' and elephant's trunk-like 'proboscis' are designed to alarm and confuse potential predators.
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| 'Dead leaf' underside, with eponymous white 'Comma' mark |
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| The startling contrast of the Comma's upperside |
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| Small Copper on Aster 'Little Carlow' |
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| Backlit undersides of Small Coppers on Sedum |
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| 15 Small Tortoiseshells, 2 Red Admirals and a Comma |
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| Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar on Fuchsia 'Delta's Sara' |
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