Showing posts with label moths. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moths. Show all posts

Tuesday 14 February 2023

The Magic of Butterflies and Moths is a new Moon Books title

The Magic of Butterflies and Moths is my new book


The Magic of Butterflies and Moths is my latest book published by Moon Books. It will be available on 24 February 2023, but it can be preordered now. As the title suggests I take a look at what can be considered as magical about these amazing insects. Everyone is familiar with the incredible transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and then to adult butterfly but there are many more astounding facts about butterflies and moths. 

Swallowtail caterpillars

I first became fascinated by these insects when I was a little boy. I used to keep caterpillars in jam jars and other containers. I learned then that you had to feed the larvae with the right types of plants. I also learned that some chrysalises and pupae have a short time before they emerge as adults, while others must wait many months and go right through the winter and the spring months before eclosing in early summer. Many species of butterfly and moth embark on lengthy migrations at specific times of the year. They can fly incredibly long distances and cross seas. The Monarch is probably most famous of all for its annual migration from the lower part of Canada and the most northerly American states right down to Florida, California and Mexico. It overwinters in the south and in the spring it begins the migration northwards. 









Monarch butterfly

I take a look at butterflies that live in the most inhospitable areas where you would probably think these insects cannot be found. But there are butterflies that live within the Arctic circle, in Lapland and Siberia. Some butterflies have extraordinary life cycles. There are species of Blue butterfly that depend on specific species of ants finding their caterpillars. The ants take the caterpillars into their nests where when fully grown the butterfly larvae become chrysalises. The very rare Large Blue is a species that is like this. 

Many species of butterfly and moth employ elaborate camouflage as adults and as caterpillars to help protect them from predators. When their wings are folded some species look like dead leaves as adults, some caterpillars look like twigs. Other types have displays and warning colours of bold contrasting hues that are a signal that says “do not eat me because I will poison you!” There are moth species that cannot feed as adults, there are many others in which the females are not only unable to eat but they cannot fly either. Yet the caterpillars of these species are some of the most gaudy and exotic looking of all. Some moths, such as the weird looking Death’s-head Hawk-moth have become the subject of superstitions. Because it has an odd skull-like marking on its thorax and because it has weird behaviour such as the ability to squeak, this moth was regarded as a bad omen. 









Death's-head Hawkmoth

As well as the appearances and behaviour of many species of butterfly and moth I take a look at what we can do to help them. There is a chapter devoted to butterfly gardening, as well as a list of some organisations where you can find out more about butterfly (and moth) conservation. 

The Magic of Butterflies and Moths has some wonderful endorsements from people such as Rebecca of Rebecca’s Butterfly Farm who said: “Lovely stories and lots of amazing facts.” Paul Hetherington, Buglife Director of Fundraising and Communications described my book like this: “The Magic of Butterflies and Moths is just what is needed to help people understand and have friendlier relationships with these incredible insects, a major goal of our No Insectinction campaign.” 

My book will be available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk as well as many other book suppliers around the world. Just Google “Steve Andrews The Magic of Butterflies and Moths” and pick up your copy. 




Tuesday 13 September 2022

The Death’s-head Hawk-moth must have a very difficult life

The mysterious life of the Death’s-head Hawk-moth

Death’s-head Hawk-moth. Photo: Steve Andrews

The Death’s-head Hawk-moth (Acherontia atropos) is a very remarkable insect in many ways. Once seen it will never be forgotten with its skull-like marking on the back of its thorax, dark but beautifully patterned wings, its massive size, and stout furry banded body. But this hawkmoth must lead a very difficult life, and it doesn’t surprise me that it is rare. The Death’s-head Hawk-moth’s main food is apparently honey and it steals this from beehives. It is even known as the “Bee Robber.” So one of the first things the insect must do in its life is locate a hive, not so easy these days with the terrible decline in honeybees, said to be due to Colony Collapse Disorder. It then has to enter the home of the bees, find the honeycomb and use its short proboscis to break through the wax to steal the sweet liquid.

There are theories about how it manages to do this without being attacked by angry bees. One theory is that it emits a smell that causes the bees to leave it alone because it mimics the scent of the bees. It appears that the moth requires the stimulus of being in a hive to go about feeding. In captivity if supplied with honey on a pad it won’t touch this. Websites with details of caring for the moth say that the only way to feed it is to carefully hold the insect and unroll the proboscis so that it goes into a mixture of honey and water. Although the moths will struggle, it is said that after one or two attempts they will learn to feed this way and will take their food on future days. I cannot confirm this because I have to admit I have given up with my attempts and have released moths in my care. The Death’s-head Hawk-moth also squeaks quite loudly when alarmed, and it is definitely alarmed when held for attempted force feeding. My question is why won’t it feed itself? Otherwise in published literature there is very little information about how the adults feed. In a very few places I have read that they also take tree sap and resin, have been known to puncture fruit, accept rotting fruit,  and even that they take the nectar from a Petunia flower, not the normal way but by breaking into the part of the flower that holds the nectar. I have left a moth with a pad soaked in honey and water, and also with Petunia flowers and the moth ignored all of it. Literature on these moths also maintain that this hawkmoth will not attempt to mate until the males have fed and until a few days have gone by. So even if you have males and females emerging around the same time it is still not easy to get them to mate. You have to find a way to feed them, and need somewhere to keep the insects safely where they do not damage their wings trying to escape. In my experience this moth emerges from its pupa at night and soon after the wings are dried it wants to fly. I have had them eclose in the early hours of the morning. I have read that the moth flies very late at night, and this appears to be correct. Researching the Death’s-head Hawk-moth fails to turn up much information that I haven’t given here. I am wondering whether these moths do feed otherwise but have not been studied well enough for anyone to know how they feed or what on.

  Death’s-head Hawk-moth caterpillar. Photo: Steve Andrews

The caterpillars are another matter though, and the information on them today is far, far greater than when I was a boy. Books on insects many years ago used to say the caterpillar fed on the foliage of the Potato, possibly on the Jasmine too, and that was about it. Nowadays the reported range these huge larvae can eat is very  wide indeed. Besides Potato and Jasmine, it is known to feed on Deadly Nightshade, Woody Nightshade, Snowberry, Thornapple, Tree Tobacco, Tomato, Hemp, Lantana, Olive, Privet, Lilac, Buddleia and Tulip Tree. I have found them on Thornapple in Tenerife and Lantana there. I suspect the caterpillar can also feed on Sea Grape because I encountered a wandering larva once in a shopping precinct where the only vegetation present was on some specimens of this tree. Unlike many species, the caterpillar of the Death’s-head Hawk-moth is almost spoiled for choice. Nevertheless I have found they don’t like to switch plants that they have been eating. Larvae reared on Privet expect more Privet. Besides the unusual feeding habits of the adult moths, I wonder what causes some of them to embark on lengthy migrations, including those in which it flies over the seas. This species has been found as far north as the Shetland Islands in the UK, but clearly could not withstand the winters up there, which would be far too cold. It is said that this species cannot get through winters in Britain elsewhere. What causes it to migrate? How does it decide which direction to fly? How does it find beehives? The Death’s-head Hawk-moth is a very mysterious moth don’t you agree?

Saturday 19 October 2019

The Butterfly Guy

You can call me "The Butterfly Guy."

Steve Andrews The Butterfly Guy in Lisbon

I am becoming known for being a “Butterfly Guy,” because I rear butterflies and share my achievements on social media. I also gave a talk on the subject of Butterfly Gardening to a gardening club in the Algarve a year or so back, and wrote about the subject for Mediterranean Gardening and Outdoor Living magazine. I have a song entitled Butterfly In My Beard and I recently bought a shirt with butterflies all over it. I thought it would be a great public image to have and helps show my love for these amazing insects. Butterfly In My Beard has the lyrics: “They called me a Bugman on the news one time…” and this makes reference to when I was once featured in the South Wales Echo and given this title in a story about how I kept exotic insects.
Bugman Steve Andrews in the South Wales Echo
I first discovered the joys of helping butterflies and moths when I was a little boy and have been doing what I can to help them all my life since then. I used to keep caterpillars in jam-jars, feeding them whatever they needed, watching them transform into a chrysalis or pupa in a cocoon, and then await the day they emerged as a magnificent butterfly or moth. There’s a twofold pleasure gained from rearing a butterfly or moth from egg to adult. First of all there is the joy of seeing the amazing insect in all its glory on its first day as a winged insect, and secondly there is the pride you experience from knowing you helped.

Swallowtails and Monarchs

Swallowtail on my hand


Since I have been living in Portugal I have been rearing Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and Swallowtails (Papilio machaon). I find it easy to do and would encourage other people to have a got at helping the butterflies in your area. You just need to grow the plants they need for their caterpillars and provide some flowering plants to provide nectar for the adults.

Female Monarch



Monarch female laying eggs on Milkweed
I grow Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) for the Monarchs and Rue (Ruta graveolens) for the Swallowtails. I have also grown Balloonplant (Gomphocarpus fruticosus) for the Monarchs, and it is a better plant because it grows much bigger. It is also naturalised in some parts of Portugal so is a food source for the caterpillars of the Monarch Butterfly that can be found here. Sadly last winter killed mine plants of it, though my Tropical Milkweeds made it through. 
Tropical Milkweed

Last year I had four generations of Monarchs with on average 30 butterflies eclosing from their chrysalises each time. It has been the same this year and at the time of writing I have about that number of caterpillars here. This will be the last brood for the year. I am running out of plants that still have enough leaves and flowers on them to feed all the hungry larvae and some of the small ones in the garden are going to perish because there is simply not enough food for them. This is a common problem for anyone who goes in for helping the Monarchs. You need to grow a lot of their food-plants. I tend to keep the caterpillars indoors in sandwich boxes or especially prepared large empty plastic water-bottles.
Monarch caterpillars pupating
The latter container I slice through around the middle for easy access, and this can be taped over with sticky tape. I put some tissue in the bottom to catch the frass. I use this method of looking after the caterpillars because I have observed that wasps are a very serious predator that will take away all the larvae they can find on a plant. 
Swallowtails just keep on breeding throughout the year with butterflies flying in every month apart from December and January. They make it through in the chrysalis stage, which remains dormant through the coldest months. Like the female Monarchs, the female Swallowtails return to the garden here because it is somewhere they can lay their eggs. Fortunately for the Swallowtail, Rue is a commonly grown garden plant here. They will also use Fennel and Wild Carrot, but in my experience the caterpillars do not like changing from one plant to another. Where I live most of the Swallowtails are depending on the Rue in local gardens because the Fennel growing wild doesn’t do well in the droughts we have had and loses all its foliage.

The Moths too

Death's-head Hawk-moth


This year, I reared some Death’s-head Hawk-moths (Acherontia atropos) too. I must admit I got the eggs from Worldwide Butterflies, because although I have seen lots of photos and videos of caterpillars of this species shared on social media groups about nature in Portugal, I have not come across them in the town where I live. I used to live in Tenerife and the Death’s-head was a common moth there. I used to find the massive caterpillars on Thornapple (Datura stramonium) and Lantana (Lantana camara). This is a moth species that is lucky to have a very wide range of food-plants, unlike many species that only have a limited range of plants their caterpillars can eat.
Death's-head Hawk caterpillar
I fed my caterpillars on Potato and Privet, which are two of the alternative food sources for the larvae of this magnificent species. This moth gets its name from the marking like a skull on the back of its thorax. It can also squeak and is a very strange but beautiful creature. Unlike its caterpillars, which can eat many types of plant, the adult Death’s-head may have difficulty finding suitable food because it has a very short proboscis. One food it can eat, however, is honey, and this is why it is compelled to enter and rob beehives.
When I lived in the UK I used to keep various moth caterpillars there. I had a lot of success with the Poplar Hawk (Laothoe populi) and Eyed Hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellatus). I grew a small Sallow tree in the garden and this attracted the female moths. Getting back to butterflies, at the same time in the UK, I had Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) and Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) caterpillars on a patch of Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica) I had growing. 
That is all you really need to do: grow plants that the caterpillars of butterflies and moths need as food, and provide food for the adults by growing flowers and flowering shrubs. I have Zinnias and a Buddleia/Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii), as two of the main attractions for butterflies and moths as sources of nectar. Feed the caterpillars and feed the adult insects and you will have success at helping moths and butterflies.
Monarch on Zinnia

Saturday 18 May 2019

Help Butterflies and Moths By Butterfly Gardening and Rearing The Insects

Why we should help butterflies and moths

Small Tortoiseshells on Butterfly Bush (Photo in Public Domain/Pixabay)
Very many butterfly and moth species are suffering very serious declines in numbers due to a combination of pesticides, habitat destruction, modern farming techniques that use herbicides and monoculture, and Climate Change. Moths, which were once commonly seen flying around street lamps, and as casualties on windscreens at night are no longer there. How often do you see moths coming inside where you live at night when a door or window is open? It used to be commonplace for these insects to be attracted by the light.

We can all do our bit in helping these beautiful insects, by growing flowers in our gardens to attract and feed the adults and by cultivating plants their caterpillars need. Butterfly gardening is a great way of doing valuable conservation work. A Buddleia davidii or Butterfly Bush is a wonderful way of attracting butterflies and moths. Leaving Ivy to grow is another help because it is a food-plant for the Holly Blue and the Swallowtail Moth, and its flowers in late autumn provide nectar for the last butterflies and pollinating insects that are still around.

Rearing Moths and Butterflies at Home


Swallowtail (Photo: Steve Andrews)
It is also quite easy to rear many types of butterfly and moth at home. I do this where I live in Portugal and currently have Swallowtail and Monarch butterflies in various stages of metamorphosis, and Death’s Head Hawk Moth caterpillars.
Death's Head Hawk (Photo: Public Domain/Pixabay)
Last year I had four generations of Monarch Butterflies, all reared on Milkweed I grew in the garden here. Swallowtails are fairly common in Portugal. The species here has a caterpillar that will accept many more food-plants than the very rare British variety, which needs Milk Parsley and is only found in the Norfolk Broads. European Swallowtail larvae will eat Rue, Fennel and Carrot. I obtained the Monarchs as young caterpillars from a butterfly farm here, and the hawk moth species I bought as eggs from a company in the UK I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Death's Head Hawk caterpillar (Photo: Public Domain/Pixabay)
Worldwide Butterflies was where I obtained my first stick insects and exotic silk moth species from as a boy, and I am glad to see they are still doing well as a business that provides livestock and valuable information.

Worldwide Butterflies


Worldwide Butterflies stock many rare as well as more common species, as well as providing equipment to help your efforts to rear these insects. They are encouraging the public to buy species they can supply that are no longer common in the UK. The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly and the Garden Tiger Moth are both in this category. The first of these was once one of our most frequently seen butterflies but this is no longer the case. Yet it is easy to cater for because its caterpillars feed on Stinging Nettles.
Garden Tiger Moth (Photo: Public Domain/Pixabay)
The Garden Tiger is a very large and attractive species with caterpillars nicknamed “Woolly Bears” because of their dense covering of fur. These larvae eat a wide variety of plants, including Dandelions, Nettles, Rhubarb and Cabbage. Why they have disappeared in the UK is still somewhat a mystery.
Worldwide Butterflies also has the beautiful Peacock Butterfly on its current list and the Painted Lady. They even have the Black Veined White, which is extinct in the UK, though surviving in Portugal and parts of Europe. The bright yellow Brimstone is another British butterfly they supply but this species must have either of the two Buckthorn species that grow in Britain for its caterpillars to eat. Worldwide Butterflies can provide various hairstreaks and fritillaries as well, and some of these are rare. The company is offering a wide variety of UK moths, including the Vapourer Moth, the Puss Moth,the Cinnabar Moth, the Emperor Moth, the Blue Underwing Moth, the Eyed Hawk Moth, Lime Hawk Moth and Privet Hawk. Check out their current catalogue. There are many exotic species available too, and whilst these can be very large and colourful, you need to keep them indoors or in greenhouses and must never release them for obvious reasons. This is why, in my opinion, it is much better to stick with butterflies and moths that are native to the country where you live.

Helping species in your area


Helping species of butterfly and moth that are already in your area makes good sense. Take a look around at what insects you see flying where you are and then find out what plants they need for their caterpillars. Growing these plants in your garden will help attract the adult insects and provide somewhere for them to lay their eggs. This is what is happening with Swallowtails here in Portugal. The females of this butterfly lay eggs on rue in the garden. I take the eggs and caterpillars indoors though because wasps eat them if left outside. Female butterflies will return to your garden if they know the plants they need to lay their eggs on are there. This happens where I live with Monarchs and Swallowtails.
A Female Monarch Laying Eggs
If you have Common Blue butterflies where you live, simply allowing clovers and trefoils to grow in your lawn will provide a place for the larvae of these butterflies. A Privet hedge provides food for the caterpillars of several moth species, including the Privet Hawk and the Swallowtail Moth. A Willow or Sallow tree can provide food for Eyed Hawk and Poplar Hawk caterpillars. Currant and Gooseberry bushes are the food of the Magpie Moth caterpillars. They used to be a lot more common than they are today. The popular Nasturtium garden flower provides food for Small and Large White caterpillars, and even these butterflies are not doing as well as they used to.
Rearing butterflies and moths and helping them with our choice of garden plants provides a lot of pleasure, a sense of achievement, and is helping conservation at a time when so many species of wildlife are threatened with extinction.

Sunday 13 January 2019

How A Council Estate Like Ely Can Be A Haven For Wildlife

Gardens in Ely

Small Tortoiseshells on Butterfly Bush (Photo: Pixabay)

The Ely council estate in Cardiff can be a great place for wildlife as I found out when I lived there for 24 years. The gardens attract a lot of birds, butterflies, moths, amphibians, and at least one reptile, which is the Slow-worm. "Slowgies" the local kids used to call them. This legless lizard was very common in gardens and you even saw them in the streets at times. They are no longer so commonly found in Britain.

Slow-worm (Photo: Pixabay)

Many of the species that can be found in Ely are now recognised as being in an alarming decline in the UK, so anywhere they are still thriving is important as a conservation area. Anyone who is actively helping these creatures is doing a great job in helping preserve the world of nature. Gardens can easily become mini nature reserves! You just need to grow some wildflowers, leave some parts untended, and a garden pond always works wonders! A Buddleia Butterfly Bush will help attract these pretty insects and other pollinators as well.

Choice TV showing of my house and garden back in 1998

When I lived in Ely, I had a makeshift pond I created from an old bath that had been thrown out. I sunk it in the ground in the back garden and within a couple of years it supported a colony of Common Frogs as well as Palmate Newts.




A pair of Common Frogs in my hand (Photo: Steve Andrews)
I know Common Toads could be found fairly near where I lived too because a man I knew called Graham used to complain about male toads strangling his goldfish, which can happen. The unattached male toads will grab onto anything they think might be a female of their species.


A mated pair of Common Toads (Photo: Pixabay)
The Common Toad is one amphibian that is known to be experiencing a decline in Britain and elsewhere. All amphibians are under threat worldwide though, due to loss of habitat, pesticides and herbicides, pollution, invasive species that predate on them, and Climate Change. I am proud to be a member of SAVE THE FROGS! Charity set up to help these creatures.



Steve Andrews with SAVE THE FROGS! banner (Photo: Kerry Kriger CEO of SAVE THE FROGS!)
One of the last times I was in Ely I went to visit Parker Place the street I used to live in and was saddened to see that what used to be my front and back garden had been ruined by the Council workers, who had removed the hedge, tree, lawns and flower borders in the front, as well as the Virginia Creepers I had growing on the wall. In the back my pond had gone, as had trees I had been growing for the many years I was there, as well as a grape vine that used to attract flocks of starlings, as well as blackbirds that used to eat the fruit each year. My nettle patch for butterflies had, perhaps not surprisingly, also been removed. It was very sad to see how all my work in helping wildlife had been wrecked but I was heartened to find that Jess, who had been my neighbour, was still there and she told me she now had a pool in her back garden. It was good to know I had helped inspire this!

Moths and Butterflies

Garden Tiger Moth (Photo: Pixabay)
It is a well-known fact that many species of British butterfly and moth have been doing very badly in recent years. Once common species, such as the pretty Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly and the large and gaudy Garden Tiger Moth are no longer commonly seen.
Small Tortoiseshell (Photo: Pixabay)
They need all the help they can get. I used to have Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral caterpillars on a patch of Stinging Nettles I had growing at the bottom of my garden. I also had Painted Lady larvae feeding on Hollyhocks I had growing in the back and front. Garden Tiger Moths needed no help then and I often saw the large furry “Wooly Bear” caterpillars and the striking orange, creamy-white and chocolate-brown moths with dark blue-black spots on their hind-wings.


Cinnabar Moth (Photo: Pixabay)
The attractive day-flying Cinnabar Moth with red and black wings and orange caterpillars striped with rings of black were a common sight. They feed on Ragwort and Groundsel, both of which were common weeds. The Cinnabar has been declining as well over the past decade. I also remember having Comma Butterfly caterpillars one year on my gooseberry bushes, and Common Blue butterflies used to frequent the front lawn of one of my neighbours, who had Bird’s-foot Trefoil growing in the grass. Now I live in Portugal I often see the same species doing well on lawns between housing blocks in built-up areas. The reason being they find trefoils, clovers and Sorrel (Oxalis species) growing amongst the grass. Butterflies need food-plants for their caterpillars and nectar from flowers for their adult stage. If we supply both we will probably attract butterflies to our gardens.

Are all the species I have mentioned still to be found in Ely? I don’t know because I no longer live there but if they are, then residents of the estate can help them survive and can have something to be proud of. I am sure there must be lots of people in this vast estate who are interested in nature. Perhaps a local group could be set up? Ely is also surrounded by some excellent countryside for wildlife, with Plymouth Woods being a deciduous forest that used to have a pond and marshy area. I know frogs and newts used to live there and many birds are attracted to the wooded parts and undergrowth. Ely is an example of a council housing estate that I know, and that I also know could make a great contribution towards nature conservation. The same conceivably goes for all the other estates in the UK.

Young people need to learn about the wonders of the natural world. It gives them something to take a real interest in, and interest that can stay with them for life. All the famous naturalists, like Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham, began learning about nature when they were children. I started when I was four! I hope this article encourages more people to learn about plants and animals living on their doorsteps, so to speak, and most importantly to help conserve the natural world by making their gardens wildlife friendly.

Monday 16 July 2018

Salisbury Wildlife and the Avon Valley Nature Reserve

Visiting Salisbury


I recently had the pleasure of visiting the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire for a few days and fell in love with the place. I was happy to see that wildlife is thriving here, despite increasing declines in species throughout much of the UK.


Cinnabar Moth caterpillars (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Even in the heart of the city I spotted Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae) caterpillars on Ragwort. There were plenty of these brightly-coloured caterpillars on plants growing on the riverbank right by the Waitrose supermarket. These larvae have orange bodies, banded with black rings. The adult moth is also a very pretty creature with red and black wings. It flies by day and could easily be thought to be a butterfly. This moths caterpillars eat various species of Ragwort and Groundsel (Senecio species). Although these plants are classed as weeds they are very important sources of life for many additional species, in addition to the caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth. The Buglife charity, which is concerned with the conservation of invertebrates, has reported that over 30 other species of insect depend on Ragwort alone.




Avon Valley Local Nature Reserve

King Arthur Pendragon, Kazz and Chris Stone (Photo: Steve Andrews)


I was in Britain for Summer Solstice at Stonehenge and also visiting my friends, author Chris Stone, and Druid and eco-warrior King Arthur Pendragon and his partner Kazz. Arthur and Kazz live locally and they suggested we could go on a walk in the nature reserve that is on the banks of the River Avon. I love nature, so was happy to agree to their suggestion, and was very highly impressed with what I saw.


River Avon (Photo: Steve Andrews)


The River Avon looked really clean and there were very many fish that could easily be seen swimming in the current. I spotted Brown Trout (Salmo trutta), Minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus), and what looked like Dace (Leuciscus leuciscus).

A Shoal of Fish (Photo: Steve Andrews)


Meadowsweet (Photo: Steve Andrews)


There are extensive water meadows bordering the river too, and in the marshy ground was plenty of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) in bloom. It has a most amazing perfume that reminds of summer meadows and freshly mown grass, and is a most beautiful herb that is actually in the rose family (Rosaceae).



As well as Meadowsweet, there  were plenty of Creeping Thistles (Cirsium arvense) in flower, and also the very poisonous, but attractive to insect pollinators, Hemlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata). Kazz spotted a colourful moth feeding on the nectar from this dangerous plant, and she asked me what it was. It was a Scarlet Tiger Moth (Callimorpha dominula), a pretty moth that flies by day, and is of interest because it is unusual for being able to feed. Most other species of tiger moths have no mouth-parts and do all their feeding as larvae.

Scarlet Tiger Moth (Photo: Steve Andrews)


On the thistles I saw several Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) butterflies. This was a good sign because this once common species has been declining fast in the UK over the past few years. There were plenty of clumps of Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) growing nearby, and this is its main food-plant for its caterpillars.


Small Tortoiseshell on Thistle (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Water Voles 

Avon Valley Info Board (Photo: Steve Andrews)


Near a bridge over the Avon there was an information board showing species of wildlife that can be found on the reserve. I was happy to see the Water Vole (Arvicola amphibious) included. This is a British mammal that has become increasingly rare, so it was very good news to see that it is holding its own here. Kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) too frequent the area I learned, and I was not surprised, because it is an ideal habitat with plenty of small fish they can hunt.




Elsewhere in Salisbury

Steve Andrews in Salisbury

 I also went for an evening stroll with Chris around Salisbury and around the area outside Salisbury Cathedral. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful and it was a glorious summer evening. I was really impressed with how there was no litter to be seen, no graffiti, and no damage to trees of the city, unlike elsewhere in the UK, where trees are being felled with the support of local councils. How is it that Salisbury doesn’t appear to have the problems other towns and cities have I wondered? “I would love to live in Salisbury,” I told Chris. “I think you will find properties here are very expensive,” he told me. He also pointed out that Salisbury is a Tory stronghold, and suggested that might have something to do with how it is there. He was right that houses and flats in the city are very expensive to buy and rent, and also that the Conservative party is in power there.

In no way do I support the Tories, but it got me thinking about how it seems that it is mostly Labour councils that are behind the destruction of so many city trees in Britain. For example, this is the case in Sheffield, a city that has made world news with regard to the thousands of trees that have been felled there by Amey Plc with the support of Labour politicians. I haven’t done the research yet but I wonder how many cities have lost their street trees due to corrupt Labour councillors?