The Butterfly Net at Derbyshire Dragonflies

Welcome to The Butterfly Net

This is the hunting ground for Butterflies throughout Derbyshire. It is our aim to network with enthusiasts in the County and to report the information as we receive it. The Butterfly Net is a sub-domain of Derbyshire Dragonflies ( www.derbyshire-dragonflies.org.uk ) a site dedicated to Damselflies and Dragonflies.

Records shown below have been reported within the last 14 days.

Latest Sightings

Specie Date Number Seen

No records

Select specie from the list left to see the location of the latest sightings

Butterfly News

31/01/2012

ken's Update No 3

Hi Everyone,

Despite the mild spells of weather that we experienced earlier this month, there has been very little butterfly activity in the County, with the exception of an early Small Tortoiseshell seen on the 10th January 2012 in the Belper garden of Dave Evans. Also, a Red Admiral was seen flying around an office at County Hall in Matlock by Brenda Dunn on the 26th January 2012 and it promptly flew out of an open window, no doubt looking for some nectar nearby. What was a very interesting record of another Red Admiral, over the County border in Leicestershire on the 16th January 2012, was an individual flying in the garden of Eliot Taylor at Glenfield when the temperature was only 3c, following a sharp overnight frost. This is certainly the lowest temperature that I have heard of a butterfly flying in the wild and it shows that these strong flying insects can possibly extend their range in to the Arctic Circle in northern Norway.

As a final note on the 2011 butterfly season here in Derbyshire, records that have been received show that 6 species were seen at their earliest date (and 2 species equalling the previous earliest date) , and 5 species were seen at their latest date (with again 2 species equalling the previous latest date).Of particular interest was the first appearance in the County of both Common Blue and Brown Argus (migrating version) in April, together with the first sighting of Dark Green Fritillary in the Peak District during May. Later in the year, the warm and sunny Autumn ensured that there was a partial second brood for both the Dingy Skipper and the Brown Argus (Peak District Race), although both species were in very low numbers. The season finally ended with sightings of both Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell in late December 2011.

Next Sunday (5th February 2012), the BBC1 TV programme ‘Countryfile’, together with the help of members of Butterfly Conservation, will be showing a feature on the Brown Hairstreak butterfly in the Blackdown Hills on the Devon/Somerset border. Unfortunately, this species does not occur in Derbyshire but we do however have small colonies of the White Letter Hairstreak (WLH) butterfly, whose existence is entirely due to elms. Unfortunately, this species is under pressure at the moment due to further losses of elm trees within the County as a result of the resurgence of Dutch Elm Disease. The latest national distribution map for the WLH clearly shows that there has been a dramatic reduction in colonies of this rare insect to the south of 100km grid line SP, which runs through the City of Leicester. Recently, the local group of Butterfly Conservation together with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT), and also Derby City Council, have joined forces to finance the purchase and planting of disease resistant elms in the County so as to try and help the situation. Following a recent meeting at the University of Derby, a number of other wildlife groups and local authorities pledged support for this important project, so it is pleasing to report the interest and commitment from like minded groups in Derbyshire. If you, or your wildlife group, would like to become involved then please send me an email and I will be pleased to forward your request on to the organiser at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

Finally as we enter February, and probably our coldest spell of weather for this winter, it is worth remembering the 6 Peacock butterflies seen hibernating by Alan Roe on the 22nd January 2012 in a tunnel on the Calke Estate – the must have known what was heading our way weather-wise!!!

Regards,

Ken Orpe