British Butterfly Conservation The information on this page is supplied by Roy Neeve
BRITISH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION LIMITED
Contents:
Known in the UK as BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION and is a registered charity dedicated to saving wild butterflies, moths and their habitats.
It has a national membership base of around 9000 and Branches covering most counties in the UK. Each Branch manages its own affairs which include maintaining Butterfly Reserves, running Field Trips to see the local Butterflies and Moths, holding evening meetings with expert speakers and generally promoting awareness of Butterflies and Moths, including conservation advice and actual conservation work and giving talks about Butterflies and Moths.
Today many entomologists believe Butterflies and Moths to be indicator species that track the condition of the environment. They are one of the first to die out when conditions detoriate and conversely return with improvements to habitats.
WHY NOT JOIN US AND PLAY YOUR PART IN IMPROVING THEIR LOT ?
There is a once only joining fee of ú6.00 (which is waived if you pay by direct debit) to go towards the membership pack given to all new members. The pack includes an Introducing Butterfly Conservation Booklet, a butterfly booklet (currently Gardening for Butterflies), a colouring chart and car sticker. In addition the annual rates are STANDARD (family at one address) ú14.00, OVERSEAS ú20.00 (to cover additional postage), CONCESSIONARY ú9.00 ( Senior Citzens, Student, Junior or Unwaged). All members receive a high quality A4 "NEWS" several times a year. This publication has articles on Butterflies and Moths together with the latest national news.
Annual Branch Membership is STANDARD ú5.00, OVERSEAS ú7.00, CONCESSIONARY ú3.00.
Branches publish their own Newsletter which contains information about their local activities including field trips, conservation bashes, local sightings etc.
We can be contacted at our Head Office at PO Box 222, Dedham, Colchester, Essex, CO7 6EY
Telephone 01 206 322 342 for a membership leaflet.
Or e-mail Roy Neeve: royn@pavilion.co.uk.
The British Butterfly Conservation Society "Butterfly Conservation" has just released details of a major project ACTION FOR BUTTERFLIES due to be launched in March 95.
The future of half our butterflies hangs in the balance. For the first time ever, a comprehensive plan is afoot to save these crown jewels of Britain's wildlife! The registered charity Butterfly Conservation aims to bring back the clouds of butterflies many of us knew as children.
This vital project aims to produce Species Action Plans for 25 threatened species, together with plans for key habitats. the plans will identify actions needed to conserve all of Britain's threatened butterflies and will be drawn up in consultation with a wide range of conservation and land use bodies. This unique partnership will then work together to translate plans into action on the ground.
The plans will address the individual problems experienced by Britain's scarcer butterflies and identify priority actions so that these co-operative efforts bring maximum benefit.
Dr Linda Barnett, Action for Butterflies National Action Plan Officer, comments that "For many of our butterflies the information about their ecology and distribution is widely scattered and sometimes unknown. The Action Plans will bring all available data together and provide the basis for the national and regional conservation measures".
During 1995 plans will be produced on the Schedule 5 species (of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981), and those that have undergone recent massive declines. These are the Swallowtail, Large Copper, Large Blue, Adonis Blue, Silver-spotted Skipper, Chequered Skipper, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary an Heath Fritillary.
Miram Rothschild, a vice president of BC says "Whenb i was young 46 species were fund near my home. I daren't tell you how few are left. Unless we make a gigantic effort to cooperate, tomorrow we may find Red Admirals and Peacocks on the verge of extinction".
For further information contact Gary Roberts (Press Office) on 01 844 274 648 or Dr Linda Barnett (Conservation Office) on 01 929 400 209
For our latest news telephone our Butterfly Line on (+44) 0891 884 505. The information is updated weekly during the flight season and fortnightly during the winter. Calls are charged at (UK) 49 pence per minute peak rate and (UK) 39 pence at all other times.
HEAD OFFICE: P.O. 222, DEDHAM, COLCHESTER, ESSEX, CO7 6EY.
Telephone :01206 322 342
THE BRITISH BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION SOCIETY LIMITED REGISTERED OFFICE: SHAKESPEARE HOUSE, HIGH STREET, DEDHAM< COLCHESTER, ESSEX, CO7 6DE
REGISTERED IN ENGLAND NO 2206468. REGISTERED CHARITY No. 254937
Dedicated to saving wild butterflies and their habitats in the UK.
SPRING BUTTERFLY and MIGRANTS SURVEY
As part of European Nature Conservation Year (ENCY 95) Butterfly Conservation has launched this survey to encourage the public, especially children, to keep records of the butterflies they see in their gardens, school playgrounds, villages, towns and surrounding countryside. These observations will be used to compile an inventory of which species have been seen first, when and where so that a picture can be formed indicating the emergence of spring butterflies across the British Isles and the arrival of migrants from Europe.
Several species hibernate as adult butterflies: the butter-yellow Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma. From mid-April the first of the summer migrants - Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow may have reached our shores - and butterflies who have spent the winter as a chrysalis like the Large White, Orange Tip and Speckled Wood will be adding colour and charm to sunny spring days.
Butterfly Conservation and its network of 26 regional branches already undertake numerous Atlas Projects aimed at monitoring the distribution of British butterflies , a Garden Butterfly Survey and run Butterfly Line - a telephone information service. It is hoped that the Spring Butterfly and Migrants Survey will add to the information being gathered about the distribution of our native butterfly populations.
Please send your sightings (when, where and what) to our Conservation Office PO Box 444, Wareham, BOURNEMOUTH, Dorset, BH20 5YA, and enclose a sae if you would like a summary of the reports received.
So far...
Whilst Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) migrants come to the UK the early sightings reported probably hibernated close to where they were seen. However Painted Lady (Cynthia cardui) do not over winter here in the UK and reports from the South and North coasts of Cornwall on 12-13 March were early migrants. No more migrants were reported until a Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) on 23rd March... perhaps someone could fill the gap. Small Tortoiseshells (Aglais urticae) were flying in West Sussex during the past week (18-25 March) and a Small White (Pieris rapae) has also been seen in Bognor, West Sussex.
An update on UK sightings can be heard by telephoning the UK Butterfly Line on (+44) 0891 884 505.
Membership / general enquiries:
PO Box 222
Dedham
Colchester
Essex
CO7 6EY
Tel: 0206 322342
PO Box 444
Wareham
Dorset
BH20 5YA
Tel: 0929 400209
Fax: 0929 400210
Tel: 0494 444158
Butterfly information from the Flora for Fauna pages at another site.
Description: The Speckled Wood is a member of the browns and can be seen flying around well into October, distributed throughout the United Kingdom with the exception of areas north of Liverpool, parts of East Anglia and most of Scotland. This species can hibernate over winter as either caterpliiar or chrysalis.
It is seen in shady woodland as well as open parkland, rough grassland and hillsides. It likes to bask in the sunlight with its wings open as in the photo above. The wings are a dark chocolate brown colour with many yellow-cream coloured spots. In addition it has a single eye with a white pupil on the upper wing and three such eyes on the lower wing. These markings give it a good camouflage in the contrasting areas of light and dark where it is often found. The males have smaller and more blurred yellow markings than the females and slightly more angulated wings .Later broods are darker than the spring broods. The underwings are grey and brown with a variable number of small halos and thus resemble a dead leaf with spots of mould. There are regional variations in the markings.
The males are territorial establishing themselves on a perch in sunny glades from where he mounts his patrol for females or intruders. Frequently he may become involved in a skirmish with another male and they can be seen spiralling upwards together, the defender returning to the same sunny spot after seeing off the threat.
The Speckled Wood has been formerly known (in the 1700s) as the 'Enfield Eye' because of its abundence in the Middlesex area, and the 'Wood Argus' after the multi-eyed Greek mythological figure.
Stages and Food:
EGG: April - October Laid singly on a blade of grass under shrubs. It is globular and shiny pale yellow with fine lines on the surface.
CATERPILLAR: May - July, August - April There are two to four generations per year of this pale green caterpillar which has faint white and yellow lines and grey-white hairy tails. Those in early summer become fully grown in a month whereas those of late summer or autumn feed during warm spells in the winter months and may take eight or nine months to mature. They feed on grasses such as Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) and Couch (Agropyron repens) as well as other grasses.
CHRYSALIS: July, August - April, April - May The chrysalis can produce a butterfly within a month or remain throughout the winter until the new butterfly emerges in March or April. It is pale green to dark brown in colour and hangs beneath heavy vegetation.
ADULT: April - October Average wingspans: male 47mm, female 50mm. The adult butterfly mainly feeds on honeydew high in the tree tops but is also found taking nectar from bramble flowers.
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