Peacock from Page 169 of |
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Egg |
Caterpillar at Pluckley in Kent on 2 July on Stinging Nettle |
Chrysalis |
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Insect Common Name |
Peacock (Aristocrat Butterfly Family) |
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Zoological Name |
Inachis io |
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Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis Food Plant |
See Table below. |
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Egg Stage: Colour |
All 450-500 Yellowish-Green eggs are laid in April or May and hatch in 14 days. |
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Caterpillar (Larva) Stage: Colour |
All live in a dense mass, spinning a web over the leaf, before feeding on the leaf. These black with white spots and spiny caterpillars pupate after 28 days. They tend to leave the food plant and roam to find some branch or leaf stalk of a bush or tree for pupation. |
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Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis Eaten by |
Birds, mites, true bugs and ichneumon flies. |
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Chrysalis (Pupa) Stage: |
Yellow-Green chrysalis lasts 13 days. |
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Insect : Colour |
4 conspicuous eye-spots of yellow, blue, amethyst and white with 1 on each wing, on a mahogany red ground colour. |
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Insect: Wingspan |
Male (63mm), female (69mm) |
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Insect: Lifespan |
They are on the wing from July until they hibernate in September for the winter months in hollow trees or buildings. They emerge and feed on the nectar from the fruit trees in April-May.
Time-Table of Peacock from |
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Insect Food Plant |
See Table below. |
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Insect: Habitat |
Insect frequents lanes, flowery banks, outskirts of woods, borders of fields and gardens in England, Wales and Southern Scotland. |
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Insect Eaten by |
Birds |
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Comments |
" Food-Plant " Peacock from |
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Male Insect at Rest |
Female Insect at Rest on Buddleia in July |
Insect |
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Male Insect Resting |
Female Insect Resting in Rochester from Kent |
Insect |
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Caterpillar Food Plant Foliage |
Caterpillar Food Plant Form |
Caterpillar Food Plant Form without Foliage |
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Insect Food Plant of Nectar from Buddleia Flower in July |
Insect Food Plant of Nectar from Buddleia Flower in July |
Insect Food Plant |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar (Larva)/ Chrysalis (Pupa)/ Butterfly |
Plant Name |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
Adonis Blue |
Egg |
1 egg under leaf. |
1 |
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Caterpillar |
Eats leaves. |
June-March or September to July |
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Chrysalis |
Leaf litter |
--- |
3 weeks |
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Adonis Blue
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month |
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Egg, |
Horseshoe vetch |
1 egg on leaf. |
8-10 days in Late May-June or Middle August-September |
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Egg |
Blackthorn |
1 egg at twig fork. |
Hibernates from June-April. |
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Egg, |
Buckthorn - |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in The chief pollinator of primroses in woods. |
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Egg, |
Rock-rose or Storksbill
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1 egg under leaf.
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May and June and those of the second generation in July to September for 6 days.
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Brown Hairstreak |
Egg
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Blackthorn |
1 egg on where 1-year-old wood branches from a 2-year-old stem. |
From August it hibernates until April-May 75 days within April-June. |
female |
Egg |
It is not believed that it breeds in the UK, but butterflies swarm over from European Countries depending on the weather. |
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Chalk-Hill Blue |
Egg, |
Horseshoe vetch |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April |
Chequered Skipper
Details and illustrations about the remaining Butterflies in this Table have been added from A Butterfly Book for the Pocket by Edmund Sandars. |
Egg |
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1 egg laid on grass blade. |
10 days in June
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Egg, |
Clovers 1, 2, 3, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in |
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Egg, |
Hop |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. --- |
April. 17 days |
Egg, |
Birdsfoot Trefoil, Clovers 1, 2, 3, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
Dog Violet with |
1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk. |
July-August for 17 days. |
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Egg |
Common Birdsfoot Trefoil only. |
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Egg |
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Egg |
The longer and coarser grasses, particulary common couch, catstail, and also heath brome-grass (Tor-Grass is Brachypodium pinnatum). |
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Egg, |
Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain, |
Eggs laid in |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Egg |
Grasses. The eggs are usually laid on barren fescue grass (Festuca bromoides is Squirrel-tail Fescue), sheep's fescue grass, early hair-grass or tufted hair-grass. Larvae also eat other grasses, such as annual meadow grass and common couch grass |
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Egg |
Numerous and varied. Broom, Gorse, lesser gorse (dwarf gorse), Dogwood, Buckthorn, Rock-rose, dyer's greenweed, bilberry (whortle-berry), cowberry, Bramble flowers, Common Birdsfoot Trefoil, green peas, and runner beans |
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Egg,
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Charlock,
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1 egg on underside of leaf.
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July or August; hatches in 3 days |
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Egg |
The wild strawberry, silverweed, Bramble, raspberry, and agrimony. |
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Egg, |
Cow-wheat |
Eggs laid in |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Egg |
Various grasses, mainly annual meadow-grass, Cocksfoot, and common couch grass. |
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Egg, |
Common Dog Violet, |
1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base. |
July to hatch in 8 months in March. |
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Food-plants and illustrations about the remaining Butterflies in this Table have been added from A Butterfly Book for the Pocket by Edmund Sandars. |
Egg, |
Holly |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
Egg |
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Egg |
Believed to feed only on the beaked rush - white beak-sedge (Rhynchospora alba), but, in captivity, feeds freely on fescue grasses in the Grass 1, Grass 2, Grass 3 family. |
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Egg, |
Cocksfoot is a grass |
1 egg under leaf. |
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Egg, |
Elm and |
Eggs laid in
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Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg,
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Cabbages, |
40-100 eggs Eats nectar |
May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days. |
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Egg |
Grasses, mainly heath brome-grass - Tor-Grass (Brachypodium pinnatum), but also annual meadow-grass, catstail, soft brome, and False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome). |
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Egg |
Preferably sheep's fescue grass, but this and Cocksfoot, annual meadow-grass, catstail, and other grasses are freely eaten. |
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Egg, |
Devilsbit Scabious, Plantains, Foxglove, |
Eggs laid in |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg |
Extinct since 1876 |
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Egg |
Grasses, annual meadow-grass and others. |
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Egg |
... |
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Egg,
Butterfly |
Garlic-Mustard, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers.
Eats nectar |
May-June 7 days.
May-June for 18 days. |
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male |
Egg, |
Thistles |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks in June. |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
Stinging Nettle. |
Dense mass of 450-500 eggs |
14 days in |
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Egg, |
Dog Violet with |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 15 days in May-June. |
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Egg |
Sallow. |
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Egg |
The common (pedunculate) oak. Recorded also on sallow and spanish chestnut, Casatanea vulgaris. |
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Egg, |
Heartsease, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg |
Stinging Nettles. Also reported on pellitory-of-the-wall and hops (Humulus). |
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Egg |
Various grasses, mainly those growing among trees. The following are recorded: couch-grass, annual meadow-grass, cocksfoot, false brome-grass, millet grass (Milium effusum), and tufted hair-grass. |
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Egg |
Purple moor-grass and, probably (certainly in captivity), annual meadow grass and other grasses. |
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Egg |
Grasses, chiefly sheep's fescue, also tufted hair-grass. |
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Egg |
Gorse and broom. Also eat bird's-foot, Scottish heather, and bell heather, petty whin, rest-harrow, and other leguminous plants. |
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Egg, |
Pine Tree, |
1 egg on tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Egg |
Kidney Vetch. |
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Egg |
Sheep sorrel and, sometimes, the common sorrel. |
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Egg |
Grasses, chiefly those with small leaves, amongst those recorded being: annual meadow grass, wood meadow-grass (Poa nemoralis), meadow fescue grass (Festuca pratensis), mat-grass, and crested dog's-tail. |
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Egg |
Mat-grass, the leaf-tips alone being eaten. As a captive it will eat softer grasses, such as annual meadow-grass, sheep's fescue, and early hair-grass. |
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Egg, |
Dog Violet with |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
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Egg |
The softer and longer grasses, as catstail, soft grass, Yorkshire Fog, and heath brome-grass (Brachypodium pinnatum). |
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Egg |
Stinging nettles. In captivity will eat hops. |
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Egg,
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Cabbages,
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1 egg on underside of leaf.
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May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Egg |
Various grasses, mainly coarse, such as cocksfoot, couch-grass, and annual meadow-grass. |
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Egg, |
Milk Parsley
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1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
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14 days in July-August |
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Egg |
Most common grasses, such as annual meadow-grass and cocksfoot. |
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Egg |
Honeysuckle. |
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Egg |
Wych elm and, more rarely, the common elm. |
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Egg, |
Bitter Vetch, Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock), |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June
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I missed Gatekeeper, because Hedge Brown is also called Gatekeeper. Long-tailed Blue cannot survive the UK winters so not included in this table:- Mazarine Blue - Once an established resident in England, extinct here since 1876. One or two have been seen since taken, doubtless stray migrants or accidentally imported from the Continent where it was widely distributed. Monarch - Since it cannot breed in the UK, we will ignore it.
UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given. The Readers Digest Nature Lover's Library Field Guide to the Butterflies and Other Insects of Britain by Dr John Feltwell for The Reader's Digest Association Limited (ISBN 0-276-36007-9) illustrates and describes the insects that you are likely to come across in Britain. Natural History of British Butterflies Vol. I and II by F.W. Frohawk Published by Hutchinson & Co., Paternoster Row, E.C. in 1914 contains a complete series of drawings of every phase of the life cycle of all our 68 British butterflies, together with a complete account of the life history of all 68 insects. |
BUTTERFLY GALLERY PAGES Caterpillar Colour Butterfly Identity
Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly usage of Plants in the Menu Table on the right. Usage of Plants or Usage of Plants |
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Site design and content copyright ©April 2008. Page structure amended November 2012. DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site. |
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Topic - Some UK native butterflies eat material from UK Native Wildflowers and live on them as eggs, caterpillars (Large Skipper eats False Brome grass - Brachypodium sylvaticum - for 11 months from July to May as a Caterpillar before becoming a Chrysalis within 3 weeks in May) chrysalis or butterflies ALL YEAR ROUND. Seeing which Native UK Wildflowers are also native in your country within Europe, Soviet Union, USA and Canada; you can then use them with the cultivated plants for your country in your own home garden, and so help your local wildlife including Butterflies. See which ones in
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Each plant named in each of the Wildflower Family Pages may have a link to:- its Plant Description Page in its Common Name in one of those Wildflower Plant Galleries and will have links to external sites to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name, to see photos in its Flowering Months and to read habitat details in its Habitat Column.
Wild Flower Gallery
You can find the wild flower in one of the 23 Wild Flower Galleries or the Colour Wheel If you know its name, use you know which habitat it lives in, you know which family it belongs to, use |
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Wild Flower Family Page (the families within "The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers" by David McClintock & R.S.R. Fitter, Published in 1956 are not in Common Name alphabetical order and neither are the common names of the plants detailed within each family. The information in the above book is back-referenced to the respective page in "Flora of the British Isles" by A.R. Clapham of University of Sheffield, The Wildflower Families have been put in alphabetical order as has each family content of plant names. |
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The Saxifraga Foundation is a network of European nature photographers, whose aim is to stimulate and facilitate the conservation of European biodiversity. They do so by providing high-quality nature pictures free of charge. The website free natureimages.eu is an initiative of the Saxifraga Foundation. The Saxifrage foundation is assisted by the Crossbill Guides Foundation, Dutch Butterfly Conservation (De Vlinderstichting) and Foto Fitis. |
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Recommended Plants for Wildlife in different situations
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From the Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
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The Bumblebee Pages website is divided into five major areas:
FORCED INDOOR BULBS in Window Box Gardens. |
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Theme |
Plants |
Comments |
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Thyme |
Thymus praecox, wild thyme Thymus pulegioides Thymus leucotrichus Thymus citriodorus |
Thymes make a very fragrant, easy to care for windowbox, and an excellent choice for windy sites. The flower colour will be pinky/purple, and you can eat the leaves if your air is not too polluted. Try to get one variegated thyme to add a little colour when there are no flowers. |
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Herb |
Sage, mint, chives, thyme, rosemary |
Get the plants from the herb section of the supermarket, so you can eat the leaves. Do not include basil as it need greater fertility than the others. Pot the rosemary up separately if it grows too large. |
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Mints |
Mentha longifolia, horse mint Mentha spicata, spear mint Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal Mentha piperita, peppermint Mentha suaveolens, apple mint |
Mints are fairly fast growers, so you could start this box with seed. They are thugs, though, and will very soon be fighting for space. So you will either have to thin and cut back or else you will end up with one species - the strongest. The very best mint tea I ever had was in Marrakesh. A glass full of fresh mint was placed in front of me, and boiling water was poured into it. Then I was given a cube of sugar to hold between my teeth while I sipped the tea. Plant this box and you can have mint tea for months. |
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Heather |
Too many to list See Heather Shrub gallery |
For year-round colour try to plant varieties that flower at different times of year. Heather requires acid soils, so fertilise with an ericaceous fertilser, and plant in ericaceous compost. Cut back after flowering and remove the cuttings. It is best to buy plants as heather is slow growing. |
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Blue |
Ajuga reptans, bugle Endymion non-scriptus, bluebell Myosotis spp., forget-me-not Pentaglottis sempervirens, alkanet |
This will give you flowers from March till July. The bluebells should be bought as bulbs, as seed will take a few years to flower. The others can be started from seed. |
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Yellow |
Anthyllis vulneraria, kidney vetch Geum urbanum, wood avens Lathryus pratensis, meadow vetchling Linaria vulgaris, toadflax Lotus corniculatus, birdsfoot trefoil Primula vulgaris, primrose Ranunculus acris, meadow buttercup Ranunculus ficaria, lesser celandine |
These will give you flowers from May to October, and if you include the primrose, from February. Try to include a vetch as they can climb or trail so occupy the space that other plants can't. All can be grown from seed. |
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White |
Trifolium repens, white clover Bellis perennis, daisy Digitalis purpurea alba, white foxglove Alyssum maritimum Redsea odorata, mignonette |
All can be grown from seed. The clover and daisy will have to be cut back as they will take over. The clover roots add nitrogen to the soil. The mignonette flower doesn't look very special, but the fragrance is wonderful, and the alyssum smells of honey. |
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Pink |
Lychnis flos-cucli, ragged robin Scabiosa columbaria, small scabious Symphytum officinale, comfrey |
The comfrey will try to take over. Its leaves make an excellent fertiliser, and are very good on the compost heap, though windowbox gardeners rarely have one. |
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Fragrant |
Lonicera spp., honeysuckle Alyssum maritimum Redsea odorata, mignonette Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea |
The sweet pea will need twine or something to climb up, so is suitable if you have sliding windows or window that open inwards. You will be rewarded by a fragrant curtain every time you open your window. |
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Spring bulbs and late wildflowers |
Galanthus nivalis, snowdrop Narcissus pseudonarcissus, narcissius Crocus purpureus, crocus Cyclamen spp. |
The idea of this box is to maximize your space. The bulbs (cyclamen has a corm) will flower and do their stuff early in the year. After flowering cut the heads off as you don't want them making seed, but leave the leaves as they fatten up the bulbs to store energy for next year. The foliage of the wildflowers will hide the bulb leaves to some extent. Then the wildflowers take over and flower till autumn |
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Aster spp., Michaelmas daisy Linaria vulgaris, toadflax Lonicera spp., honeysuckle Succisa pratensis, devil's bit scabious Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal |
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Bee Garden in Europe or North America |
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Plants for moths (including larval food plants and adult nectar sources) from Gardens for Wildlife - Practical advice on how to attract wildlife to your garden by Martin Walters as an Aura Garden Guide. Published in 2007 - ISBN 978 1905765041:- |
Marjoram - Origanum officinale |
"On average, 2 gardeners a year die in the UK as a result of poisonous plants. Those discussed in this blog illustrate a range of concerns that should be foremost in the designer’s mind." from Pages on poisonous plants in this website:- |
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Wildlife-friendly Show Gardens
Many of our gardens at Natural Surroundings demonstrate what you can do at home to encourage wildlife in your garden:-
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Ivydene Gardens Water Fern to Yew Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
Only Wildflowers detailed in the following Wildflower Colour Pages |
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UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given. Please note that the Butterfly you see for only a short time has grown up on plants as an egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for up to 11 months, before becoming a butterfly. If the plants that they live on during that time are removed, or sprayed with herbicide, then you will not see the butterfly. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies follow the Plants used by the Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis as stated in and The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland New Revised Edition by Jeremy Thomas & Richard Lewington. This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of Caterpillars in the following colours:-
This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of Adult Butterflies that come from the above Caterpillars, in the following species:-
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Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Black Medic with |
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Bramble |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Cabbages - Large White eats all cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, brussels sprouts, broccoli, oil seed rape, mustard, turnips, radishes, cresses, sea kale, nasturtiums, wild mignonette and dyer's weed |
Egg,
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40-100 eggs on both surfaces of leaf. |
May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days. |
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Cabbages - |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
July or August; hatches in 3 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
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Cherry with |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
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False brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), |
Egg, Caterpillar |
1 egg under leaf. Eats leaves |
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Common Sorrel |
Caterpillar |
Eats leaves |
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(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Currants |
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on oak or pine tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 15 days in May-June. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
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Dogwood |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Elm |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome) |
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
... |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
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Gorse |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Grasses including |
Caterpillar |
Eats leaves |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Holly |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Hop |
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
1 then |
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Ivy |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Mallows |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Nasturtium from Gardens |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Mountain pansy, |
Egg, Chrysalis |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. 3 weeks in September |
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Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk. |
15 days in July. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
|
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Snowberry |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Spindle-tree |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Stinging Nettle |
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Egg, Caterpillar Caterpillar |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. Eats leaves Eats leaves |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
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Thistles |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
|
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk. |
July-August for 17 days. |
|
Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base. |
July to hatch in 8 months in March. |
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Vipers Bugloss |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks. |
|
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Willow |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
|
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies |
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Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
Asters |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
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Runner and Broad Beans in fields and gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
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Aubretia in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
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Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
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Holly Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Buddleias |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Wood White |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
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Cabbage and cabbages in fields |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October |
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Adonis Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
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Pale Clouded Yellow |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
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Cow-wheat |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
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Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys - Birdseye Speedwell) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
30 days in May-June. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-September |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
May-June for 18 days. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Painted Lady |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
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Marigolds in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September. |
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Michaelmas Daisies |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
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Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
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Nasturtiums in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September |
|
Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-May |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
7 weeks in July-August. |
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Comma |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
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Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
|
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days in August. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June.
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
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Apple/Pear/Cherry/Plum Fruit Tree Blossom in Spring |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
April-May |
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Rotten Fruit |
Butterfly |
Drinks juice |
July-September |
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Tree sap and damaged ripe fruit, which are high in sugar |
Butterfly |
Hibernates inside hollow trees or outhouses until March. Eats sap or fruit juice until April. |
10 months in June-April |
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Wild Flowers |
Large Skipper |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
June-August |
Links to the other Butterflies:- Black Hairstreak uses Blackthorn, Privet, Guelder Rose, and Wayfaring tree I have detailed the use of plants by these eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and butterfly in full with either photos of those butterflies, etc or illustrations from Sandars. It shows that they do use plants all year round and I will insert the information of their Life Histories into the remainder of the Butterfly Description Pages but I will put no further information in this table or the Butterfly Name with its use of plants table. Details of what plant is used by each of the different 'egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly' unit and for how long is given in the table on the left. |
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When you look at the life history graphs of each of the 68 butterflies of Britain, you will see that they use plants throughout all 12 months - the information of what plant is used by the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly is also given in the above first column.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A FLAILED CORNISH HEDGE - This details that life and death from July 1972 to 2019, with the following result:- End note, June 2008. I hear spring vetch has been officially recorded somewhere in West Cornwall and confirmed as a presence in the county, so perhaps I can be permitted to have seen it pre-1972 in the survey mile. I wonder where they found it? It's gone from hedges where it used to be, along with other scarcities and so-called scarcities that used to flourish in so many hedges unrecorded, before the flail arrived. I have given careful thought to including mention of some of the plants and butterflies. So little seems to be known of the species resident in Cornish hedges pre-flail that I realise some references may invite scepticism. I am a sceptic myself, so sympathise with the reaction; but I have concluded that, with a view to re-establishing vulnerable species, it needs to be known that they can with the right management safely and perpetually thrive in ordinary Cornish hedges. In future this knowledge could solve the increasingly difficult question of sufficient and suitable sites for sustainable wild flower and butterfly conservation - as long as it is a future in which the hedge-flail does not figure.
CHECK-LIST OF TYPES OF CORNISH HEDGE FLORA by Sarah Carter of Cornish Hedges Library:-
Titles of papers available on www.cornishhedges.co.uk:-
THE GUILD OF CORNISH HEDGERS is the non-profit-making organisation founded in 2002 to support the concern among traditional hedgers about poor standards of workmanship in Cornish hedging today. The Guild has raised public awareness of Cornwall's unique heritage of hedges and promoted free access to the Cornish Hedges Library, the only existing source of full and reliable written knowledge on Cornish hedges." |
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The following is an excerpt from my Comments about the proposed destruction of the wildlife habitats at Cobtree Manor Park in the summer of 2010 from my Mission Statement page:- "We would be sorry to lose the butterflies on the bluebells, bramble and ivy that would be restricted to only the very small area of proposed Wildlife Meadow by the Woods at the bottom of a hill with water springs on it. The wildlife is now being excluded from all the other areas by the "pruning", so that the nettles, brambles etc which had for instance the butterfly life cycle included; are now being ruthlessly removed to create a garden, not a park, with neat little areas." When you look at the life history graphs of each of the 68 butterflies of Britain, you will see that they use plants throughout all 12 months - the information of what plant is used by the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly is also given in the table on the left. With this proposed removal of all plants required for butterflies etc to live in and pro-create; at least once a year by the autumn or spring clearing up, you destroy the wildlife in this park as is done in every managed park in the world. Please leave something for the wildlife to live in without disturbance; rather than destroy everything so children can ride their bicycles anywhere they want when the park is open during the day and they are not at school. From the Summer 2023 Issue 234 of Organic Way:- What we can do
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Copied from Work Details of Ivydene Horticutural Services page OTHER Ivydene Gardens Photo Damage to Trees in Madeira: Planting trees or shrubs in grass is a total waste of time since the grass will absorb every drop of rain in the UK, leaving none for the the trees/shrubs, except what is in the soil. Unfortunately all public bodies think that planting this way or under tarmac is a good idea by the numbskulls in
Because of this, we are depriving ourselves from oxygen being produced by these plants. |
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A '£134,000 disaster of 95% of 12,800 saplings planted to help tackle the climate crisis "A twig waste of money as trees die in heatwave by Joel Taylor in the Metro of Friday, September 23, 2022. Thousands of trees planted to help tackle the climate crisis have died because they were not watered Some 12,800 saplings were dotted across Gloucester by the city's council, which promised a 'thriving But the council admitted in July that, due to the tough jobs market, it had struggled to employ a tree And Cllr Alastair Chambers said 95 per cent of the trees have now died due to lack of water during He added "This is such a waste of taxpayers' money. I am all for trees and a better environment so I The council said the summer heatwave was unprecedented. A spokesperson added:' It's disappointing this led to the loss of trees in the city and we will be looking It had a budget of £16,000 for the trees and secured £118,000 in outside grants."
Let us look at the 3 photos in the article from GloucestershireLive. of these newly planted trees.
Best Watering Practices for newly planted trees may help from the point of watering, but if the |
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The UK is producing food which will affect us humans, cattle and wildlife, so visit us and get poisoned. "Guy's News on Monday 15th April 2024 While most of Devon is bright green, an emerging patchwork of fields is turning yellow. This is the kiss of death from glyphosate, the 'world's favourite herbicide'. |
"Toxic Effects of Glyphosate on the Nervous System: A Systematic Review Abstract Glyphosate, a non-selective systemic biocide with broad-spectrum activity, is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It can persist in the environment for days or months, and its intensive and large-scale use can constitute a major environmental and health problem. In this systematic review, we investigate the current state of our knowledge related to the effects of this pesticide on the nervous system of various animal species and humans. The information provided indicates that exposure to glyphosate or its commercial formulations induces several neurotoxic effects. It has been shown that exposure to this pesticide during the early stages of life can seriously affect normal cell development by deregulating some of the signaling pathways involved in this process, leading to alterations in differentiation, neuronal growth, and myelination. Glyphosate also seems to exert a significant toxic effect on neurotransmission and to induce oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, processes that lead to neuronal death due to autophagy, necrosis, or apoptosis, as well as the appearance of behavioral and motor disorders. The doses of glyphosate that produce these neurotoxic effects vary widely but are lower than the limits set by regulatory agencies. Although there are important discrepancies between the analyzed findings, it is unequivocal that exposure to glyphosate produces important alterations in the structure and function of the nervous system of humans, rodents, fish, and invertebrates." by the National Library of Medicine - An official website of the United States government.
"In recent years, a silent menace has emerged, threatening the environment and human health. Microplastics, tiny particles of plastic less than 5 millimeters in size, have infiltrated our oceans, soil, and even the air we breathe. With their omnipresence, microplastics have become a matter of growing concern for the environment and human health. |