Butterflies - Satyrini butterflies (browns)

Continuing with the theme of insect lists this post is about the Satyrini family, a group of butterflies more commonly known as browns. Like the last post these butterflies are nymphalids but unlike them they are mostly brown coloured with orange or white markings.

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus britanniae)
The butterfly I wanted to find most this year was the gatekeeper, a small member of the family that for reasons that aren’t quite clear to me only really occur in southern coastal regions. It is therefore pretty nifty that one of their strongholds is in Littleisland, a mere 10 minute train ride outside the city. You could be forgiven for thinking that this species is a meadow brown but there are a couple of differences. The orange is much brighter and is obvious in flight, the overall size is much smaller, the underwing pattern is quite distinct with little white spots on a brown camouflage background, and the black spots on the upper wings have two white pupils rather then one in meadow brown. The later is less of a diagnostic feature as some meadow browns; especially the Irish subspecies have two white pupils too. Seen in Littleisland & Rosscarbery.

Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina iernes)
This species is one of Ireland’s most widespread species. It is quite large and can be seen almost anywhere. The brown wave pattern on the underwing and the small orange panels on the upper wing make it difficult to confuse with other species. The shade of orange and its intensity seem to vary quite a bit, sometimes it’s barely visible, and other times it is almost a deep red colour. Seen everywhere

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) 
This is a very common butterfly that occurs in great numbers between July and August. This short flight season however does make it quite easy to miss this species. Its dark brown (often black looking) colours and contrasting spots/ wing borders make it easy to identify. This species loves basking and is one of the easiest to photograph with open wings. Seen in Blarney, Cork city, Littleisland, Fota island, Ballycotton & Killarney.

Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria tircis) 
The speckled wood is one of Ireland’s most abundant species and can be found in almost any place with vegetation and trees. It can be quite approachable and usually stands out due to the whitish spots that cover much of its wings. It is around all summer with population swells every few weeks or so. Seen everywhere.

Wall brown (lasiommata megera) 
This is one of Ireland’s endangered butterflies although here in Cork we are lucky to have plenty of spots to find them. I’m not sure if its universal but this species seems to occur mostly in coastal areas. The only time I have seen it inland was in Minane. It is medium sized and generally has a much bolder orange pattern that sets it apart from other browns. They can be nightmarishly hard to approach. Seen Ballycotton, Mizen head, Minane & Robert’s cove.

Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus pamphilus) 
Small heaths are tiny butterflies that stay quite well hidden most of the time and are therefore hard to find. Still, perseverance in suitable habitat usually leads to at least a sighting or two. A good picture is not nearly as easy though as the small size and shy temperament make approach quite problematic. The picture below is (unfortunately) my best this year, thought it’s on the top of the list for next year! Seen in Ballycotton, Killarney, Valentia island & Mizen head.

The list so far
Speckled wood (seen)
Meadow brown (seen)
Ringlet (seen)
Wall brown (seen)
Grayling (Hope to find 2014)
Gatekeeper (seen)
Small heath (seen)
Large heath (Again, 2014!)

Butterflies, counting up 2012

Tallying up the butterflies of 2012

1. Peacock butterfly (Inachis io)
Its pretty and its common, exactly what you want from a butterfly.

2. Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Also quite common, but not always as approachable as you might think

3. Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)
Managed to spot a couple at the very end of the season, they are common outside the city but in the centre are quite hard to find.

4. Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Towards the end of the summer season this butterfly becomes quite common. It is not unusual to find a bush entirely with examples of this species.

5. Common blue (Polyommatus icarus)
Even those without an interest in insects probably have to admit that the common blue makes a great subject for photography. Its often quite vivid and is relatively approachable. Not to mention that unlike most Irish butterflies its underwing has quite interesting patterns.

6. Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria)
A constant companion on my summer time walks. The speckled wood is probably more interesting behaviourally then visually as it’s quite territorial and aggressively defends its patch from other butterflies. It has also ruined my attempts to photograph nearby species on occasion by scaring them off!

7. Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina)
A well camouflaged butterfly often found sitting with its wings closed and enjoying the camouflage that its brown colouration affords it. With wings open it is actually quite nice to look at, I like those false eyes with the yellowish surroundings.

8. Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
I admit I am cheating here; this shot is from last year. This years shots where lost due to camera theft and the only surviving picture is buried somewhere in a facebook page where I can’t find it. I swear, I had pictures!

9. Green veined white (Pieris napi)
Ireland’s most common white butterfly. The green veined is easy enough to identify due to its underwing being patterned with green veins (yes). The other species don’t have this.

10. Small white (Pieris rapae)
Can be hard to tell apart from the large white except that its size is closer to that of the other whites.

11. Large white (Pieris brassicae)
Like the above species but much larger and with a different pattern of black on its wings, in the field its quite easy to tell the size difference.

12. Cryptic wood white (Leptidea juvernica)
Only recently named species, the cryptic wood white is small, has rounded wings and has weak flight. The common wood white is almost identical but is quite hard to find in Ireland. Outside the Burren and select area the cryptic is the primary wood white species.

13. Orange tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
Easy to identify with the males having bright orange tips to their wings and both genders having a distinct green marbling on its underwing. Its flight season is quite short and 2012 was the first year where I managed to catch it on camera.

Species I would like in 2012. Holly blue. Small blue, all the frits, green hairstreak and a couple of others.

Entomologica amateuris

I’m taking a few days off photography so I thought I’d leave today’s post as the bits I didn’t get to fit into my last few entries. Namely the butterflies and insects of County Cork!

A green veined white (Pieris napi), I was quite sad to learn that I missed the closely related Orange tip's flying season before I got a shot!

What is it? I don't know, do you know?. A giant fly? I intend to find out but only when I get a good insect field guide, google images just doesn't work too well for insect ID's :-D

A meadow brown (Maniola jurtina), common but a pain in the **** to chase around the place

Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), I'm starting to think these guys are like vampires in that no shot of them ever seems to work out quite right (do they show up in mirrors I wonder)

Red admiral from the side

A red tailed bumblebee I think but I still have to run it through my ID'ing process!

Look a cricket! Don't think he'll be starting any locust plagues tho

Gall wasp galls by the look of it, tiny wasps that can cause trees to form growths in which their larvae can develop, slightly nightmarish but at least its only a tree. Many species of wasp lay their eggs in other insects causing them to be devoured from the inside out. Galloulish you might say!

A ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus), surprisingly picturesque considering its brown. They are currently everywhere, hundreds seen in Blarney and Ballycotton this week!

Seems to have crash landed!

Didn't actually see the bee untill I got home and looked at the jpeg

Large white (Pieris brassicae), hard to tell apart these Pieris butterflies...

One of those waterskating bugs, bet you can't do that!

Nother red tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) I think...