In search of the British endemic Erebia epiphron mnemon.
Mar 4, 2015 18:17:20 GMT
deliasfanatic, mygos, and 6 more like this
Post by nomad on Mar 4, 2015 18:17:20 GMT
The northern English Lake District is said to be the wettest part of Britain. I had arrived in early July in a very wet summer. It had been raining for a week, there was flooding in the valleys. When I got off the bus at the town of Keswick to catch another to the small village where I was staying there was deluge. I had five days to find the little British endemic satyrid Erebia epiphron mnemon. Rain was forecast for the whole time of my stay, which did not bode well to find a species that only was on the wing during periods of sunshine and hid in the grass when it did not.
I was staying in a little stone cottage of a farm at the hamlet of Seatoller in the beautiful Borrowdale Valley for a few days before moving on to a hostel on the Honister Pass above. I awoke to a day of heavy rain and the mist was very low on the hills . It was useless to proceed, so I explored the nearby woods. The next day there were a few patches of blue sky and my hopes rose. However, they disappeared as I set off along the valley for a 6.5km walk to the plateau of a fell ( hill) where the butterfly had been seen. Although this hill is only 600 meters, Erebia epiphron is able to occur at this rather low altitude because this is such a northern site. The terrain was still rugged, and it was a long climb beside a ravine with raging torrents due to the wet weather. When I finally arrived at the top of the hill it had stopped raining, but there was still dense mist. I find it rather disquieting to walk in hill fog all day, with the depths below and heights of the mountains above hidden. It was still interesting to see the Erebia's habitat, rocky damp grassland with pools of water but there was not a single butterfly to be found. I made my way down by another stream and had to use my map and compass to find my way.
I had seen this butterfly on a couple of occasions many years before before in the Breadalbane Hills of Perthshire in Scotland at two sites in a similar habitat. At that time I was on a botanical visit and I only came away with one poor photograph of this butterfly . At that time digital cameras were but a dream. The Scottish race has been referred to as Erebia epiphron subspecies scotica because it is said to be larger and brighter than the English race.
My only photograph to date of Erebia epiphron scotica taken in the mid 1990s on Ben Lawers in Perthshire, Scotland.
The first day on the hills above the sparten hostel on the Honister Pass looking for the Erebia, I drew a blank in the mist. The second day there was going to be sunshine before the cloud rolled in. At least there was only periods of light drizzle in the afternoon's forecast. I set off early, up I went as fast as I could go, but the cloud beat me to the top of the fell at a elevation of 700 meters. I wandered around the sides of the summit of the hill for hours where the butterfly had been seen. I checked for resting adults, but so well were they hidden I did not find a single butterfly and then the sky lightened and there was hazy sunshine through the thinning clouds and as if like magic the butterflies finally appeared. The Erebia epiphron were fairly slow in flight, but if they felt threatened they would fly up catch the wind and in a moment be many yards down hill, lost to view. The larvae of subspecies mnemon feeds on Mat-grass ( Nardus stricta ). Luckily for me the adults often rest with their wings open, not only to warm themsevles but if one of the birds here, a Meadow Pipit or a Wheatear attacks the butterfly, they will go for the forewing eye-spots. I sit and admire this hardy little brown insect, I was surprised how small this butterfly really is. The full grown larvae survive the winter hidden at the base of tussocks of grass often under snow. Within a couple of hours the light was gone and so was the butterfly, they just vanished. This site holds quite a strong colony but they were far from common and for the brief period when they were on the wing you had to keep a sharp lookout for the butterfly.
Habitat of E. epiphron mnemon above the Honister Pass in the Central Lake District.
Females of E. epiphron mnemon.
Female of a freshly emerged E. epiphron mnemon with extensive eyespot patches, aberration latefasciata.
Males of E. epiphron mnemon.
The next day was my last and the cloud was down, so I walked down to the valley below to the farmhouse. The hills here can be really bleak but the scenery is very beautiful in good weather. My time in the Lake District was worth it for that brief period spent on the hill with this northern butterfly accompanied only by a few sheep.
View from the hills above the Honister Pass, habitat of mnemon, looking down to Buttermere below.
Sheep on the hills.
I was staying in a little stone cottage of a farm at the hamlet of Seatoller in the beautiful Borrowdale Valley for a few days before moving on to a hostel on the Honister Pass above. I awoke to a day of heavy rain and the mist was very low on the hills . It was useless to proceed, so I explored the nearby woods. The next day there were a few patches of blue sky and my hopes rose. However, they disappeared as I set off along the valley for a 6.5km walk to the plateau of a fell ( hill) where the butterfly had been seen. Although this hill is only 600 meters, Erebia epiphron is able to occur at this rather low altitude because this is such a northern site. The terrain was still rugged, and it was a long climb beside a ravine with raging torrents due to the wet weather. When I finally arrived at the top of the hill it had stopped raining, but there was still dense mist. I find it rather disquieting to walk in hill fog all day, with the depths below and heights of the mountains above hidden. It was still interesting to see the Erebia's habitat, rocky damp grassland with pools of water but there was not a single butterfly to be found. I made my way down by another stream and had to use my map and compass to find my way.
I had seen this butterfly on a couple of occasions many years before before in the Breadalbane Hills of Perthshire in Scotland at two sites in a similar habitat. At that time I was on a botanical visit and I only came away with one poor photograph of this butterfly . At that time digital cameras were but a dream. The Scottish race has been referred to as Erebia epiphron subspecies scotica because it is said to be larger and brighter than the English race.
My only photograph to date of Erebia epiphron scotica taken in the mid 1990s on Ben Lawers in Perthshire, Scotland.
The first day on the hills above the sparten hostel on the Honister Pass looking for the Erebia, I drew a blank in the mist. The second day there was going to be sunshine before the cloud rolled in. At least there was only periods of light drizzle in the afternoon's forecast. I set off early, up I went as fast as I could go, but the cloud beat me to the top of the fell at a elevation of 700 meters. I wandered around the sides of the summit of the hill for hours where the butterfly had been seen. I checked for resting adults, but so well were they hidden I did not find a single butterfly and then the sky lightened and there was hazy sunshine through the thinning clouds and as if like magic the butterflies finally appeared. The Erebia epiphron were fairly slow in flight, but if they felt threatened they would fly up catch the wind and in a moment be many yards down hill, lost to view. The larvae of subspecies mnemon feeds on Mat-grass ( Nardus stricta ). Luckily for me the adults often rest with their wings open, not only to warm themsevles but if one of the birds here, a Meadow Pipit or a Wheatear attacks the butterfly, they will go for the forewing eye-spots. I sit and admire this hardy little brown insect, I was surprised how small this butterfly really is. The full grown larvae survive the winter hidden at the base of tussocks of grass often under snow. Within a couple of hours the light was gone and so was the butterfly, they just vanished. This site holds quite a strong colony but they were far from common and for the brief period when they were on the wing you had to keep a sharp lookout for the butterfly.
Habitat of E. epiphron mnemon above the Honister Pass in the Central Lake District.
Females of E. epiphron mnemon.
Female of a freshly emerged E. epiphron mnemon with extensive eyespot patches, aberration latefasciata.
Males of E. epiphron mnemon.
The next day was my last and the cloud was down, so I walked down to the valley below to the farmhouse. The hills here can be really bleak but the scenery is very beautiful in good weather. My time in the Lake District was worth it for that brief period spent on the hill with this northern butterfly accompanied only by a few sheep.
View from the hills above the Honister Pass, habitat of mnemon, looking down to Buttermere below.
Sheep on the hills.
