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Post by wollastoni on Apr 8, 2015 9:33:40 GMT
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coopera
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 61
Country: England
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Post by coopera on Apr 8, 2015 16:46:20 GMT
These recent sightings in the UK are of the Scarce or Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis xanthomelas) which is thought to have successfully overwintered for the first time in Britain, particularly in areas of Eastern England, including; Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Sussex & Suffolk. The only record of this butterfly in the UK beforehand was a single female on 2nd July 1953 in Kent, however, in 2014 this went up dramatically with over 30 sightings recorded in England during the summer, after an influx of butterflies in the Netherlands flew eastwards to our shores. There have been at least 3 sightings already this spring and hopefully there will be more to come!
If enough adult butterflies emerge from hibernation this spring and breed, then 2015 could give rise to the first ever British-born Scarce Tortoiseshell, an exciting prospect!
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 8, 2015 17:09:28 GMT
Exciting indeed ! I love that kind of invasion !
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Post by obiwankenobi55555 on Apr 8, 2015 18:26:58 GMT
If this is early spring specimen and since have very damaged apex, and for sure colour is very pale. Is there any possiblity that exactly this species overwinter in adult stage? All conditions mark that this specimen from picture overwinter. In Croatia I have found lots of time Nymphalis antiopa which overwinter in adult stage and their colours on wings are not yellow anymore. Colour become very white probably as you know but specimens are mostly damaged.
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 8, 2015 19:23:18 GMT
Sure those specimens have overwintered.
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coopera
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 61
Country: England
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Post by coopera on Apr 8, 2015 22:41:03 GMT
Yes, these early spring N. xanthomelas have been able to successfully overwinter as an adult here in the UK for the first time and as to be expected, some have become rather tattered.
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jensb
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 50
Country: Netherlands
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Post by jensb on Apr 9, 2015 10:55:54 GMT
I already said it somewhere else. The same happened back here in the Netherlands. Last year there where sighted a hugh amount of n. xanthomelas. Here they also overwintered the first recorded specimen with proof was found on 5 march that are ofc overwintering specimens. I had the luck to find an individual. I was very happy to see it. To bad the specimen was very thorn.
Greets jens
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Post by bobw on Apr 9, 2015 13:36:02 GMT
Can anybody tell me where this English name of "Scarce Tortoiseshell" has come from? The only English name for N. xanthomelas I have ever seen before is "Yellow Legged Tortoiseshell".
Bob
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coopera
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 61
Country: England
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Post by coopera on Apr 9, 2015 14:08:10 GMT
Can anybody tell me where this English name of "Scarce Tortoiseshell" has come from? The only English name for N. xanthomelas I have ever seen before is "Yellow Legged Tortoiseshell".
Bob
Hi Bob, I'm not sure when the name Scarce Tortoiseshell first came into use and I can't seem to find much information on its origin here in the UK... I once read that the term is most commonly used in Britain simply because of the scarcity of the butterfly reaching our shores compared to further West in Europe and Asia where the butterfly is comparatively more common. Someone else may be able to shed more light..
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Post by nomad on Apr 9, 2015 18:44:55 GMT
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Post by nomad on Apr 11, 2015 11:55:38 GMT
I believe the Brits used the name Scarce Tortoiseshell for N. xanthomelas because it was a very rare butterfly in Western Europe. Its recent expansion is remarkable but it is much too early to say that it will become a resident butterfly in the U.K. It is such a pity that we lost our once resident Nymphalis polychloris. The latter's extinction has never been satisfactorily explained. N. polychloris does turn up occasionally as a rare immigrant but does not seem able to recolonize the U.K. N. polychloris has recently over wintered in the Isle of Wight. Sightings of N. polychloris on the south coast are probably genuine immigrants. I suspect that some of the sightings of N. polychloris further inland are butterflies that have been released by butterfly breeders. Their activity may explain some of the other sightings of rare butterflies in the U.K.
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Post by Paul K on Apr 11, 2015 13:41:18 GMT
It is very sad to hear so many butterflies species extinct within 100 years in UK. I hope with proper conservation of some habitats Brits will still enjoy what ever is left and will re-establish there.
Paul
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2015 13:43:45 GMT
Yes I too think that captive escapee's or intentionally released specimens do account for may polychloris sightings of recent years, especially when, like Aporia crataegi the reason for it's demise is not so easily explained, I am not hopeful that it will ever naturally colonise these islands again but you never know.
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Post by nomad on Apr 11, 2015 15:57:15 GMT
The main habitat of N. polychloris in Britain seems to have been wooded country. Britain has still plenty of woods. Today, quite a few woodlands are now managed to suit butterflies. N. polychloris became extinct as a resident around the 1950s. In the 1970s Dutch elm disease struck the U.K and destroyed most of N. polychloris primary foodplant, Elm. One of the best places to find over-wintering adults in the Spring was at Sallow flowers. Various reasons have been put forward to account for the disappearance of N. polychloris including climate change and parasitism of the larvae. Once a common species here, N. polychloris was known to fluctuate in numbers, there were rapid declines and reappearances. Emmett and Bretherton ( 1990) have suggested that N. polychloris disappeared through a combination of events. They also mention that this species withdrawal from the north and the Midlands may have been through climate change. Later as populations became smaller, large scale attacks by parasites on the gregarious larvae may have proved fatal. Chalmers-Hunt ( 1960/1961) goes a step further and suggests that in Kent at least it was only a temporary resident there, backed up my migration from the continent. Is it possible that southern British populations were backed up by migrants from the continent when the weather was suitable. As Britain warmed up, such migrants no longer found the climate to their liking and the lost of the main foodplant elm may have been catastrophic. Releases of this butterfly have failed to provide any extant populations.
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 11, 2015 21:21:19 GMT
Hope to see xanthomelas one day in Brittany ! He's not so far now !
About polychloros, it is still rather easy to see it in France in the woods in March/April when they have finished hibernation. During summer, it is a much harder-to-find species and I use to see one or two during the whole summer.
Nymphalis antiopa is much rarer in France.
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