My 2010 garden tally of butterfly species is now up to six. We've had single visits from large white, comma, peacock and small tortoiseshell...
My 2010 garden tally of butterfly species is now up to six. We've had single visits from large white, comma, peacock and small tortoiseshell. They obviously didn't find much of interest in my garden, so dipped down, bustled about one circuit of the lawn, then zoomed up and away. Several holly blues were skipping about over the ivy-covered fence at the weekend, all probably freshly emerged form chrysalides buried deep inside the tangled thatch.
But what really caught my eye was the pas de deux dance of the speckled woods. Their flurry of a whirling jig was taking place under the apple tree, and so engrossed were they in each other that I was able to approach to within 30 cm to watch them closely. It was as if the two butterflies were animated poys, the feather or flower balls swung on strings by Polynesian dancers. For nearly three minutes, they circled round and round each other, always keeping about 10-15 cm apart, as if they were connected by some invisible, but unbreakable, thread.
It's difficult to imagine what the precise purpose of this courtship dance might be, other than to gauge each other's shadowing ability. Perhaps this is an indirect measure of flight power and agility, useful qualities for an individual to assess in a potential mate before committing to the act of insemination.
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