ES Views: Wild London: A butterfly that is on the increase

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The speckled wood can be seen in London from the end of March until mid-October.
4 August 2017
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London doesn’t do badly when it comes to butterflies, with 37 different species regularly seen in and around the capital. Some are rare and seldom seen, only taking to the air for a few brief weeks. But one special butterfly, the speckled wood, can be seen from the end of March until mid-October.

It isn’t the flashiest of butterflies, with wings of walnut brown dotted with small, cream-ringed eyespots and dabs of yellow, but it is a remarkably quick breeder, capable of producing two and even three generations in a good summer.

The adults don’t live long, usually for only a week or so, but that is enough time for them to mate and lay eggs. Mostly we only see the males, who ready themselves for action by basking in pools of dappled sunlight, and patrolling along the edges of woodlands, hedgerows and in leafy gardens.

The males spiral up to see off intruders and to intercept passing females, who will drop to the ground if they wish to mate, closely followed by the male. After mating she will lay her eggs, one by one, on a variety of common grasses. After 10 days, these will hatch to produce slender, green caterpillars, well camouflaged against predators

Speckled woods rarely visit garden flowers but they will probe thistles for nectar and also feed amid the leaves of trees such as lime and sycamore, supping on the honeydew that is exuded by aphids, which feed on the sap of the trees’ leaves.

In the 18th century this butterfly was first named the Enfield eye, and since the Eighties it has returned not only to this borough but also across much of London. It is the only British butterfly that tolerates the shade of woodland and is one of the few butterflies increasing in numbers across Britain, regularly seen by visitors to our wildlife-friendly nature reserves.

London Wildlife Trust campaigns to protect the capital’s wildlife and wild spaces. Backed by Sir David Attenborough, President Emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts.

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