Our living Churchyard - July

As I write this in early June I have, like many of you I suspect, been enjoying the festivities and pageantry of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 70 years on the throne is a remarkable achievement. But we know that butterflies have been inspiring people for over 1,000 years. Aelfric of Eynsham, a scholar and abbot writing at the time of the last millennium, notes that the Anglo-Saxon boterfleoge was the same thing as the Roman papilio, the scientific word for a butterfly. And rather than being limited to red, white and blue, we in Fletching can enjoy butterflies in all colours of the rainbow.

The Red Admiral is one of the 5 species that overwinters as an adult. It hibernates in winter, but may come out on a warm day and indeed is often the first butterfly that people see in the year.

The Orange Tip is also a sign of spring. The male has lovely orange tips to its wings, though the female does not. She lays her eggs on the flowers of Ladies Smock: only one egg is laid in each flower head. The caterpillars are cannibalistic and if there were more than one, then one would eat the other.

The Brimstone is named for its lovely sulphur yellow colour. This emerges as an adult in summer, immediately going into hibernation till the following spring. You can see them from February or March onwards, when the males are fiercely territorial, spiralling upwards into the sky as they fight.

The only green butterfly that we have is the Green Hairstreak. Again, these defend a territory, perching on top of a bush and returning to the same spot after vigorously seeing off any possible competitors.

Perhaps my favourite butterfly is the Adonis Blue. There are other Blue butterflies, all beautiful, but to my mind this one outshines the rest. The male has brilliant sky blue wings, though the females are brown.

And finally... His Imperial Majesty, the Purple Emperor. This is one of our largest butterflies, about 2 inches across, and the upper wings of the male are a lovely iridescent purple. It spends most of its time high up at the top of oak or ash trees. The females lay their eggs on sallow – willow – trees, which are the food plant of the caterpillar. It is on the wing now, in early July. The male has rather disgusting eating habits, sucking up salts from dog or fox scats, and would no doubt turn its nose up at a marmalade sandwich!

Left to right: Red Admiral - Orange Tip - Brimstone - Green Hairstreak - Adonis Blue - Purple Emperor

Nigel Symington
nigel.symington@gmail.com