Float like a butterfly - Sunday Stamps II

Why did I suggest butterflies as a theme when I had shown several butterfly stamps before?

In the April A-Z Challenge earlier this year I took butterflies as my subject and discovered then that many countries had them on their stamps.

Back in 2012 I cheated when I showed a set of stamps scanned from a catalogue. Now I can show them on an FDC acquired since then.

Great Britain - 1981

• Chequered Skipper
• Peacock
• Large Blue
• Small Tortoiseshell

By coincidence the Big Butterfly Count 2015, run by the Butterfly Conservation, has started this week in the UK. I know that we shall see the Peacock and the Tortoiseshell in our garden but not the other two.

Ones that will not appear are:

Bulgaria - Mountain Apollo

Canada - Monarch Butterfly - 31 March 2014

Rwanda - Broad Green-banded Swallowtail

USA - Great Spangled Fritillary - 2014

Now you need to float like a butterfly over to the links at Violet's Sunday-stamps-ii-31.

I'm off to watch The Open at St Andrews on the TV where I can be sure I won't get stung by a bee.

Bumble Bee and Small Tortoiseshell - 2009

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'Z'

Z - Zerene cesonia

Well we have got to 'Z' and it's time for you to work out what the butterfly will be. It's not a Zebra Swallowtail even although I did consider that.

Here are a couple of clues.

His name is Finn

But that's a red herring.

This is Scout (but you don't need to know this)

Finn and Scout live in the southern part of Michigan - this should help, if you have identified the feature common to each photo.

Here's the pattern on the butterfly's wing.

What does it look like to you?

Hint: Finn and Scout each have one. Remember where they live and you should be able to work out that Zerene cesonia is a butterfly called ,,,,,, wait for it.

If you have read all my earlier posts you will have seen the lyrics to a song unfold line by line. Listen to it now before you check the answer.

Zerene cesonia is a -

Southern Dogface

I hope that this was not too difficult for you to work out.

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who has completed this year's challenge, visited and commented on 'my' butterflies.

Photo attributions:

• Zerene cesonia, dogface pattern; by Megan McCarthy, 17 Oct 2008 - Public domain
• Southern Dogface; by Megan McCarthy, 17 Oct 2008 - Public domain

A - Z Challenge - Butterflies 'Y'

Y - Yellow butterflies - Clouded Yellows

I introduced a yellow butterfly, the Brimstone, under the letter 'B' so that we knew early on where the term 'butterfly' originated.

Apart from the Brimstone there are three species of yellow butterflies seen in Britain; all are migrants from the warmer parts of Europe. As immigration is a hot topic in the current election campaign I just hope the Clouded Yellows continue to be welcomed on our shores.

The Common Clouded Yellow is a deep orange-yellow although you would not think so looking at its underside.

Common Clouded Yellow

This specimen however shows its 'orange' colour. You might be forgiven for saying this isn't a yellow butterfly at all.

Common Clouded Yellow

It's sometimes called  the Dark Clouded Yellow instead.

As its name implies the Pale Clouded Yellow, together with Berger's Clouded Yellow is much paler.

Berger's Clouded Yellow - specimen

Berger's Clouded Yellow

The green caterpillars of all three feed on clover and lucerne. The adults emerge in autumn, If any new caterpillars are produced they rarely survive the British winter.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side
How precious is this love we share
How very precious, sweet and rare
Together we belong like daffodils and butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Photo attributions:

• Common Clouded Yellow (on thistle), by Katya, 2 June 2014 - CC BY-SA 2.0
• Common Clouded Yellow specimen, upload by Sareto, 19 September 2007 - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Berger's Clouded Yellow specimen, 26 July 2014, by Durni - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Berger's Clouded Yellow, by Zeynei Cebeci (Turkey) - CC BY-SA 4.0

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'X'

X - Xerces Blue

It was Hilary Melton-Butler who first told me about this butterfly otherwise I would have struggled for 'X'.

"When the tiny wings of the last Xerces Blue Butterfly ceased to flutter our world grew quieter by a whisper and duller by a hue."      Robert C Kuhman

When affordable homes were built on the sand dunes of western San Francisco in the early 20th century the tiny beautiful butterfly was doomed to extinction as the main source of food for its caterpillars disappeared.

Now if you want to see one you have to visit the basement of the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Three drawers of them, in neat rows on the ends of pins are kept in a climate -controlled vault.

The French entomologist Boisduval named the butterfly after the Persian King Xerxes but used the French spelling - Xerces.

The last known specimens were taken in the early 1940s. Its tiny wings had a span of 7/8 - 1.1/4 inches about the size of a the end of a man's thumb.

The only photo I can find of the Xerces Blue is by Tom Prete of the Ocean Beach Bulletin and is copyright protected. I can work up no enthusiasm for including a picture of the specimens in those drawers, so I 'd rather show none.

It also seems rather ironic to me that Boisduval has another blue butterfly named after him.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side
How precious is this love we share
How very precious, sweet and rare
Together we belong like daffodils and butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'W'

W - Wall, Large White

At this time in the Challenge I sometimes feel as though I am banging my head against a - 

Wall (Lasiommata megera)

Perhaps its Latin name should be Myheadius brickus! 

However this brown butterfly gets its name from its characteristic behaviour of resting with its wings two-thirds open on any bare surface, including bare ground and on walls, of course.

Wall on bare ground (and photo-bombed by my shadow)

Numbers have declined in previous years but the one on the knapweed and the one above were quiet happy to warm up in the North Yorkshire sun.

When I was a young boy it was common for us to catch and keep Cabbage Whites in a jar on the local allotments where they laid their eggs on cabbage leaves. The term Cabbage White is applied to several common white butterflies especially the Small and Large Whites which are very similar in appearance.

The caterpillars of the Large White are very colourful.

Large White Butterfly Caterpillar on a leaf

You can see quite clearly where it has eaten the edge away. It was my job to remove them from my Dad's cabbages before too much damage was done.

We expect to see white butterflies in early April each year. Despite their numbers I have never photographed one.

Large White (Pieris brassicae)

The female has the black spots on the wings - no spots means it a male.

I hope that I have added my own shot(s) to this before 'W' is posted - No such luck, no white butterflies seen this year yet.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side
How precious is this love we share
How very precious, sweet and rare
Together we belong like daffodils and butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh

Photo attributions:

• Large White Butterfly Caterpillar: 6 August 2014, by Michael Palmer - CC BY-SA 4.0
• Large White Butterfly (Pieris brassicae): 10 July 2006, geograph.org.uk, by Anne Burgess - CC BY-SS 2.0

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'V'

V - Vanessids, Viceroy

A vanessid is a butterfly belonging to any of several brightly coloured species including the Red Admiral (R), Tortoiseshells (T) and the Camberwell Beauty, which with Fritilliaries (F & Q) comprise the Nymphalides.

Camberwell Beauty

The name for this rare migrant to the British Isles originated from the discovery of two individuals at Coldharbour Lane in Camberwell, South London in 1748 which were believed to be stowaways from Scandinavia.

Now commemorated on a road sign on Denmark Hill

Appropriately the photo of the Beauty was taken at the Valkmusa Natural Park in Finland.

Many of you will recognise this butterfly (also seen under M)

Monarch Butterfly

If you are wondering why I'm showing this again it's because of another butterfly that mimics its appearance. 

Viceroy Butterfly

Apparently the Monarch is unpalatable; by mimicking the Monarch the Viceroy hopes that birds will leave it alone. I wonder what happens when the bird has never seen a Monarch.

Do other butterflies with eyespots on their wings have a better chance of survival?

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side
How precious is this love we share
How very precious, sweet and rare
Together we belong like daffodils and butterflies

Photo attributions:

• Camberwell Beauty: Valkmusa Natural Park, Finland; 20 Aug 2007, by Kymi - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Camberwell road sign: geograph.org.uk, by Paul Farmer - CC By-SA 2.0
• Monarch on a Penta: October 2011, by A Yee - CC BY 2.0
• Viceroy (Limenitis archippus): Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Ottawa, Ontario - 1 August 2009, By D Gordon E Robertson - CC BY-SA 3.0

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'U'

U - USA Butterflies 

I get the chance to photograph butterflies whenever I visit my daughter's home in Michigan. However her dogs do not cooperate as I'm expected to hit tennis balls for them to fetch whenever I'm outside.

Unfortunately the butterflies I see like the flowers on the bed of chives which is where golden retriever, Lily, hides her stash of balls.

I have successfully identified three species but am left with two that I have not traced so far.

Silver Spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) on chives

This is claimed to be the most recognised skipper in North America.

The Red Spotted Purple (Limentis arthemis) or White Admiral mimics the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail; I haven't seen one of those.

Red Spotted Purple (aka White Admiral)

The third butterfly that I am able to name is the -

Pearled Crescent (Pyciodes tharos) on the chives

Then comes the one I hope someone seeing this will be able to tell me what it is.

Any ideas?

Another where we can only see the underside is much plainer. Can anyone help me?

Unfortunately Lily drove it off before I could see its upperside.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side
How precious is this love we share

(Someone early yesterday morning was the 200,000 visitor to my blog; thanks to you whoever you were and the other 199,999 over the years.)

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'T''

T - Tortoiseshell butterflies.

Of the two Tortoiseshell butterflies  it's the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urtica) that is the most common and found throughout the British Isles,

It's one of the first butterflies to be seen each summer. We saw the first one this year on 5th April.  The buddleia is a favourite plant.

Two Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies in our garden

Small Tortoiseshell

Its orange colour with brown, black, yellow and blue markings are unmistakable.

It will quite happily share a flower with a bumblebee.

From the underside there is no hint of its colourful appearance.

The Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychlorox) is similar in appearance but is usually only seen in Suffolk and north Essex. There is little chance of my getting to photograph one.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time
And I am only happy when you are by my side

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'S'

S - Speckled Wood, Swallowtail

The Speckled Wood we see frequently in Yorkshire but the Swallowtail in the British Isles is confined to wetland areas of eastern England.

The Speckled Wood is another of those butterflies that visits our Butterfly Bush, As it always seems to be on the move its difficult to photograph, however I caught up with one elsewhere on a shrub in our garden.

Speckled Wood (Pararge segeria) on Euonymous bush

The Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve  in Norfolk managed by the RSPB is one of the few breeding sites for the Swallowtail.

Swallowtail (Papilio britannicus) at Strumpshaw

The Swallowtail is the largest resident British butterfly with a wingspan of 8 - 10cm.

I've yet to see one. Until yesterday at least; but the ones I saw at Butterfly World at Preston Park in Eaglescliffe where tropical Swallowtails.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine
Every day is spring time

Photo attribution:

• Swallowtail: RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, geograph.or.uk, 11 June 2007, by Janet Richardson - CC BY-SA 2.0

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies - 'R'

R - Red Admiral, Ringlet

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) appears in Europe, Asia and North America. It shares our Buddleia bush with Peacocks, Tortoiseshells and White butterflies. 

My photos of it in Yorkshire are all on the golden yellow rose we planted for our 50th wedding anniversary some years ago.

Red Admiral

The one I photographed in Michigan in 2010 had to make do with the tyre on a tractor.

Red Admiral

There is no mistaking its striking dark brown, red and black wing pattern with orange bands crossing the forewings and on the outer edge of the hind wings.

Vladimir Nabokov, also an amateur lepidopterist, featured the Red Admiral in his novel Pale Face - I shall have to read it sometime.

The Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) is a brown butterfly found all over Europe. This female was photographed at a site of special scientific interest  (SSSI) - Hurcott Wood, in Worcestershire.

Ringlet Butterfly

I must confess that the few I've seen on brambles have been a darker brown than this.

Female Ringlet Butterfly

On the underside there is no mistaking the black eyespots rimmed with yellow. You are much more likely to see it like this as it rarely exposes its brown upperside.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine

Photo Attributions:

• Female Ringlet at Hurcott Wood: 17 July 2008, geograph.org.uk by Max Fascione - CC BY-SA 2.0
• Female Ringlet: Sandy Bedfordshire, uploaded by innotata, by Ogangeaurochs - CC BY 2.0

A-Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'Q'

Q - Quercusia quercus, Queen of Spain Fritillary

I thought I was going to be stuck with the Queen of Spain that I mentioned under 'F'

Then I came across Quercusia quercus. I thought initially that this had something to do with the tree on a postage stamp from Great Britain

The English Oak - Quercus robur

It turned out that the place to see Quercusia quercus, aka the Purple Hairstreak, is fluttering in woods round the crowns of the oak and ash.

Purple Hairstreak Butterfly

It has nothing in common with that purple hair rinse that's favoured by some ladies I'm told.

Female Purple Hairstreak

It's the female that has those permanently purple patches; the upperside of the male is brown but may show a purple sheen from some angles in bright sunlight.

My longstop for Q has always been the - 

Queen of Spain Fritillary

It has light spots on its underside that shine like mother of pearl.

The Queen of Spain is a migratory butterfly which flies from Southern Europe to England in favourable years.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Photo attributions:

• Purple Hairstreak: Alners Gorse, Dorset, 3 August 2013, upload by tm, by Ian Kirk - CC BY 2.0
• Queen of Spain Fritillary: 13 June 2011, by Gail Hampshire - CC BY 2.0

A-Z Challenge - Butterflies 'P'

P - Painted Lady, Peacock

These, as their names imply, are two of Britain's most colourful butterflies.

What's more they are frequent visitors to our Buddleia, aka Butterfly Bush, each summer.

Painted Lady

This Painted Lady however was sunning itself on the leaves of one of our Rhododendrons.

Its caterpillars are grey or black with yellow stripes on the side. They feed on may plants including thistles and nettles. 

The adult butterflies migrate and hibernate in the winter south of the Alps. Immigrants enter Britain from April. There are two or three broods between June and September

We often find a Peacock on the ground,

Peacock Butterfly (from our bedroom window)

However there is no doubt where they like the best,

On the Buddleia having driven off a Large White

They are happy of course to share a flower with others.

Peacock Butterflies on Buddleia

The brightly coloured eye-like markings on its wings are like the spots on a peacock's tail - hence its name.

When at rest the Peacock's eye-spot is hidden but when disturbed it opens its wings to display them and scare of any predatory birds.

Common throughout the British Isles they lay their eggs on nettles in April and May. Caterpillars are jet black and finely speckled with white. 

We saw our first Peacock this year on April 5th.

Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars

The butterflies emerge from the pupae from July and brighten the countryside until September or October. We will be looking out for them from when our Buddleia breaks into flower.

The Peacock also appears on a set of butterfly stamps issued by the Royal Mail.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight

Photo attribution:

• Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars: 28 June 2008, upload by Computerhotline, by Rictor Norton and David Allen - CC BY 2.0