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| Small Tortoiseshell scanning territory |
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| Sunning in my garden |
The small tortoiseshell butterfly is reasonably common on the hills around my house and in my garden. I managed to observe a matting flight in the meadow. A pair were tumbling through the air at speed, I had to jog to keep up. It looks a bit untidy as they cartwheel over the grass at head height. This ballet suddenly ended as the pair dropped into a tussock of grass. The chase continued through the grass, wings taking a bashing. After a couple of minutes they moved up the grass blades, wing vibrating. The next few minutes were spent in a clumsy attempts to get into position. Good to see that even insects have those less than elegant moments in the bedroom department. The male got his act together, his abdomen curved around and joined to the female. At this point wings closed and all became still. Now looking like a couple of dead leaves. I left them to it. They can stay together overnight, the female will eventually lay her fertilised eggs on nettle.
Numbers are falling, in part due to climate change, the warming has encouraged a tortoiseshell parasite in the form of a small fly. Tidier gardens are probably not helping much. Luckily my garden is not contributing to any decline. In fact I'm surprised I don't have more. I would enjoy them while they are still around, hope they adapt to their parasites, and get yourself some nettles.
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