Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Larvae left in situ

Back in Alice Holt for the day. The season is winding down here. One freshly laid egg (blue-green) was the nearest I got to Herself, then 2 males at each of the 2 main assembly points; 3 were predictably old, worn and torn but one was in quite good nick - nice and black-looking - and cannot have been more than 4-5 days old. Looks like one or two males and a few skulky females will make it into August here.

Now the egg lay here looks to have been quite good. I also found 3 1st instar larvae, 2 of which were on the same branch and can be monitored easily (I've never had one last longer than Xmas). 2 of the 3 were skin-changing. But I also found 2 egg bases and no sign of the resultant larvae. I left the lot in situ.

Matthew

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