Last Summer I collected a number of iris eggs from a wood in North Bucks. Of the ten larvae that entered hibernation at least eight have survived the winter. There may be more but even in a couple of modest sized sleeves it's amazing how difficult it is to locate them.
At least three are now actively feeding. The cat in the first photo was busy eating while I was setting up the shot. The second photo shows a pair of larvae that have clearly been eating the Sallow shoots.
Just to show that iris does not have a monopoly on being hard to see the final photo is a White Admiral I am also rearing. Seen in profile it's fairly easy to see. However when viewed against the Honeysuckle stem the larvae is almost impossible to see.
Given Matthew's rather pessimistic assessment of the prospects for the coming season hopefully all of these larvae will make it to release back into the same wood that they came from.
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