Blackadder Returns

Another delightful morning spent in the company of Matthew, monitoring Purple Emperor larvae in a Wiltshire Wood, before heading over to Winchester for the UK Butterflies winter social gathering. This time we returned to the area where I found my first ever iris larvae and ova a few months ago. We quickly relocated the few that we knew were there, but also decided to give one particular sallow a really thorough search. Now that the sallows are largely devoid of leaves, any leaves that were left warranted a closer inspection to see whether or not they were attached with silk to the branch, a sure sign that a larva isn't too far away. I managed to find such a leaf pretty quickly and soon found a hibernating larva on an adjacent stem. I then realised that this was the 3rd larva I'd ever found - Blackadder returns! Matthew then surpassed himself (again) by getting us well into double figures for larvae on this one sallow and taking his own tally to over 225 for the season - amazing!

Spot the larva

Blackadder returns

Leaf stalk attached by silk

Going walkabout