Large Blues III

Return visit in the evening to Green Down to photograph the large blue butterflies.

Green Down – Somerset, UK. ID 822_5567

Wild Tyme

Wild Thyme (Thymus polytrichus) – Green Down, Somerset, UK. ID 822_5024

The large blue butterfly is very rare.  One of the reasons must be its complicated lifecycle.  The caterpillars feed on the wild thyme before being carried underground by the ant Myrmica sabuleti.  The ants care for it as if it was another ant.  The larvae stay sheltered underground until the following summer.

The Large Blue

I arrived in the afternoon and a few large blues were about.  In the strong winds they quickly disappeared over the scrub as soon as they lifted.

Large Blue (Maculinea arion) – Green Down, Somerset, UK. ID 822_5000

Small Heath

The clear star was the small heaths.  These were busy little butterflies chasing off any other butterflies that came near including the large blue.  Fun to watch but not good news when trying to photograph them.

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) – Green Down, Somerset, UK. ID 822_5029

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) – Green Down, Somerset, UK. ID 822_5015

And Finally…

There are moths too such as the burnet moth.

Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii) – Green Down, Somerset, UK. ID 822_5055