Despite an absolutely glorious day on the cliffs, we saw
very little Lep activity, the one exception being Plutella xylostella, with 100+ seen at Horse Cliff. The cliff tops in this section are powdered white with Danish Scurvey-grass at this time of year (see photo below) and I'm guessing this is the main
foodplant of what is presumably a home-bred population, although the dominant
form was the pale-sandy type, which could suggest migrants – I don’t know? Sorry lots of speculation here! Has there been any migrant activity yet? Several Small Tortoiseshells, the only other species noted.
Only Brimstone and 2 Small Torts in Laleston / Bridgend today and a Green-veined White yesterday. No butterflies at all at Broughton / Llangennith despite the nice weather.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. There have been some diamondbacks reported recently on Atropos Flight Arrivals, but nothing like those numbers. I'd agree that given the large numbers they are probably home grown.
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