Mediterranean Pyrenees
  • Home
  • About
  • Galleries
    • Birds of the Mediterranean Pyrenees >
      • Common Birds of the Mediterranean Pyrenees by Isobel
    • Weather in the Mediterranean Pyrenees >
      • Weather: skies and storms in the Mediterranean Pyrenees
      • Clouds above the Mediterranean Pyrenees by Isobel
      • The summer of 2015 by Isobel
    • Bruce's Pix >
      • Beetles, Bugs and other insects
      • Birds
      • Butterflies
      • Butterflies of La Batère
      • Canigou
      • Castles
      • Dragonflies
      • Flowers
      • Pyrenees Landscapes
      • TGV
      • UK photos
    • Isobel's Images >
      • Isobel's favourite images
      • Springtime in an Alberes garden
      • In the garden
      • Tour de Batere, spring 2015 with Robin Noble
    • Lesley's Snaps >
      • Insects & Arachnids
      • Bees
      • Birds
      • Les Albères
      • Elsewhere in the region
    • Robin's Photos
    • Martine's Photos
    • GUESTS' Gallery
  • Birdsong
  • Blog
  • Resources
  • Contact

Birth of a Scarce Swallowtail

26/3/2016

2 Comments

 
by Lesley McLaren

In January I wrote about finding the pupa of a scarce swallowtail on a wall of our house. I've been keeping an anxious eye on it ever since, especially this month as the butterfly should emerge in March; assuming it's still alive at all.

I must admit to wishing it would get a move on - we want to paint the wall and door next to it but can't until this lodger has left! I'm sure many people will think I'm being silly about wanting to preserve one insect out of trillions. But to deliberately destroy something like this, after all that effort and all that time, simply because it's inconveniencing our decorating plans, seems wrong. Nature makes the odds of its survival low enough.

A few days ago I noticed the pupa "shell" had darkened considerably, which I hoped was a good sign.

Picture
11th January
Picture
25th March
But then I got very worried when a fierce tramontane blew up. Gusts were moving the pupa and I feared that those silk threads weren't going to hold. Unless the movement was caused by the butterfly inside. Was it waking up?

I don't know the answer to that, but I was hopeful today when the wind dropped and the temperature soared to 24 degrees in our garden. The sun wouldn't strike the pupa until the afternoon though. Would it stay warm enough for long enough?


When I went to check again at about 2pm - hurray! - it had gone! I'd missed the birth while writing my previous blog! Damn. But the sight of that empty shell made me beam like a proud mum. And that was the first time I touched it. It was papery thin and delicate; I tried to carefully pull it off the wall so I could examine it more closely - only to find it still very firmly attached. I need never have worried about that wind. Isn't nature clever?

There was no sign of the butterfly in the garden, and I'm so sorry not to have seen it, but - daft as I am - I wished it a long and happy life. "Born" 26th March 2016 - the same day the first leaf opened on our vine, and I heard my first wryneck of the year.

Picture
Happy Birthday!
A reminder of what he or she looks like now:
Picture
2 Comments
Cecile
9/4/2016 04:49:50 pm

How lovely L! Both story and pictures. Cx

Reply
Lesley McLaren
19/4/2016 09:16:12 am

Thanks so much, Cecile!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    Bruce Hyde
    Isobel Mackintosh
    Lesley McLaren
    Robin Noble

    Archives

    August 2020
    May 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Amphibians
    Arachnids
    Birds
    Bruce Hyde
    Dragonfly Differences
    Insects
    Isobel Mackintosh
    Lesley McLaren
    Mammals
    Marine Life
    Misc
    Mushrooms & Fungi
    Plants
    Reptiles
    Robin Noble
    Sea & Coast
    Tracks/Traces
    Weather

    Click icon for notification of new posts
    Subscribe
Lesley McLaren, Bruce Hyde, Isobel Mackintosh, Robin Noble, Martine Howard, mediterraneanpyrenees.com associates and affiliates do not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, product or process disclosed. Lesley McLaren, Bruce Hyde, Isobel Mackintosh, Robin Noble, Martine Howard, mediterraneanpyrenees.com and affiliates do not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes or services and cannot be held liable for any result of the use of such information, products, processes or services discussed on this website.