Friday, November 10, 2006

Speckled Wood - indoors


I was on my way outside to fill up the bird feeder yesterday when I discovered this beautiful Speckled Wood sitting quite happily on the windowframe - inside the building. It seemed a bit late in the year (though there are still butterflies on the wing outside at the moment) so I consulted Ian Dawson, insect guru, and he came to have a look.

We were puzzling over what the butterfly was doing indoors when he found its chrysalis stuck to the doorframe:

He told me that Speckled Woods are the only British butterflies which can overwinter in caterpillar or chrysalis forms, but not adult... They only last for five days anyway.

photos taken with Nikon Coolpix 995

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