Looking for Dodder and Brown Argus butterfly
Gundale 30th June 2018
Species lists below
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Disappointingly only four members attended this meeting to see two rarities in our area, particularly as Allan and Jackie had given up their time to lead this walk. A colleague of theirs also attended. We met at 10am and Allan had kindly brought moths trapped at Ellerburn the previous evening to show the group.
We walked in to the site through arable crops and woodland and were pleased to see a yellow wagtail in the former. The hot weather ensured good numbers of butterflies and we were soon looking at dark green fritillary (approximately 20 for the morning) and good numbers of marbled white. The first generation of brown argus were almost finished but we were lucky to find four of them. It was noted that the butterfly was smaller than we had expected.
 Brown argus butterfly |
 Brown argus butterfly |
 Marbled white butterfly |
 Marbled white butterfly |
 Dark green fritillary butterfly |
 Small skipper butterfly |
Dodder was located on its usual bank and except for one very small flower we were too early in the season to see it at its best. Dodder is a leafless, parasitic plant and its thread-like stems wrap themselves round the host plant, in this case rockrose. We were unable to find the basil thyme but did find two plants of pepper saxifrage, small scabious, carline thistle, hoary plantain and greater knapweed. The main orchid was pyramidal but we did find common spotted orchid and two fly orchids past their best.
Dodder Cuscuta epithymum
 Pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis |
 Hoary plantain Plantago media |
 Small scabious Scabiosa columbaria |
 Small scabious Scabiosa columbaria |
Some scrub, mainly hawthorn, clearance work has already been conducted at this site and more is planned.
 Goatsbeard seedhead |
 Carline thistle Carlina vulgaris |
 Hoverfly (male Syrphus sp.) |
 Field scabious Knautia arvensis |
 Quaking grass Briza media |
 Greater knapweed bud Centaurea scabiosa |
Pepper saxifrage Silaum silaus
Our thanks to Allan and Jackie for their time and expertise.
As this was primarily a butterfly trip we did not make a complete plant list; however, we did note the more interesting species seen.
| Latin name | Common name |
|---|---|
| Anacamptis pyramidalis | Pyramidal orchid |
| Anthriscus caucalis | Bur chervil |
| Briza media | Quaking grass |
| Bromus erectus (Bromopsis erecta) | Upright brome |
| Campanula rotundifolia | Harebell |
| Carduus crispus | Welted thistle |
| Carlina vulgaris | Carline thistle |
| Centaurea scabiosa | Greater knapweed |
| Circaea lutetiana | Enchanter’s nightshade |
| Cuscuta epithymum | Dodder |
| Dactylorhiza fuchsii | Common spotted orchid |
| Euphrasia officinalis agg. | Eyebright |
| Galium verum | Lady’s bedstraw |
| Helianthemum nummularium | Rockrose |
| Inula conyzae | Ploughman’s spikenard |
| Knautia arvensis | Field scabious |
| Leontodon hispidus | Rough hawkbit |
| Leucanthemum vulgare | Dog daisy or Ox-eye daisy |
| Ophrys insectifera | Fly orchid |
| Picris hieracioides | Oxtongue hawkweed |
| Plantago media | Hoary plantain |
| Polygala vulgaris | Common milkwort |
| Scabiosa columbaria | Small scabious |
| Silaum silaus | Pepper saxifrage |
| Stachys officinalis = Betonica officinalis | Betony |
| Teucrium scorodonia | Wood sage |
| Thymus polytrichus | Thyme |
| Tragopogon pratensis | Goatsbeard |
| Trisetum flavescens | Yellow oat |
Meadow brown
Ringlet
Dark green fritillary
Marbled white
Common blue
Brown argus
Large skipper
Small skipper
Red admiral
Brimstone (male)
Speckled wood
Large white
Small pearl bordered
| © Ryedale Natural History Society 2018, Photos © Jayne Smith, Gill Smith, Adrian Smith 2018 |