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NEWSLETTER No. 7 - Summer 1982
WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION
1982 Recording Scheme
This year, while still appealing for general records, we are hoping to focus our
efforts on particular areas and on certain species, which have been identified
with the help of the two County Recorders of Lepidoptera for Warwickshire and
Worcestershire, Roger Smith and Jack Green. We have also received a letter from
the new recorder for Gloucestershire appealing for help and this is reprinted on
our Letter Page, It is of great importance that those members who are able to do
so should try to find the time to make at least one visit to some of the areas
mentioned below during the course of the Summer. Please let us know how you get
on.
WORCESTERSHIRE :
Areas
1) The small area of Worcs. on the Cotswold slopes from Broadway Hill south to
Broadway Wood and then to Buckland.
2) Bredon Hill
3) Area on Worcs./Warks. border around the Lenches, especially the woods and odd
low lying rough/marshy areas
4) Stream valleys in West Worcs. - the "Tenbury Bulge"
Species
* White-letter Hairstreak - need to identify remaining sites and state of foodplant.
* Chalkhill Blue, Small Blue & Dark-green Fritillary - what is their current status if any, especially in areas 1) and 2) above.
* Duke of Burgundy - not seen in Worcs. for over 20 years, area 1) above would be probably the most likely if it still occurs.
* White Admiral - where does it still occur, area 3) would be worth examining?
* Fritillaries - where outside the Wyre Forest are their strongholds?
WARWICKSHIRE :
Areas
1) The north of the county, particularly between Nuneaton and Atherstone is very
under-recorded.
2) There is a shortage of information for the area around Shipston-on-Stour.
Species
* Purple Hairstreak - does this occur in woods north of Coventry? Searches in oakwoods within area 1) could be productive.
* Ringlet, Dingy & Grizzled Skipper, and Green Hairstreak are all species with few records in the north of the county. Is this correct?
* Marbled White - do the sightings of this butterfly at Shrawley and Coventry within the last couple of years suggest a northward and westward expansion in the distribution? Are there other sites in these areas?
* Brown Hairstreak - this butterfly is proving very elusive. Is it really extinct in Warks?
* Brown Argus - there have been a number of sightings in central Warks in recent years of odd individuals, but the foodplant - rockrose or storksbill - has not been found in the vicinity. Is there a colony lurking somewhere in the area?
So many questions! It would be great if by the end of the Summer we had a few of the answers.
Displays
We are grateful to Vera Johnson and Sue Johnson for their work in promoting butterfly conservation through recent displays at Kinver Library and at the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society in Worcester. We are keen to put on further displays over the Summer if members can arrange suitable venues. Sue has put a lot of work into designing original display material and this can be made available. We also need goods that we can sell for branch funds. If you have any ideas or have articles you would like to donate please get in touch.