In search of the adonis…
June 11, 2024
Self-confessed butterfly fanatic Tim Squire, a ranger for the Eastern Downs around Brighton and Eastbourne, writes about his search for one iconic insect this spring.
Last week I visited a farm in the Eastern Downs to try and find the famed Adonis blue butterfly. With its electric blue wings, this insect is found on our very best chalk grassland sites. I have seen the Adonis blue at this location before and was hoping to catch up with this downland jewel. I could not find one though.
This year they seem to be very late emerging. They have two broods – an early brood that takes to the wing in May – and then a second larger brood, progeny of the first, that peaks in August. They love the short-grazed turf of the warmest south facing slopes, of which there are only a few on the Downs.
This particular farm that I visited has a lovely south-facing slope on which the National Park Authority has been working with the landowner for years. As well as brilliant chalk grassland, it has the remains of an ancient Bronze Age Field System.
We have been clearing the mature scrub, both to restore the chalk grassland and to reveal the archaeology so that the ridges of the old field system, or lynchets, are once again visible.
The Adonis blue might have eluded me last week but I still had the pleasure of watching some of the admittedly less vibrant, but equally beautiful, downland butterflies.
Aptly named, the dingy skipper was one of the first butterflies I saw on the site. It has a rustic charm and delicate beauty when viewed up close when it is very fresh and first on the wing.
Its smaller cousin, the grizzled skipper, is slightly more stylishly marked and a great butterfly to find in the spring.
A good consolation prize for not finding my Adonis!
