Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them
are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that
is in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 15/08/2013 18:10, Sacha wrote:
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them
are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that is
in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.

My first thought was a dragonfly, but that's a bit far removed from a
butterfly. Perhaps it's a hawk moth.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On 2013-08-15 18:36:10 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley said:

On 15/08/2013 18:10, Sacha wrote:
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them
are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that is
in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.

My first thought was a dragonfly, but that's a bit far removed from a
butterfly. Perhaps it's a hawk moth.

I think they'd know both those well and even a hawk moth's span
wouldn't overhang a Dahlia, do you think? The markings don't resemble
any kind of dragonfly we see around here and of course the dragonfly
shape is pretty well unmistakeable - too long for a butterfly. I did
see an enormous dragonfly up at first floor level today - bit confused,
poor thing - and even at that height I couldn't think it was a
butterfly. My money's still on an escapee, though it would be lovely if
some rare survivor of natural England had found its way here.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and its
wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you which
one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them are two
white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that is in
itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was described
to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from Buckfastleigh
Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed, any ideas at all,
we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an escapee, sad to say, it
probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the eggs won't survive.
--


It doesn't sound like anything I know, however this is a good site for ID
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php

Tina

On 2013-08-15 23:12:27 +0100, Christina Websell said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them
are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that
is in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.
--


It doesn't sound like anything I know, however this is a good site for ID
http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php

Tina

Thanks, Tina. I'll look through that but given the description
(assuming it's accurate at all) it does sound like an escapee. I'm
just hoping the attempted photo did work.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Actually that could be a garbled description of a monarch. It is the largest British butterfly with a 100mm wingspan. They don't breed here, they occasionally fly over from France and the SW is where they are mainly spotted in late summer. However they are cultivated in butterfly farms so it may be an escaped monarch.... UK Butterflies - Monarch - Danaus plexippus

On 2013-08-16 08:58:51 +0100, echinosum said:

Sacha;989975 Wrote:
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope

one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long

and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them

are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that
is in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.


Actually that could be a garbled description of a monarch. It is the
largest British butterfly with a 100mm wingspan. They don't breed here,
they occasionally fly over from France and the SW is where they are
mainly spotted in late summer. However they are cultivated in butterfly
farms so it may be an escaped monarch.... 'UK Butterflies - Monarch -
Danaus plexippus' (http://tinyurl.com/kafd9fm)

Interesting idea. I'll show them the photos and see what they think.
It's interesting that it feeds on Milkweed, because we have some in
pots just outside that greenhouse and I think I better grab them and
plant them somewhere in our own garden, or in one of the greenhouses,
perhaps.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 16/08/2013 10:24, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-08-16 08:58:51 +0100, echinosum said:

Sacha;989975 Wrote:
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday...

Actually that could be a garbled description of a monarch.

Interesting idea. I'll show them the photos and see what they think.
It's interesting that it feeds on Milkweed...

That's the food plant of the caterpillar. Adults would only be on that
to lay eggs.
--
Phil Cook

On 2013-08-16 15:25:13 +0100, Phil Cook said:

On 16/08/2013 10:24, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-08-16 08:58:51 +0100, echinosum said:

Sacha;989975 Wrote:
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday...

Actually that could be a garbled description of a monarch.

Interesting idea. I'll show them the photos and see what they think.
It's interesting that it feeds on Milkweed...

That's the food plant of the caterpillar. Adults would only be on that
to lay eggs.

Indeed but if there are some around, presumably it would attract them.
The site that echinosum linked to says that there have been some in
Cornwall and Scilly. And one escapee was seen laying its eggs on
milkweed in Kew. The eggs were rescued and hatched out a month later.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2013-08-16 16:56:16 +0100, Malcolm said:

In article , Sacha
writes
Two of the nursery team saw a very large butterfly yesterday and I hope
one of them got a photo with her mobile phone! Apparently, it was long
and kind of narrow (Spitefire aeroplane shape was the description) and
its wings were wider than a Dahlia flower, though I couldn't tell you
which one! The background of the wings is dark and 'somewhere' on them
are two white stripes and there is an orange outline on the body that
is in itself, butterfly shaped. Ray has described it to me as it was
described to him, he didn't see it. I suspect an escapee from
Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm but if anyone has other ideas, or indeed,
any ideas at all, we'd be very grateful to hear them. If it is an
escapee, sad to say, it probably won't survive to lay eggs here or the
eggs won't survive.

The only aeroplane-shaped insects I know of are the hawkmoths. And size
is so difficult to judge, not least because Dahlias come in all
different sizes, from an inch to several inches across.

You can find all the hawkmoths on the ukmoths.org.uk website.

If your local butterfly farm is any good at what they do, then they
won't have escapes. Phone them and ask.

Or how about Tiger Moth?

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2057

I've just talked to one of the girls - not the one with the photo,
unfortunately. She said definitely long and narrow, sort of Spitfire
shape, dark background, orange butterfly shape in the middle and two
white bits at the end of the wings. So I think an escapee is the most
likely. The Butterfly Farm is too big to be aware of one escaping
butterfly. But if someone is a bit slow going through the barrier
strips and holds those and the door open it would be too easy for a
butterfly to escape. It's a popular local attraction and a lot of
people go through there daily. Anyway, I hope that next Wednesday,
we'll see a photo of it and might get a better idea.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk