A team of volunteers from Friends of the Quantocks had a great evening out in Holford recently searching for White-letter Hairstreak caterpillars.
These tiny creatures glow in the dark under UV light and so armed with special UV torches, the team discovered 16 caterpillars in their search around the village. Later that same evening, six more caterpillars were spotted in East Quantoxhead.
22 sightings is a hugely encouraging increase on last year’s total of three and also means we have now discovered WLH in three villages – two of which never had official records for the butterfly before we started.
We are now aware of some further flowering elm in other locations including Enmore (last sighting 1954) and will be looking out for butterflies at these sites too later in the year.
As this newsletter goes ‘to press’, we’re getting ready to host an Elm & Hairstreaks project talk in Bicknoller on Monday 15th June. Everyone’s invited and there’s no need to book. Come and hear about the latest findings, the forward plan for tree-planting and how you can get involved in surveying elm trees and the White-letter Hairstreaks (and other butterflies) throughout the coming seasons.
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