Mud-Puddling Butterflies

Small white butterflies, Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), feeding on minerals in mud.  Animals (such as butterflies) that feed mainly on plants, which are generally poor sources of minerals, need to supplement their diet in other ways.  If you look closely (click through the image and then select the magnifying glass for a larger view), you will see that each of the butterflies has its proboscis inserted into the mud.  This way of taking in minerals is known as mud-puddling.

Photo taken at Highcliff Gate, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-06.

The Dark Side

A peacock butterfly, Inachis io (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).  Peacock butterflies are one of the most colourful insects found in the British Isles, but their undersides are just plain black.

Photo taken in my father's garden in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-07.

Hoverfly

At first glance, I thought that this was some form of Sphaerophoria but, on closer inspection, it turned out to be Meliscaeva cinctella (Diptera: Syrphidae).  The flower is, I think, burdock, and the little black things are probably leaf beetles (there may even be some aphids in there too).

Photo at the top of Bousdale, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-08.

Black Flies

More black flies, this time distinctly matt black ones with three longitudinal ridges on the mesonotum and a flat scutellum.  Probably Minettia longipennis (Diptera: Lauxaniidae).

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-07-19 and 2009-06-04.

Mandarin Ducks

A male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata).

And a female:

And, what I presume is an immature male:

Photos taken beside the middle lake in Whiteknights Park,  Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-01-09.

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