Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies, Aglais urticae, and How to Help Them.

by Judith John.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.
Photo by Bill Welch.

This is a widespread butterfly occurring in gardens as well as the wider countryside. The caterpillars feed in a communal silk nest and were previously a common site on nettle patches.

Numbers had declined in recent years due to habitat loss, dry summers affecting nettle growth and by attack from the parasitic fly Sturmia bella. However, small tortoiseshell butterflies now appear to be increasing both nationally and locally, so it has been decided not to ask for further records in 2018 but to ask instead for records of the majestic purple emperor butterfly, which was presumed extinct in Kent during the late 1980's but now seems to be making a slow comeback, with a number of recent records in the south of Bromley Borough.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.
Photo by Bill Welch.

Any purple emperor records will be invaluable in the identification of new local breeding colonies so that we can protect and pro-actively manage these woodland sites.

It remains important to help the small tortoiseshell butterfly to continue to recover its local population by allowing meadow plants to flower in parks and by providing suitable nectar plants, including knapweed, scabious and marjoram. In more wild areas of gardens, parks and the wider countryside, you can provide ivy, bramble and thistles.

If you look for patches of uncut nettles in sunny corners of parks, countryside and your garden you may be rewarded by this beautiful butterfly visiting to lay her eggs, and her progeny may later delight you with a flash of orange, black and blue on a summer's day.