Orange tip failure

It is September and the garlic mustard is now chewed within an inch of its existance. Not due to the orange tips which eat the seed pods and were all predated in the larval or pupal stage.

The larva change colour early on in their development. I like the grey/white stripe.

Once fully fed the larva finds a stem and ties on with a silk girdle. This individual died without pupating and the only pupa found had been opened and emptied. Maybe next year.

The garlic mustard has since been hammered (from 3 foot high to 1 inch) by both large and small white butterfly larvae.

Brimstone butterfly breeding

The alder buckthorns in the hedge were the centre of activity. The larvae numbers dropped a bit over time but over all a lot probably went to ground. We had a few pristine adults in early August and like to delude ourselves they were home grown.