Back on the 4th May I spotted a Peacock egg laying on a large clump of Stinging Nettles in an area on the patch. After taking a few images I left her to it, but on the walk back it was impressive the amount of eggs she had laid there.
Peacock egg laying. 4th May.
The eggs under the Nettle. 4th May.
On the 13th May I stopped to see how the eggs were getting on and I saw what I assumed was a parasitic wasp there. As it was this was not the case as it was an Auchenorrhyncha nymph that feeds on sap, I assume it was finding some moisture around the eggs that it found to its liking. Fortunately it certainly didn't affect the eggs. My thanks to Mark Colvin for the id and spelling of the tiny beast!!
Peacock Eggs with Auchenorrhyncha nymph. 13th May.
On 25th May I saw that the eggs had recently hatched with many tiny larva in the area where the eggs had been.
Newly hatched Peacock larva. 25th May.
It wasn't until 7th June before my next visit and I was amazed at how many larva there were. The following photo is a small section of the gathering.
Young Peacock larva. 7th June.
The following day was even more impressive.
Peacock larva. 8th June.
There could be an explosion of butterflies in a few weeks time!!
I really hope you have an explosion of Peacocks. They could do with some good luck. I was watching an enormous batch of caterpillars last year, but they were wiped out by three days of heavy rain.
ReplyDelete