#SmallTortoiseshell

2025-06-15

Just as I was heading to my Sunday shift I caught this A. urticae resting on the wall next to my house's front door. One V. cardui and one unidentified white were flying around and escaped to my neighbor's property.

#Lepidoptera #Butterfly #SmallTortoiseshell #Insect #Nature

A small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) on a wall.
2025-05-26
This is why I love my little patch of stigning nettles in my garden. Every year, they attract so many different species.
These days, the small tortoiseshell caterpillars have grown so big, I expect them to pupate very soon - if the birds don’t find them first.

#wildgarden #caterpillar #smalltortoiseshell #vildmedvilje #nældenstakvinge
This is why I love my little patch of stigning nettles in my garden. Every year, they attract so many different species. 
These days, the small tortoiseshell caterpillars have grown so big, I expect them to pupate very soon - if the birds don’t find them first.
2025-04-16

[Archive – 09/21/22/30-04-2023]

The common dandelion has been the most important nectar plant in my region since 2023, attracting nearly all butterflies appearing in April. Its importance usually drops sharply in May & remains irrelevant for the rest of a given season, however this year the "May drop" is happening right now & hardly any insect so far has approached the masses of dandelions growing everywhere.

#Lepidoptera #Butterflies #SmallTortoiseshell #Peacock #CommonBrimstone #DingySkipper

A small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)  feeding on a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).A peacock (Aglais io) feeding on a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).A common brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)  feeding on a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).A dingy skipper (Erynnis tages)  feeding on a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
Butterflies can't see their wings. They can't see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.
- Naya Rivera

#butterflies #nature #naturephotography #smalltortoiseshell #aglaisurticae
2024-08-23
I'm in the middle of submitting some old software to the Internet Archive due to the weather being way too windy and cloudy for a regular field trip, however my mother just went outside to discard some old glass and noticed a butterfly on my neighbor's butterfly bush she didn't recognize. She told me that it is a V. cardui and so I joined her to get a good shot, only to notice that it's not a V. cardui but a Aglais urticae which I last observed in June, 2023.

My own excitement caused most shots to turn out horribly and my computer, which still is in the midst of uploading some old printer drivers, to get pretty hot during editing. Two other species, namely A. io and P. brassicae, also were photographed but right now my machine deserves a well-deserved break after having rescued, edited and donated a bunch of old (and damaged) CD's for days.

#lepidoptera #butterfly #smalltortoiseshell #germany #canoneos700d
2024-07-31

I’d given up waiting for Small Tortoiseshell butterflies to visit #InMyGarden - assuming the locals had been wiped out. There are much reduced numbers in many places in UK. So this specimen appearing yesterday gave me great joy.
#butterfly #ButterflyConservation #SaveButterflies #ButterflyWatch #SmallTortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly open winged, settled on one of several purple verbena flower heads. The wings are orange with black patches, rings of blue dots on the rear outer edges, ‘zebra’ type row on the front wing edges.
Nature with SteveNatureWithSteve
2024-07-20

Yesterday and the day before I spent some time at the old family home—and didn't see any Butterflies on the Buddleias. What a contrast to the Summers of my teens and 20s, when the 'Butterfly Bushes' regularly attracted dozens of Small Tortoiseshells like this one, plus Peacocks, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies.

Looking down on a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly with wings fully open, feeding on a Thistle flower. The wings are orange in colour, with black and pale yellow blotches, and with black borders containing blue spots along the outer edges.
2024-07-09
[Archive – 13-07-2022]

2022 was the last year in which Aglais urticae still appeared in relatively abundant numbers in my study area. The population began to decline drastically in May, 2023, after a promising start in April, and was only seen once in June. No observations have been made since then, supporting observations from other people that report a steady decline of this species across the continent, particularly Western Europe. It still is unclear what is causing this decline, yet for my region I can confirm that the 2022 drought had a delayed and a rather minor effect on A. urticae – in fact, this year is much wetter, yet it has not made a single appearance so far.

One oddity, however, is that all stinging nettles at exposed spots and in my rather-isolated yard were starting to show signs of nutrition deficiency in May, while those close to streams and ponds grew to twice of their usual sizes. There's a similar oddity among other nectar plants usually preferred by certain butterflies that outright were avoided by them and I'll elaborate those particular observations in future due to a strange pattern.

#lepidoptera #butterfly #smalltortoiseshell #aglaisurticae #germany #canoneos700d
2024-04-03

Butterflies are an indicator species, meaning they can tell us about the health of the wider environment. 2023 data in UK show continued decline of once common Small Tortoiseshell. I recorded them only in ones and twos in #InMyGarden whereas there wd once be up to a dozen on the lavender. ☹️
#SaveButterflies #SmallTortoiseshell #butterfly #butterflies #ButterflyConservation

theguardian.com/environment/20

small tortoiseshell butterfly open winged on purple lavender flowers.
2023-09-25

I suspect this Small Tortoiseshell has been around the block quite a while. #today after days of wind and rain, it settled on a wall warmed by the sun, seeming not to have strength to take off while I moved in very close. The last survivor of Aglais urticae this season, I suspect
#InMyGarden #SmallTortoiseshell #butterflies #ButterfliesUK #butterflyConservation #ButterflyWatch #Lepidoptera #lepidoptery #AutumnVibes #Gaygardener

Small tortoiseshell butterfly, open winged, on a stone. The wings are orange, with black bars at the front, blue spots at the back
2023-07-24

After a complete #washout of a #weekend the rain has finally stopped but the sun isn’t really to appear just yet.
Despite that, there were plenty of #butterflies out on the #reserve at #WWTCastleEspie this morning.
#Peacock, #RedAdmiral, #SmallTortoiseshell and #SmallCopper.

#nature #NaturePhotography #wildlife #invertebrate #insect #insects #lepidoptera #butterfly #ShotOnCanon #Canon

Peacock butterflyRed Admiral butterflySmall Tortoiseshell butterflySmall Copper butterfly
2023-07-10

I walked to the shop and found this little dude sitting on the path 😁

#ActiveTravel #Butterfly #SmallTortoiseshell

Orange butterfly sitting on a grey path.
2023-06-25

A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae) on the road. County Clare, Ireland.

Cormacscoast.com Walking tours

#wildatlanticway
#smalltortoiseshell
#butterfly #biodiversity #Ireland

2023-06-20

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is in decline in Wales/England. Checking my daily records of sightings #InMyGarden in 2022 only one or two butterflies whereas in past years there were 12-15 when lavender in full flower. #today lavender is in full flower: only one sighting so far 😩. So no recovery prob bec again the nettles they need in nearby fields are disappearing partly due to drought.
#SmallTortoiseshell
#SaveButterflies #lepidoptera #macro #macrophotography #GayGardener #butterflies

Small tortoiseshell butterfly, open winged, on lavender. The wings are orange, with black bars at the front, blue spots at the back

Client Info

Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst