A life's passion for butterflies

EXPERT Jesmond Harding discusses his new book detailing Irish butterflies

Jesmond Harding traces his love of butterflies back to a sun-drenched memory from when he was just four years old. He vividly recalls watching his Irish father wielding an empty shoe box in an attempt to catch an azure-coloured butterfly as it flitted across a park in Bristol, where he was born.

"My Dad dived Pat Jennings style with the box and lid and missed it and he fell on the grass. I thought this was the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life. I was smitten with the idea of my Dad being so excited about a butterfly."

Jesmond, who has long since made Kildare his home, also believes it was the beauty of the butterfly and its ability to fly that so enraptured him. "It was free to go where it wanted," he recalls.

A secondary school teacher of English and History, Jesmond has indulged his passion over the decades by running Butterfly Conservation Ireland - a charity dedicated to conserving Ireland's butterflies and moths and their habitats. Early retirement afforded Jesmond the time to author The Irish Butterfly Book, which hit the book shelves earlier this year.

He had long found it frustrating that Ireland's few dozen butterflies are usually given "a cursory section" within books primarily examining Britain's species. After a quarter of a century of research and much travel, Jesmond's efforts have culminated in what must be the definitive book on Irish butterflies.

"I bred all of the Irish butterflies outdoors in my garden to see their development - took detailed notes each day as I watched them. Some only feed in the dead of night when it's completely black, so I'd be out on my knees at the foodplant with a torch looking for the caterpillars.

"I had to go from place to place to check on flight periods. Not all butterflies in Ireland fly in the same place at the same time. So for example butterflies in the southwest will emerge earlier than butterflies in the Northeast for climate reasons. So there was a lot of travel needed to try to get the phenology right - the timing of biological events," he says and quickly emphasises it was "a labour of love".

A fascinating read it will prove enjoyable for those with a passing interest in the most beautiful of insects, and as the trend of citizens science continues to grow, it will prove an essential reference tool. Jesmond cautions that some material published online can be "just plain wrong".

"Web searches of one butterfly bring up images of a totally different species. You cannot trust a lot of material online - unless from an acknowledged expert," says Jesmond.

Beautiful

Asked for his favourite butterfly Jesmond opts for a truly outstanding species, the Marsh Fritillary.

"It has a huge inherent variety in its genetic make-up. Even within sites the appearance of individuals changes from year to year. Some years they are very dark, other years they are much paler, some years they are smaller, and some years they are larger.

"It looks like a stained glass window with the light coming through the colours. It has a dark background with creams and brick red and warm yellows shining through, and the underside has largely a Victorian red brick appearance. It really is an exquisite species, especially when they are fresh. When it's jut emerged from its pupae, fresh out of the package it just looks glorious."

The Marsh Fritillary is Ireland's only legally protected insect, which is instructive of how it is fairing. Its difficulty stems from its dependency on the pretty wildflower devil's bit scabious.

"It only breeds on that plant when it occurs in an abundance of around 25% or more of the vegetation," he begins of the Marsh Fritillary's list of requirements. The Devil's Bit Scabious must also be found in an unshaded spot with a south-facing aspect, and in association with particular mosses or grasses.

"Its habitat requirements are quite specific and quite onerous, which is why they are quite localised," explains Jesmond.

The Burren region in North Clare region is home to the largest populations, where the stony landscape is "farmed very sympathetically" and with almost no chemicals.

Jesmond also reports "good populations" in Galway, Mayo and Sligo coastline, and opines it "might occur" on the edges of bogs in Cavan and Monaghan.

Ireland has 35 species of butterfly, four of which have only been included on the list since the year 2000. One of these recent "gains" is the wonderfully named Cryptic Wood White. Only 'discovered' in 2011, somewhat cryptically, it had been here all along.

"It was misidentified for an identical species called the Wood White," explains Jesmond.

Research by scientists in Barcelona - actually aided by a sample provided by Jesmond - cleared up the confusion.

"They did a molecular analysis and they found out that the Cryptic Wood White and the Wood White are separate species, even though they look completely identical in all life stages - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult. They do not hybridise - they do not mate with each other and they live in different habitats as well."

Another interesting distinction between the two wood whites is that the Cryptic Wood White only has one generation per year, whereas the Wood White has a second generation - it flies from late April to June, and again from July to early or mid- August.

Although most Irish butterflies do only have one generation there are other native species that can have more.

"The Small Tortoiseshell butterfly can have three generations a year," says Jesmond, "And the Red Admiral is polyvoltine - polyvoltine means it's continuously brooding, it doesn't have a break in its life cycle, so there is no rest phase, that's why it can't live here over April, so there is a reverse migration back to southern Europe by the Red Admiral."

Fittingly given its ability to accomplish such an incredible feat, the Red Admiral takes pride of place on the cover of Jesmond's book. For more on the Red Admiral, his favourite, The Marsh Fritillary, and all other native species, you can pick up a copy of The Irish Butterfly Book in Candlelight Books, Main Street, Cavan.