Wildlife Diary from Naunton Beauchamp: Aposematism and Chicken Farm at Upton Snodsbury Round Two!

It's that time of year when lots of people are taking holidays. We just came back from being away too and found that the Chicken Farm Proposal at Upton Snodsbury has been re-submitted. Strangely that means that although the original plans haven't changed (the applicant has merely submitted all the documents he should have submitted in the first place) all the original objections no longer stand. A great way to waste an awful lot of time and ratepayers money in sending out letters to the original objectors....the process is an interesting one.

So, if you've come across this blog and would like to object to the proposal that would fundamentally change the peace, tranquillity, smell and pollution of this area please OBJECT NOW! Find out more on the www.no-chicken-farm.org website.

Back to Piddle Brook in a moment but first..towards the ends of the post I'll upload a video of butterflies I took on a small Caribbean Island called Cayman Brac. We decided that the Big Butterfly Count would have had a hard job of counting how many there were - the word "lots" would have done quite well. They are everywhere - something that we probably won't ever see in the UK. They weren't very colourful - mainly white although just after that I'll post the swallowtail I did get a picture of. Cayman Brac only has a population of 2000 on an island that measures 12 miles by 1 mile with a large bluff running down the middle.

One common theme between Cayman Brac and Piddle Brook (!) is the use of Aposematism in animals which indicates that you shouldn't eat them. The organism is basically saying it is dangerous or unpalatable. I wasn't aware of the word until I read about it on the Amateur Entomologists' Society website.

On my morning walk alongside Piddle Brook towards North Piddle I discovered Ragwort with three Cinnabar moth caterpillars on it.

This is from the Amateur Entomologists' Society website - "The caterpillars have alternating orange and black bands down their bodies. The ragwort plants on which the caterpillars feed contain alkaloid poisons. As they eat the leaves the caterpillars store the poison and this is passed from caterpillar to pupa and finally to the imago/adult. The caterpillars advertise the fact that they are poisonous if eaten through their aposematic colouration."

While we were on holiday on Cayman Brac we found another caterpillar which had selected one particular Frangipani bush and there must have been around twenty caterpillars on it. It appeared to have the same message! Don't eat me was pretty clear. These caterpillars have a voracious appetite and can eat a leaf in a few minutes. The bush didn't stand much chance! The caterpillars were about the size of my index finger.

Frangipani Caterpillar from Cayman Brac

On my morning walk there were lots of white butterflies - mostly Cabbage whites, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers

Gatekeeper Butterfly

But a Butterfly that I hadn't seen before and identified was the Small Copper - this is how it is described on the Butterfly Conservation Website -

"The Small Copper is usually seen in ones and twos, but in some years large numbers may be found at good sites. Males are territorial, often choosing a piece of bare ground or a stone on which to bask and await passing females. They behave aggressively towards any passing insects, returning to the same spot when the chase is over.

Though it remains a common and widespread species, the Small Copper declined throughout its range during the twentieth century. Widespread through Britain and Ireland, and occasionally visits gardens."

Small Copper

It's more agressive behaviour was borne out by its interaction with this bee - most butterflies take off when bees land on a flower from my experience but this guy was having none of it and was quite determined that the bee shouldn't get rid of him too easily!