It's
not just birds and mammals that need our help when it comes to rescuing, from time to time something all
together much smaller and different requires some help.
On
Thursday I received a call from the lovely people at Secret World Wildlife Rescue about some hibernating butterflies in a building that needs to be
plastered but the wonderful builder didn't want to disturb the butterflies so
called Secret World, who then called me! After much research and discussions it
was decided that someone would take the butterflies and put them in the loft of
their house to join those already hibernating there. The tricky bit was to
remove them from the building and transport them safely without them warming up
and thinking it's spring.
So,
this morning we went to the building armed with cardboard boxes, a torch and
camera to collect the butterflies and moths as it would turn out to be. We went
from room to room, taking some photos and carefully removing the butterflies
and moths one by one and putting them into the boxes. Once they had all been
collected we made a quick count of species and off they went to their new
hibernating home.
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| Peacock butterflies on the wall |
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| Small tortoiseshell butterflies on the ceiling |
In
total we rescued:
30
peacock butterflies (Aglais io)
21
Small tortoiseshell butterflies (Aglais
urticae)
7 Herald
moths (Scoliopteryx libatrix)
 |
| Herald moths in the box ready to go to their new hibernating site |
One
thing we observed when moving the butterflies was the rasping noise that the
peacock butterflies produced. this rasping sound is produced when the forewings
are rubbed together as they open and close, flashing the bright patterns and
eyespots. Outside, flashing the eye spots and patterns of the wings acts as a very
good deterrent to predators but in the dark the eye spots would not be seen so
they produce the rasping noise as well and this has been seen to be an
effective deterrent against mice.
These butterflies and moths will be put in the
loft and left to sleep out the cold months emerging again in Spring. This was
an unusual rescue and a first I think for Secret World, but we cannot thank the
kind builder enough for contacting the staff at Secret World and allowing us to
go in and remove the insects. The majority of rescues involve birds and mammals
but occasionally the smaller creatures need help to, so below is some advice on
what to do if you find any hibernating butterflies or moths.
Advice
on hibernating butterflies and moths
Here
in the UK we have four species of butterflies that hibernate regularly as
adults (Brimstone, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock) and in recent years
there have been reports of Red Admiral butterflies
hibernating in the UK and this is probably due to warming temperatures. The two
species you are most likely to come across in the house, garage or shed are the
small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies.
As it
gets colder, butterflies look for a dark, dry and sheltered location to
hibernate and there they will stay until spring. However, sometimes the places
they choose can be our homes and this can cause a problem when we put the
heating on and the house becomes warmer than it was when the butterfly started
to hibernate. Unfortunately this can trick the butterfly into thinking that it
is spring and time to go outside but this would be fatal for it as there would
be no food and the cold temperatures would certainly kill it. If you find a
butterfly in your home and it's not moving, please leave it where it is, however
if the warmth of the house is causing it to become active you may need to
relocate it to somewhere more suitable such as an unheated outbuilding, like a
garage or shed or even a loft if you know you have butterflies hibernating
there already (normally older houses with gaps where the butterflies can get in
and out).
It is
always good to check to see if you have any hibernating butterflies in the
garage, shed or loft as if there are already some butterflies there they are
able to find their own way in out and again come spring. Moving them should
only be done as a last resort and if you do need to move them please be very
very careful as they are very delicate and also the warmth from your hands can
be enough to bring them out of hibernation if handled for too long.
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| Peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflies hibernating in a small group on the ceiling |
As our
butterflies needed to be moved between buildings, we placed them into cardboard
boxes to transport them, these boxes will be placed into the loft and left open
rather than handle them for a second time. If you have moved your butterflies
into a garage or shed with windows then come springtime, those butterflies that
have survived as they wake up they will probably head straight for the window
and can get caught up in spiders webs so just check on them regularly to make
sure they can get back outside safely.
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| Herald moth and peacock butterflies hibernating together on the the ceiling |
Our butterflies and moths are now safe and the builders can get on with the work. Please don't worry of your hibernating butterflies don't make it through the winter this is not uncommon and can happen for numerous reasons.
A huge thank you goes out again to the builder for noticing them and allowing us to go and move them to a safer place and to the staff of Secret World for organising the rescue!
