A beautiful sunny day on Sunday 14th October encouraged butterflies to enjoy the heat. A calm day allowed heat to build, enticing over-wintering butterflies to venture out. A male Brimstone, some Small Tortoiseshells and a Peacock brightened this mid-autumn day. These were joined by two female Small Coppers, a Red Admiral and a brace of Speckled Woods. Ruddy Darters dragonflies were everywhere, grasshoppers chirruped and it felt like August!
Leaving to go home was hard but a bright orange neon glow on glossy ivy leaves high up on a hedge at Lullymore stopped the car. A lovely Comma! Will it breed in the area? There is an abundance of breeding habitat and overwintering sites in the area. It was still there today (Monday, October 15th) and seems to be making itself comfortable sipping ivy nectar. Welcome to west Kildare!
The Comma butterfly was first sighted in Ireland in the late 1990s but it was not until about the second decade of this century that regular sightings were being reported. Breeding was first confirmed in a wood in Carlow in May 2014. Since then the butterfly has been reported, usually as single individuals, in many areas in the south-east. Its spread is expected to continue, and it joins the 23 other butterfly species recorded in Lullymore/Lullybeg in 2018.
