Subject: Re: first sighting Belgium

From: Patrick Roper <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 May 1995 20:53:18 +0100

>Hello,
>
>The first Papilio machaon L.in Belgium was seen this year on 4th May.
>I saw a second one on 6 th May. Usualy the first generation is scarce.
>Last 5 years P. machaon was very well present in Belgium. Every year
>catterpillars are found.
>In 1990 about 90 ex. were reported to our Survey of Migrating Butterflies, in
>1991 224 ex.
>1992 was a very good year with almost 2000. 1993 was also good with 687 ex.
>And last year only 81 were reported. So it seems doing well this last 5 years.
>In Belgium it can sometimes be absent for many years. What was the situation of
>it in other countries. Maybe it reached the English coasts in the very good
>years ?
>Always an interesting and nice butterfly.

Dear Bart,

Interesting.  P. machaon gorganus has taken up temporary residence in
southern England from time to time, but never in the sort of quantities you
get in Belgium.  Our endemic P. machaon britannicus does quite well on the
Norfolk Broads, but is unable to spread due to lack of suitable habitat..

Last year, in early August, one of the readers of our magazine found a
freshly dead P. machaon of the nominate subspecies in the northern islands
of Shetland.  He thought it had been hit by a car.  Though it might have
travelled by ship, or been bred, there was an influx of Scandinavian moths
to Shetland at the same time, so it could have been a genuine immigrant.

I will let you know if I hear of any unusual Swallowtail reports this year.

Best regards,

Patrick Roper
Editor: Butterfly Conservation News
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