BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHSThe distribution of butterflies around Bingham is split amongst three different habitats: gardens, hedgerows/roadsides and the Linear Walk. Familiar garden butterflies include the Brimstone, Cabbage Whites, Green-veined Whites, Orange Tips, Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks together with Red Admirals and Painted Ladies. Two more recently established species are the ragged winged Comma and the Holly Blue. Brown butterflies such as Meadow Browns, Hedge Browns, Ringlets and Wall Browns frequent the hedgerows and roadsides.
Some years they appear in large numbers; in others they are almost absent. All these butterflies inhabit the Linear Walk with, in addition, Common Blues, Small Coppers and the Brown Argus. Four Skippers fly along the Walk: the Large Skipper, the Small Skipper, the migratory Essex Skipper, and the locally rare Grizzled Skipper. Usually seen here in late May and early June, the Grizzled Skipper is at the very northern edge of its British distribution. A newcomer to Bingham is the Speckled Wood, most frequently seen along the Banks near the cemetery. Finally, the Walk is home to the Four Spotted Moth, a nationally rare insect most usually seen in the south west of England and increasingly less common further north. The moth appears in May and June with occasionally a second generation in August and September. It is active on the wing in the sunshine but in dull weather it hides under herbage near the small bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) that provides its food. Adult moths will eat the bindweed leaves but it prefers the flowers and seeds especially in infancy. CLICK HERE FOR BINGHAM'S RARE INSECTS
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