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Small tortoiseshell.

 

 

It is often simply called just “koerliblikas”, tortoiseshell, instead of its full name “väike-koerliblikas”, “small tortoiseshell”. Koerliblikas is also the Estonian name for the Aglais genus butterflies. In early spring the small tortoiseshell heralds a „many-coloured summer“ for us , if it is the first butterfly to be seen.

 

Around Midsummer the second generation of tortoiseshells began to be more often visible in north-western Estonia and a week ago, with the 30-degree heat, the air was thick with migrating tortoiseshell butterflies (migrant butterflies are the tortoiseshell  relatives, the painted lady and the admiral, but the tortoiseshells migrate too, although we rarely notice their migrations). On the windless Tuesday rocks at the shore sea were covered with butterflies enjoying minerals and they moved slowly towards east along the coast. A gorgeous view.

 

From Arne’s photo all can make their own description of the appearance of the tortoiseshell. The second butterfly generation is fresh and colourful, and if you should see a pair „playing“ the slightly larger one is the female – her wing span is over five centimetres, that of the male one centimetre less. The female lays the eggs only on nettles, because the butterfly caterpillars only feed on that plant  and sometimes the stands of nettles have been eaten quite bare at the end of summer. The imagos only feed on nectar and it is estimated that we can see them on a couple of hundred of our native flowering plants.