SPECIES OF THE YEAR 2007In a very poor year for most species, the Holly Blue took advantage of the few spells of warm, sunny weather which did occur in 2007 and was one of the few success stories.
The first sighting on 8th April was followed by an emergence all over the county, with several being seen at a time. Egglaying was observed on holly in Abington Park, Northampton, and on dogwood in Yardley Chase. The second brood was much slower to appear during the wet July conditions, but the first on 10th July was followed by a trickle of records upto the 28th. There appeared to be a second, much larger emergence in the last week of August, with numerous egglaying females, and, during September, eggs and caterpillars were quite easy to find on the local ivy.
Unusually, as better weather prevailed in autumn, a third generation individual was seen flying in Brackmills, northampton, and two appeared in Barton Seagrave on 2nd November, the latest ever sightings of thie species in the county.
The Holly Blue has a natural population cycle, with numbers reaching a peak every five years or so. 2007 was a good year, likely to be followed by a reasonably good emergence in 2008, before the species becomes scarcer again.
