The blue on the tortoiseshell butterflies wings is wonderfully vivid against the orange, it was the reason I took this butterfly picture, the blue court my eye.
I don’t recall seeing a tortoiseshell butterfly with such eye catching blue tipped wings before, I always thought there tips where white.
Every spring time around March and April I have to do a butterfly hunt checking all the windows, I live in a four story house and every spring time we get lots of tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies emerge in the house after hibernating through winter.
Tortoiseshell Butterflies lay their eggs on young nettle leaves, the caterpillars hatch in 10 days and can be seen from May to August the caterpillar live communally until it’s time to pupate then they disperse, the female tortoiseshell butterfly can lay 60 – 100 eggs on a single leaf.