Timothy the Tortrix

An old friend came last night, a micro but one of the larger ones: the Timothy Tortrix. It isn't anything terribly special to look at but it shares its name with one of the heroes of that wonderful book The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White. Although its story is confined to the immediate surroundings of a Hampshire garden, the book has never been out of print since it was published in 1789 - largely because the modest rector was pushed on by his brother, Benjamin who actually saw it into print. It might be stretching a point to compare the book in significance to the French Revolution which also took place that year; but in a gentler way and in the quieter fields of Nature studies and their benign effect on our human nature, its influence has been enormous.

One of the book's great great characters is Timothy, White's pet tortoise, who ambles around eating greenery. He was inherited by the rector from his aunt, Rebecca Snooke, and lived to be about 64, dying not long after his owner. I say 'he' but Timothy was later discovered to be Timothea by experts at the Natural History Museum in London where his - sorry her - shell can still be admired.

This Timothy is less distinguished but can make the modest claim to be one of our largest tortrix micro-moths. Below, meanwhile, we have another familiar micro visitor, Udea olivalis and a macro which is not a lot larger, a Silver-ground Carpet.

Then on to the butterfdlies which abound at present; recently-hatched Small Tortoiseshells are everywhere (one of the great reasons for tolerating nettles on which their caterpillars feed; like many enthusiasts, I remember gingerly rearing them as a boy and losing my fear of nettles completely in the process). Then a Large Skipper, one of many which jink about our garden in the sunshine

And finally, some local orchids. We ahve six species in the parish and three are currently abundant although thinner in numbers than in recent years, I suspect because of the recent very dry weather. Here are the Common Spotted, with its spotty leaves, the Pyramidal and the Bee (the last photo courtesy of a kind neighbour)..