butterfly's

[user 19915]

Over the last couple of weeks i have been working in my workshop and i have noticed on a couple of occasions i have butterfly's in my garage /workshop flying about .Mock :!:

 

[thetyreman]

had one in my garage recently as well and was very surprised, it just happened to be flying towards my face and be there as I was gluing up a project, really weird and surreal.

 

[Trevanion]

Still got flies buzzing around the place despite no heating, must be a warm January.

 

[Robbo3]

On a balmy afternoon recently we had 30 to 40 blow flies warming themselves on our south facing bricks.

 

[MikeG.]

On a balmy afternoon recently we had 30 to 40 blow flies warming themselves on our south facing bricks.

They're probably cluster flies. These things spend most of their lives as parasites of earth worms.

As to the butterflies........small tortoiseshells are the ones that we always get in our sheds, and if they get into the workshop they will wake up and fly around if you heat it. This is seriously bad news for them, as they will be depleting the reserves they need to get through the winter, bearing in mind they won't be eating for another 3 or 4 months. The best advice is to move them to a colder shed, but try not to handle them too much as you can easily damage their wings just by touching them. Make sure you let them out again in the spring.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I quite often find peacock butterflies overwintering in my woodshed - I try not to disturb them. I once built a new flue in an extension which was open to, but mainly sheltered from, the elements for several months. I looked up inside it one day and saw about six or eight peacock butterflies sitting there snoozing, waiting for a warm day. We have a nettle patch which is where the peacock eggs are laid and caterpillars feed later in the year. There are flowers (primroses etc.) starting to emerge here already, so there is food for them if they wake up on a warm day and decide to forage for a bit of a top up.

Unlike moths (which can shiver their wings to warm up their flight muscles), butterflies rely on the sun's warmth to get their muscles warm enough.

Cheers, W2S

https://butterfly-conservation.org/news ... -in-winter

 

[treeturner123]

I do love to pick nits, so please, it is Butterflies NOT Butterfly's. If it were the latter, it would relate to something owned by a single butterfly. This is a traditional Greengrocers' trick!

Rant over, but apostrophes do serve a purpose no matter what the Americans say!!

Phil

 

[Robbo3]

On a balmy afternoon recently we had 30 to 40 blow flies warming themselves on our south facing bricks.

They're probably cluster flies. These things spend most of their lives as parasites of earth worms.

Well you live & learn. I've lived in the country most of my life & never heard of them. To country folk all large flies are either bluebottles or blow flies.
Thanks for making me look them up.