Friday 15 October 2010

All the Colours?

Colour seemed to dominate Breakfast news on BBC with accounts of black (melanic) Grey squirrels thriving in Hertsfordshire and other southern counties (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1124422/Squirrels-dark-legacy-How-black-variety-descendants-rogue-American-rodent.html ). This 'story' has been running for a couple of years but it is now suggested that "these testosterone-fueled" (actually a bit a speculation) are actually more of a threat to the endangered UK Red squirrel. Melanic mammals are quite common and I really don't think the situation for the Reds has changed much at all (unless the black variety are favoured other the greys when it comes to 'culling' policy). There was also a report that wind turbines (increasingly dominating our landscape) might be better painted purple rather than the traditional white (http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=18823&channel=0&title=Purple+wind+turbines+could+save+wildlife+ ). The argument seemed to be that purple would (unlike white) not attract many insects that, in turn, act as a beacon for birds that feed upon them (and predators of those birds?). It might well be of benefit to wildlife but I am not sure about the visual impact on the environment.

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Some of My Favourite Pictures of Lepidopteran Larvae

Caterpillars of moths and butterflies from the UK and India