Gatekeepers

IN THE MORNING SUNSHINE six or seven Gatekeeper males flutter over a tangle of Bramble which is in blossom at the edge of the towpath, by the rushy field. They chase each other and make frequent visits to the flowers. The males have scent glands, which show as a dark stripe on each of the upper forewings. We see no females.

On wasteground by the track at the edge of the wood the tall, the clear yellow flowers of the spindly weed Nipplewort give a contrast to the stately magenta towers of Rosebay Willowherb. The nipplewort flowers look like small under-nourished dandelions and are visited by a small hoverfly which is no bigger than one of the petals.

I say petal, but in the case of the Dandelion family, the Compositae, I should, of course, say ray. Dandelion and daisy flowers are actually flower heads made up of lots of small strap-shaped florets.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@daelnet.co.uk'