Silver-studded Blue

This is the iconic blue of the New Forest heathland, and there are currently two large colonies on my Latchmore route, and numbers appear to be increasing. It emerges in June, in large numbers around stands of mature heather. Despite being notoriously localised in defined colonies, individuals do turn up scattered across much of the heath. A third colony, on heather at the base of the mire in Section 8 of the route, was thriving in 2015, but has since disappeared. Numbers have appeared to be growing in recent years, until a dramatic reversal in 2022.

total seen

maxima

first seen

last seen

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

... the stats box

297 92 8th June 29th July

617 189 23rd June 25th August

913 303 29th May 12th August

758 234 22nd June 29th July

429 129 18th June 2nd August

207 68 16th June 13th August

69 30 5th July 26th August

213 88 19th June 7th August