An exciting find at Hutchinson’s Bank!

Keeping it Wild trainee Rianna again! The other day when we were at Hutchinson’s Bank for the Brilliant Butterflies festival, we spotted a mating pair of chalkhill blues. The blue males are seen most often, flying around searching for the brown females who are much more secretive, so to see a pair together was a very exciting find! Like its name suggests, the species is confined to chalk grassland in southern England. Chalkhill blues also have an interesting lifecycle- the caterpillars have a mutually beneficial relationship with ants. The caterpillars exude honeydew which is ‘milked’ by the ants, who can receive over a quarter of their total energy needs this way! In return, the ants protect the caterpillars and even build earthen cells to protect the chrysalises!