THE first half of June sees a bit of a lull in the number of butterflies on the wing.

Those that hibernated, namely brown, small tortoiseshell, peacock, comma and red admiral emerged in spring and laid eggs.

The white butterflies spent winter in the chrysalis stage, flying in April and May and the next brood will emerge shortly. Now is the time for meadow brown, marbled white and three skipper species to grace our grassy areas.

Skippers are little orangey brown jobs that whizz and skip about at great speed in line astern low over the grass thus earning them the name of red arrows of the butterfly world. They are thought to be the evolutionary link between butterflies and moths and resemble the latter in shape and habits.

Possessing large eyes and furry bodies and moth-like antennae at rest and hold their wings in the bi-plane position - in other words their forewings are partially raised and hind wings held horizontally.

When caterpillars pupate they do so not in a chrysalis, but within a cocoon, again like moths do. Although classed as butterflies in all field guides, they form a completely separate genus.