Butterfly ovum, [eggs] part 4

Brown Hairstreak Ovum are laid on Blackthorn, anywhere between 300mm and 1500mm, [3'-5'] they normally hatch towards the end of April, to the middle of May.

Clouded Yellow ovum a off white when first laid on the undersides of the chosen larval food plant, in this case Red Clover

Turning red after a few days and hatching a couple of days later.

Comma ovum are laid on the edge of a Common Nettle leaf,  the contents are green when first laid
And the membrane/skin is transparent. They hatch after about 13 days.

This Comma ovum has been laid on a female Nettle flower
which is very unusual

The contents turning a light greenish yellow after 8 days.

At least 24 hours before the tiny larva emerge you can visibly see the caterpillar through the skin of the ovum.

The grey/brown colour of the body is on the left and the head which is black is on the left of the ovum

Orange-tips ovum are white when first laid and are one of the easiest butterfly eggs to find. The tiny larva emerge after about one week.

Turning orange in colour after about four days

Just before the larva emerges it is visible through the transparent membrane/skin of the ovum

All these ovum are about 1mm in size.

All photographs were taken by Nick Broomer as are all the photos on this blog.