Horns

Sorry, it's another skipper. I can't stop photographing these. I've decided to post this one because you can see its 'horns' clearly and its perch looks like it has horns. I love the texture of the perch, I think it is a dried up yarrow shoot. The little 'horns' on top of the butterfly's head are the tips of its labial palpi. These are covered with sensory hairs and scales and are used to test whether something is food or not. I like that this individual has a little nick out of its wing as I'll be able to recognise it.

I've added an image to extras of a crab spider with its hoverfly prey in a morning glory trumpet. It's topical as the hoverfly is a marmalade. Since the Queen appeared in the Platinum Jubilee Paddington video, marmalade has been in the news. My daughter and I have always loved Paddington, but in his 1970s TV series rather than the film version. When she was ill as a child I used to tell her to eat like Paddington. The character used to nibble, hardly moving his mouth. When we go on track days we take lemon and lime marmalade Ryvita sandwiches as a snack. So many letters to the paper about uses for marmalade, including spread over bacon.