Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Fun facts

1. The similar-looking large tortoiseshell was a common butterfly in Victorian times, but is now considered to be extinct in the UK. Sightings are usually migrants or escapees from captivity.

2. Females usually lay their eggs in batches of 60-100 with young stinging nettles being the preferred location.

3. Caterpillars hatch after about 10 days and spin a dense web over the plant’s growing tip for protection.

4. Caterpillars are bristly and black with two discontinuous yellow lines along their sides. Their bright colours warn predators that they are poisonous.

5. Small tortoiseshells are one of the earliest flying butterflies in the UK. Adults can be seen from early spring through to late autumn.

6. When threatened by a predator, small tortoiseshell caterpillars swing their bodies from side to side in unison.

7. Both sexes are alike with a wingspan of 50-56 mm. Females can be slightly larger.

8. The adult butterflies are often seen nectaring on a wide variety of flowers and shrubs including dandelions, heathers and thistles.

9. The adults hibernate during the winter - you may be lucky enough to spot them in outbuildings like sheds and garages.

10. Unfortunately, over the last few years the small tortoiseshell butterfly has suffered a worrying decline, especially in the south. Research into the cause of this is ongoing, but a recently introduced parasitic fly called Sturmia bella is likely to be one factor.

What can you do?

To attract butterflies, such as the small tortoiseshell into your garden, plant nectar-rich borders for them to feed along and climbing Ivy and shrubs for overwintering insects. To find out more about encouraging butterflies into your garden visit Butterfly Conservation

Butterfly Competition

Butterfly

Thank you to everyone who entered our Bee competition last month. This month it’s the turn of our Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly. For your chance to win a £40 voucher from The Range all you need to do is the following:

  1. Download our Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly sketch here.
  2. Colour them in and put your completed picture up as a comment on our Facebook competition post.

Offer Rules & Disclaimer

Terms and conditions:

Promotion opens at 09:00:00 on 01/06/2020 and closes at 23:59:59 on 30/06/2020.

1. This promotion is a Facebook colouring in competition operated by The Brewery, Romford (‘the promoter’)

2. Entry is open to all customers aged 18 or over (‘the participant’ please note that if children are completing the task, the actual entry must be sent by an adult on their behalf).

3. This promotion excludes employees and immediate family members of the Promoter, its agents, suppliers or anyone else professionally connected with the promotion.

4. Entry to the promotion is free and is via completed entries posted onto The Brewery Romford Facebook page at this address https://www.facebook.com/TheBreweryRomford/

5. To enter, you must download the sketch from https://www.thebreweryromford.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Butterfly-Sketch-final.pdf and post your coloured in Butterflies onto The Brewery’s Facebook page by the closing date of 30/06/2020

6. The winner will be selected by an independent judge from all valid entries received by midnight on Tuesday 30th June 2020. The winner will be notified as a personal message on Facebook on Wednesday 1st July 2020.

7. The winner will have 28 days to accept the prize, otherwise the prize may be awarded to another entrant without compensation

8. The prize is for 1 winner to win a £40 voucher to spend at The Range, subject to availability.

9. All images are for illustrative purposes only

10. The prize is non-transferable, and it may not be sold or advertised for sale.

11. No cash or alternative option will be provided for prize. However, the Promoter reserves the right to substitute it with a similar prize of equal or greater value should it become necessary for reasons beyond their control.

12. The Promoter accepts no liability whatsoever for any losses of damage to the claimed prizes. This does not affect user’s statutory rights.

13. Except as otherwise required by law, the Promoter accepts no responsibility or liability for lost, late, damaged, corrupted or misdirected entries or claims and the Promoter is not responsible for any late or misdirected delivery of communications (email or otherwise), except in the event of wilful intent on the part of the Promoter or its agents.

14. By entering you agree to the use of your personal data for the sole purpose of processing and performing this offer, for (direct) marketing and quality control analysis, for conducting market research and improving the Promoter’s products and/or services.

15. The Promoter and its agents are responsible for storing, processing and transferring the participant’s personal data and for registering the participant’s consent to this. Participants have the right to obtain information about their data and – if necessary – request rectification or removal of their data held by the Promoter by writing to: The Romford Brewery Trust, Centre Management Suite, Unit 10 Brewery Walk, Waterloo Road, Romford, RM1 1AU

16. By entering this promotion, you agree to these terms and conditions, which will at that time become binding between you and the Promoter.

17. In the event of circumstances outside the reasonable control of the promoter, or otherwise where fraud, abuse, and/or an error (human or computer) affects or could affect the proper operation of this promotion or the awarding of prizes, and only where circumstances make this unavoidable, the Promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the promotion or these terms and conditions, at any stage, but will always endeavour to minimise the effect to participants in order to avoid undue disappointment.

18. The Promoter reserves the right to verify all entries and winners, and to refuse to award a prize or withdraw prize entitlement and/or refuse further participation in the promotion and disqualify the participant where there are reasonable grounds to believe there has been a breach of these terms and conditions or any instructions forming part of this promotions entry requirements or otherwise where a participant has gained unfair advantage in participating in the promotion or won using fraudulent means.

19. The Promoter will be the final arbiter in any decisions, and these will be binding and no correspondence will be entered into.

Any question concerning the legal interpretation of the rules will be based on English law and the Courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Promoter: The Romford Brewery Trust, Centre Management Suite, Unit 10 Brewery Walk, Waterloo Road, Romford, RM1 1AU

Now that all the dull stuff’s out of the way, good luck!

Plan your visit

Car By Car / Motorcycle

Parking is available in both our surface and multi-storey car parks.

SatNav to RM1 1AU

Bus By Bus

The Brewery is serviced by over 40 bus routes! To find the right one for you, click here. For up to date travel info visit tfl.gov.uk

Train By Train

The Brewery is a 3 minute walk from Romford train station. Trains from Liverpool Street take approximately 15 minutes, while metro services operate through Romford from South Essex. More detail...

Taxi By Taxi

Taxi’s will pick up and drop off customers from the front of Sainsbury’s. Local companies will know the The Brewery:

Star Mini Cabs: 01708 736736
Romford Minicabs: 01708 707070