Eye On Nature

Reader's observations on nature.

While I was painting on the Roundstone bog, a most exquisite little butterfly managed sadly to stick itself into the paint. The back of the wings was greyish, but with the most beautiful blue/green colour on the upper wings. I identified it as a female purple hairstreak. I hope it wasn't too rare.

Rosemary Carr, Cashel, Co Galway

The purple hairstreak is rare in the west but less so in the east and south, and quite plentiful in Britain. The female has the lovely blue/green lozenges on her upper wings, while the male has an all-over purple hue. It lives in old oakland and in Ireland prefers small oaks. This is a first record for Connemara.

I found a small green spider on the fire guard in my home. It had a crab-like appearance. When I moved my finger towards it, it adopted a threatening/ defensive posture as if to confront the threat.

Terry Lawlor, Ballyduff, Co Waterford

It was the cucumber spider (Araniella cucurbitina), an orb-web spider which lives in trees and bushes and hibernates in leaf litter.