One of the outstanding discoveries of the late Iain Christie in 1981 and 1982 was an inland colony of Thyme Pug on Conic Hill near Balmaha at the south eastern corner of Loch Lomond. I have made several attempts to rediscover this colony and have covered a lot of ground on Conic Hill without finding much Thyme let alone Thyme Pug (although I did find Bog Orchid). Earlier this year however I discovered that the label "Conic Hill" on Iain's specimens might be a little misleading as I found a lot of Thyme not on the main body of the hill but on a ridge to the NW labelled Druim nam Buraich on the OS Explorer Map. On the 27th July in two hours on this ridge tapping thyme plants over a lunch box I recovered two small caterpillars which at the time I was uncertain about but which matured into Thyme Pug larvae. Hopefully adults will emerge in 2012.
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