Hibernating Small Tortoiseshell

[butterflypyne]

Hi

Sorry if my questions are mundane but at 1.15am my husband wasn't too keen to answer me when I woke him.

I found a butterfly on the wall, (we keep a lamp on for the baby) and when I woke my husband to tell him he just said, it will be a small tortoiseshell, and I asked how he knew that without looking, he just said because it was in the house. (Incidently, I took a photo looked in a book and he was right). He said if it was a brown it would have been hibernating in the house and probably just hatched. Unfortunately, he wasn't too keen to carry on the conversation.

So, getting to the point - Why do these butterflies come in to the house? Do spiders eat them like they do flies? are butterflies laying eggs in a house a problem?i.e a house with caterpillars??? Do they return to the same place? So many questions. I should read more!!!!

Excited Pyne

[Naturenutz]

hi,small tortoiseshells do hibernate indoors,outside they would hibernate in a tree hole etc,somewhere sheltered and dark.They lay eggs on nettles . I guess spiders hunt via webs so they are unlucky if one catches them while out on a stroll. They are harmless and far less common than they once were ,it is believed a parasitic wasp/or fly is responsible ,as it eggs incubate inside the caterpillar,eventually killing it.I think it is rather early for them to hibernate but someone will have more info on that.lovely butterflies though.it may have flown in for shelter from the bad weather.
Hope this helps