Nicola here, talking about insects (as you do!). I’ve got to admit that I’m not a big fan of insects, especially if they sting or bite, or even if they don’t. I quite like a ladybird (ladybug) and I make an exception for butterflies and moths, and obviously I appreciate honey (thank you, bees.) But I’m not naturally drawn to beetles or other insects. (I also dislike spiders, but in the course of writing this blog piece I’ve discovered they aren’t insects but arachnids.)
Last week, however, we were away for the few days on the trail of one of the most beautiful and scarce insects in Britain. Fortunately it is a butterfly, the swallowtail. Whilst there are 550 species of the swallowtail family in the world, we only get one in Britain and then only in one relatively small area, the Norfolk Broads in the east of the country. So off we went to find them. (The photos are all by my husband who is a massive butterfly fan as well as a great photographer).
Initially we had planned to hire a small boat and cruise the Broads in search of these elusive but beautiful creatures. 
However I have a love hate relationship with boats and fell in on my last visit to the Broads as did our dog, who could swim better than me so got out more easily. We compromised on a houseboat, which was a lovely experience. Waking up on the river listening to the call of the birds and watching the moon on the water at night was very relaxing and peaceful.
The Norfolk Broads is a national park and an area of outstanding natural beauty. These man-made waterways were created by digging for peat from the 12th century onward. Historical records show that the pits that were dug gradually began to fill with water and would flood after storms, and by the 14th century 
the peat industry was abandoned as the landscape became a wetland. This in turn gave rise to new forms of industry – the marsh-men who cut reeds for thatching, the boating industry and wind power, to name but a few.
The broads are home to a wonderful variety of wildlife including butterflies of which the swallowtail is just one. The swallowtail gets its name from the “tails” on the back edge of its wings which have a similarity to the forked tails of swallows. Adult swallowtails have black and yellow wings with read and blue markings. In France it is known as Le Grande Porte-Queue, which roughly translates as The Great tail-bearer.
Swallowtail is not the only name that this butterfly has been given. It was first “discovered” in 1695 in the gardens of St James’ Palace and was named the “Royal William” by James Petiver a botanist and entomologist. Perhaps he was looking for favour from the monarch of the time, King William III, and certainly the swallowtail as the largest and one of the most striking butterflies in Britain does deserve a grand name. A similar trick was tried by James Rennie in 1832 when he re-christened it “The Queen” in honour of the wife of William IV, Queen Adelaide. In those days the swallowtail could still be found in the marshy lands of the Thames valley near London and several other places around the country. One early record refers to their caterpillars being seen “year after year in osier beds in Battersea Fields.” Historically an osier bed was where willows were planted and coppiced to produce wood that was used for furniture, basket weaving and creating fish traps. The industry flourished until the early 20th century although the swallowtail butterfly didn’t.
As the marshy lands around London and the south east were drained and built upon, the area the butterfly inhabited grew 
smaller and it could only be found in the fenlands of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire as well as East Anglia. Gradually that habitat was eroded especially in the second world war when the marshlands of the fens was dug up to be planted to produce potatoes. As a particularly beautiful butterfly it was also a prey to collectors. In the Victorian era particularly, butterfly collecting was a top hobby which was also seen as educational. Specimens were collected and meticulously labelled and laid out for display in drawered cabinets. These days it’s hard not to look on these without a shudder – to my mind a butterfly looks at its best skimming over the water or nectaring on a flower, but the Victorians clearly had other ideas when it came to all sorts of wildlife!
The British Swallowtail is restricted to the Broadland and one of the reasons it is now so localised is that it is very fussy about its breeding plant. It will only 
lay eggs on the milk parsley plant which, as a result of changes to agriculture and environment is now rare, only found in the Norfolk Broads. Fortunately a lot of work is now put in to preserving the swallowtail’s natural habitat and making sure that it flourishes.
The butterfly also flourishes in art and has done for centuries, right back to Egyptian frescoes more than 3500 years ago. With its colourful and intricate wings 
and brief lifespan it is often used as a symbol of the shortness of life. In Japan the butterfly is a popular symbol, appearing on family crests, in origami, in fashion and in woodblock prints. In 18th century England, when artists were contemplating the changes wrought by the industrial revolution and the threat to both traditional lifestyles and habitat that it brought, they would use butterflies as symbols of fragility and change, as in this painting of the artist Gainsborough's daughters chasing a butterfly.
You can also find Swallowtails on many postage stamps from different countries. It’s an enduring image. Personally I loved 
the real thing and thought it was well worth a journey of 175 miles!
Do you like insects or are you entomophobic (which means "has a fear of insects") or like me are you somewhere in between? What is your favourite butterfly? And who – or what – would you travel 175 miles to see?
