His Eminence and Her Majesty.

The Cardinal  Argynnis  pandora (Nymphalidae)  

 

The hindwing is pale green with silver stripes.

 

The ground colour of upperwings is buffish orange with an extensive greenish suffusion..

 

Similar to the Silver-washed Fritillary, but with more pronounced wing markings.

 

It's wing span is 7-8cm, and flight period from May -July.

 

The Queen Of Spain Fritillary    Issoria lathonia (Nymphalidae)


 

Orange ground colour with bold black spots. The large silvery spots on the hindwing underside are unique to this species.

 

 

The wing span is 4,2cm, and flight period from Febuary to October.

 

Dingy and Dinky

The Dingy Skipper
Erynnis tages
 

 

 

 

 

 

As I still have plenty of butterfly pictures left over from last year I will be posting some now and again. The Dingy Skipper is a very moth like butterfly,at first glance I thought it was a moth. It is 14mm in size, and commonly perches with wings wide open but wraps the wings around the body at night.

The Portrait of a Lady

The Painted Lady   Vanessa cardui   (Nymphalidae)



 

 

 

 

 

 

The Painted lady is found in grassy places where flowers are in bloom. When feeding néctar from flowers such as the Lantana, the Painted Lady is usually oblivious to the approach of na observer. It's wing span is 6cm, and flight period from March-November or further north, April-October.

The Beauty And The Beast

The Holly Blue   Celastrina argiolus

 

The Robber-fly
 

 

The Robber-fly is a bristly predatory fly which chase and capture insects in mid-air. It would have no problem catching the small species of butterfly such as this small Holly-Blue.Most species sit and wait, and then dart out when likely prey apears. The prey is then sucked dry with the stout probosis. A beard on the face protects eyes from struggling prey.

A High Flyer

The Purple-shot Copper ( L. a gordius)

It's now been two years and thirty days since I started my blog. It was a Mother's Day present from my daughter, and one of the nicest gifts I have ever received, and one that continues to give me pleasure. She helped me set it up, and even chose the header photograph, one she already had in her possession. I have kept the same header all this time for sentimental reasons, but now think it's about time I changed it every so often,:)) especially since I feel my photography has improved a little. You still won't always see sharp images, but I hope you will see beauty. The Purple-shot Copper have upperwings that are coppery orange and dark-spotted in males, but orange-brown with dark spots in females. Both have violet sheen.Found in mountain meadows.Wingspan 4cm, and flight period from June to July.

Marbled Marvel

The Western Marbled White
Melanargia occitanic

 

 

I will be taking a vacation for a few weeks but will leave you with these photos of the Western Marbled White which is 27mm, and it's wing span is 5-5,5cm. Flight period is May to July,and range SW Europe, from Portugal to W Italy. Frequents grassy hillsides and meadows on lower mountain slopes, from 1,000m to 1,500m. I wish you all a happy weekend, and happy snapping. Will catch up with all your blogs on my return.

A Little Clouded Today

The Clouded Yellow Colias crócea ( Pieridae )

 

 

Resting Clouded Yellows rarely if ever open their wings fully. In flight the dominant orange-yellow wing colour can be seen. The upper wings have a broad dark brown margin.

A Butterfly of Rank

The Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Nymphalidae)

 

 

 

 

The Red Amiral's jet black upper wings are marked with bands of red and white spots, with a single blue spot at the base of each hindwing. The underside of the forewing has a similar pattern and colouring,however when resting this is often concealed by the more cryptic undersurface of the hindwing, which is marbled smoky Brown, bluish and black.The Red Admiral is found in almost any flowery habitat.

Mosaic Magic

The Marsh Fritillary
Euphydryas cynthia ( Nymphalide )

 

The Marsh Fritillary is such a colourful butterfly, with markings just as attractive on it's underwings but in subdued colours.It's wings are narrow by fritillary standards, and often open when sun basking.Wingspan is 4,5-5,2cm. It favours marchy ground, but also moorland up to 2,000m. As you can see, this one is basking on the arm of a garden chair.

My Garden and a White Butterfly

This is a small corner of my woodland garden, and I thought it would be nice to show you because the azalias are in bloom now, and it's looking quite colourful at the moment. The azalias attract any number of insects and butterflies.The butterfly in the next image is a Green.veined White. It measures 25mm, and can be found in flowery meadows, gardens and hedgerows and is common in all of Europe.



The Green-veined White. ( Pieris napi )

Many thanks to Nick and Jan for helping me identify this butterfly correctly as A Green-veined-White. Originally I had posted it as being a Small White, but on closer inspection, and after looking at many pictures I do believe they are right.

The Mark

The Comma Butterfly
Polygonia c-album

 

 

 

The Comma butterfly is named for comma-like mark on underside of hind wing. The ragged wings are mottled brown and resemble dead leaves which are perfect camouflage for when the adult overwinters in hedges and undergrowth. It measures 24mm,feeds on Hops Stinging Nettle and Elm, and can be seen in light woodland hedgerows and gardens.

Another Flutterby

The Meadow Fritillary
Melitaea parthenoides ( Nymphalidae )

The colourful orange upperwings are adorned with black markings, and the wing tips have chequered fringe.

Orange and white on underwings.
 

This small butterfly (wing span 4cm) favours open flowery meadows from lowlands to lower mountain slopes of around 2,ooom.