UK Butterflies
Building a Community of Responsible Butterfly Enthusiasts in Britain & Ireland
Building a Community of Responsible Butterfly Enthusiasts in Britain & Ireland
This page provides access to all named aberrations of a given species and Goodson & Read (1969) is a key resource in this regard.
Description to be completed.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk
This section contains those aberrations that are considered new, and have yet to be formally defined.
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= aurea Mosley.Nat.Journ.Suppl.1896.p.5.pl.2.f.1.
= lutea Röber.Seitz.Macrolep.1907.1.p.45.,fig.Iris.29.pl.10.f.7.
= brassicae-flava Fischer.Lep.Comp.(Oberthür).1925.22.pt.2.p.7.pl.DXCIII.f.5817.
= flavus Frohawk.Vars.Brit.Butts.1938.pl.38.f.1.
The ground colour sulphur-yellow. Kane named his flava from the specimen recorded by Mosley who later named it aurea himself. Kane likened the form to the yellow specimen recorded by Schoyen from Scandinavia (Tijdschr.Ent.1885.p.214), which was sulphur-yellow. Mosley described his aurea as golden-yellow. Röber’s lutea was described as bright yellow, upper and underside, but the figure given later, does not agree with this description at all, appearing brownish. Fischer’s figure of brassicae-flava is canary or citron yellow. Frohawk’s flavus coloured figure is sulphur-yellow. It would seem best to include these various shades of yellow under the one name.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Of a delicate yellow, the tint of Papilio [Iphiclides] podalirius [Scarce Swallowtail]. The ground colour would appear to be very much paler than ab. flava Kane, or any of its synonyms, so it is separated here.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The ground colour of the upperside not white but creamy.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The ground colour of a decided pink. Bred from Aberdeen.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The hindwings on the upperside of a bright ochreous. Occurs in the northern race including England.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= obscurata Oberthür.Etudes.1896.20.pl.1.figs.5-6.
Named from the description in Newman’s Brit.Butts.&.Moths p.165 which says it is of a uniform dusky black on upper and underside. Oberthür’s example had all wings of a dusky dark grey.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The wings suffused with black scales between the nervures at the margins. An extreme form (fig. 6) shows an example with the black suffusion stretching from the margin almost to the centre of the forewings and on the hindwings mostly at the apex.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The basal parts of all wings with a well developed black area.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
A thin marginal band of black scales running parallel with the fringe on the upperside of the hindwings, usually most marked at the apex diminishing as it continues downwards.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the upperside of the hindwings, usually towards the apex, there are black spots or streaks present, at the ends of the veins.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Male, which normally shows no spots on the forewings, showing a small black spot in the disc. This is usually tiny and nothing like the black spots of the female.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Similar to ab. nigronotata Jachontov but with two small black spots in the disc. The normal male shows no such spots.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= nigropunctata Walcourt.Rev.Mens.Soc.Ent.Nam.1920.20.p.15.
On the upperside of the hindwings a small spot, consisting of black scales, in the disc.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with an extra black spot between the two normal ones in the disc on the upperside of the forewings. This is practically the same as [ab. maria Mellaerts], which has the two spots united by black scales.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= supra-fasciata Graham-Smith.Ent.Rec.1929.41.p.
Female with the two black spots in the disc on the upperside of the forewings united by black scales.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= alligata Cabeau.Rev.Mens.Soc.Ent.Nam.1924.24.p.25.,fig.1930.pl.4.f.2.
Female which has the two black spots in the disc of the forewings united by black scales and a union of the upper black spot with the apical black blotch by a line of black scales. The figure shows this quite plainly but the description does not mention it. In alligata Cabeau there are two rather feeble lines of black scales connecting the upper black spot with the black of the apical blotch.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= biligata Cabeau.Rev.Mens.Soc.Ent.Nam.1925.25.p.38.
Female with the upper of the two black spots in the disc of the forewings united with the apical blotch by two lines of black scales, which travel horizontally along the veins.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The apical marking of the forewings extensive and containing four yellow-brown stripes 1mm broad, the costa dusted black from the apex down to the base.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The dark marking of the upperside are brown-black instead of the normal black.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The discal spots of the forewings distinctly lengthened.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with the heart of the upper discal black spot of a steel blue, or light blue with a dull silver sheen, appearing as a metallic ‘eye’ with a black border, giving the insect an exotic appearance.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with the spots of the upperside of the forewings not larger than those of Pieris rapae [Small White] and the apical mark of a pale grey.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female resembling the Cyrenaican form cyniphia Turati. The spots are small and the subtriangular mark extremely short, its lower extremity hardly reaching the level of the upper discal spot. It is dusted with white in its apical portion and crosses or interrupted by the nervures.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= emigrisea Rocci.Atti.Soc.Ligust.Sc.Nat.1919.30.p.17.
= henriettae Pionneau.Misc.Ent.1924.27.p.57.
The apical mark of a pale grey but the spots of normal black. Described from a female but occurring in both sexes.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with the apical mark, the two discal spots and the inner marginal wedge, all pale grey instead of the normal black.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with the wedge-shaped mark on the inner margin completely absent.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female with the upper of the two discal black spots of the forewings present and normal but the lower one completely absent.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= fischeri John.Ent.Z.1922.36.p.33.
Female with the black wedge-shaped mark on the inner margin on the upperside of the forewings absent and on the hindwings the black costal spot also absent. The black apical mark of the forewings is also restricted in fischeri but it would not appear worthy of separation from colliurensis.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Complete absence of all black scales on wings and of the black hairs of the body. On the antennae the black scales are replaced by white.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The black dusting at the base of the wings is absent. Described from the race eyeniphia and possibly occurs only among it.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The forewings elongated and the hindwings uneven in shape. This would appear to be a deformed specimen and unworthy of a name.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Very large, 62-66mm.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= nana Rocci.Atti.Soc.Ligust.Sc.Nat.1919.30.p.16.
Small examples, 40-50mm.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= jauni Gardiner.Journ.Research.Lep.1963.2(2).p.129.
The underside pale straw instead of yellowish, the normal black powdering being very weak.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the hindwings are extremely pale, lacking to a great extent the normal yellow. The apex of the forewings is similarly pale, the usual black dusting on both wings only slightly developed. See Frohawk’s Brit.Butts.1914.pl.3.f.20.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the apex of the forewings, and the whole of the hindwings, are deep yellow.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the normal cream and green coloration is replaced by pale blue. The upperside is thinly scaled giving a pure white appearance instead of the normal creamy-white or off-white colour.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= anthrax Graham-Smith.Ent.Rec.1930.42.p.2.pl.1.f.7.
On the underside the hindwings are greenish strongly veiled with black scales, giving a very obscure tone. Graham-Smith described his anthrax as being thickly strewn with black scales so that the wings have a very dark appearance.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Half the size of the type form and on the underside the hindwings are strongly powdered with black atoms, especially along the nervures which appear almost black. The upperside has a washed-out appearance, the costa dusted black.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the veins are tinted with grey-violet causing them to stand out. In the female it can also be noticed on the upperside.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewings the lower discal spot is divided into two parts.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewings near the apex is a black spot formed by a suffusion of black scales. Similar to the form of the same name in Pieris napi [Green-veined White].
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Male of infra-fasciata Graham-Smith, with the two discal spots on the underside of the forewings united by black scales, the upperside being normal. In addition to this character there is an additional spot, composed of a mass of grey scales, situated in the extension or line of the others and not far from the costa.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside only the two black spots in the disc of the forewings are united by black scales. The upperside is normal. Males do not have spots on the upperside so any specimen with them united on the underside belong here. Females, usually, show the character on upperside only, or on both upper and underside.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
