padfield wrote:That's an intersting individual, millerd. It ticks many of the boxes for chalkhill.

you mean adonis surely...

This one has no blue scales that I can see in the relevant gap next to the orange lunules. The photo was taken on 7th May at Denbies, so it can only be Adonis - just to illustrate how unreliable the "rule" is. I've found that a good tactic is to visit somewhere like Aston Rowant and get y...

celery wrote:Thanks for all your replies so far...

Just in case it helps clarify the issue, here's a (very blurry) underside shot of the individual in the picture labelled #9

That just couldn't be more 'chalkhill' if it tried...!

Piers.

#6 just 'feels' like a chalkhill, and just doesn't look like a female adonis. Check out the species pages, they're quite different to look at and even more so in 'real life'.

Piers.

My vote is that they are all chalkhills. I don't see adonis there. Although having said that I would like to have seen the underside of No.9.... Personally, I'm not very comfortable with using the blue scale/white scale below the marginal lunules on the upperside as a hard and fast diagnostic featur...

This is a very interesting development! So you're saying that some "subspecies" are purely clinal variations? Certainly. The former 'subspecies' davus and polydama of the large heath for example, now known through studies of their genetic make-up amongst other things, to be simple geograp...

rhoumensis in Surrey!!!! (Or as I dubbed it in 2010's failed effort to clear up on the UK subspecies -my rhounemesis) Is that what it looks like? I knew it was a bit different. What are the characteristics it is displaying that make it resemble a far distant subspecies? Dave Sorry mate, I was sayin...

Hi PMC, This is pretty typical for a female dark green fritillary, they are often suffused with a dusky green hue, sometimes very richly, even in then southern counties of England but especially further north. Interestingly, the situation regarding scotica is very unclear, and was originally describ...

padfield wrote:it means that right next to the field where the salad crops were growing there were relatively pesticide-free nettles.

Either that or they are part of the salad.

Not all 'Jungle Formula' contains DEET, the 'Extra Strength Pump Spray' contains IR3535, which is the active ingredient in Avon's famous 'Skin So Soft' lotion which was accidentally discovered to contain an insect 'confusant'. IR3535 has an unblemished safety record, and the average test subject who...

I disagree with Mike, flava is very yellow, and when you see it there is no mistake. It could be just an aged specimen, they do become very pale, almost translucent. The hind wings also appear to be red, flava has no trace of red at all. Having said that, it's very difficult from a photograph, so Mi...

As promised, some photos from Denbies today. There are no less than 18 butterflies on or close to the piece of excrement. All are Chalkhills, except for a single Adonis in the middle somewhere. Other similar leavings elsewhere on the hillside had congregations, but none so populous! Dave A couple o...

To confuse matters there is a significant area of artaxerxes/salmacis hybrid.

Piers.

Luck? luck isn't the word..! You do realise that they're not supposed to be that vivid blue colour don't you Neil?

Piers

Happy birthday Mr.C...

Susie wrote:Just rubbing it in

Now that sounds like a worthy birthday treat.

Pamber Forest The new generation of Red Admiral are also starting to emerge - I saw 4 in total, all absolutely pristine. I noticed that your Red Admiral photo has white dots inside the red band, like one I saw at Fermyn a couple of days ago. At the time, I thought it was an aberration but I have re...

Could possibly be a touch of homeosis Mr. K. although it's not ordinarily so symetrical...

Piers.

Seconded.

Hi Matsukaze, Many thanks for the information. I remember when Dolebury Warren was the site on the Mendip Hills for small blue, and I also recall my distress in the late 1970's or early 1980's when upon visiting the hill I discovered that a host of grazing sheep had eaten off all of the kidney vetch...

So to reiterate - could variations within a population be caused by a resticted gene pool, a bottle neck of genetic flow? Yes, in a way...There are some instances (when the gene or genes responsible are present) where homozygotes are produced on an annual basis in small and isolated colonies. There...