Ranscombe oddity...?

[KeithS]

Was at Ranscombe Farm at Cuxton, Rochester this Saturday just gone. Marbled Whites, Ringlets, Comma, Small torts, Red Admirals and Small Heaths were all in great abundance, along with the odd White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary. In amongst this sudden explosion of insect life, I saw this...



I thought it was just a male Meadow Brown from its size and upper side, but the lack of any orange colouration or spots on the underside of the forewing rather threw me. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show the forewing very well as the disobliging beastie decided to bunch up when I tried to photograph it! It's probably something obvious but if anyone could enlighten me, I'd appreciate it...

Keith.

[Padfield]

This is definitely a male meadow brown. As you say, the picture doesn’t show the features you found unusual about it - it looks perfectly normal here.

Guy

[KeithS]

Sorry, the photo is a bit of a waste of time, as it doesn’t show the missing front wing spot and absence of orange colour. I guess it probably is a colour variant as everything else looks just like a standard Meadow Brown, as you say...

If only these creatures would behave on a photo-shoot....

[KeithS]

I finally got a decent picture of this today, which seems to be a Meadow Brown var. anommata, where the usually diagnostic black spots on the forewing are completely absent. Got an upper side shot too, but horribly out-of-focus...

.

I saw two different individuals like this, flying around near the car-park at Ranscombe Farm reserve in North Kent. As for the original ID query, I've answered my own question, I think! The species and variations listings on this web-site are a superb resource...

[CallumMac]

Well done Keith. What I find most amazing about this is that you were able to re-find and photograph the ab. more than 3 weeks after your original query! It would seem to indicate that this particular ab. might be quite frequent among the population at Ranscombe...

[KeithS]

I was surprised to find another as well, but there are definitely more than one of these variants flying around here, as I saw two “spotless” individuals about 50 yards apart, one with much less orange on the underside than the other. I wonder if the heat has something to do with the occurrence of variations. Maybe the succession of 30 degree-plus days has messed with the development of pupae. I had never seen or heard of these before, which is what threw me originally.

Have also seen a “bialbata” Red Admiral at the same site, although I gather these are not uncommon.