Cardinal or Silver-washed?

[David Tipping]

I've very recently returned from a holiday in Corsica, where I'm pretty sure we saw both cardinal and silver-washed fritillary, although according to the books I've checked, the cardinal should no longer be on the wing in September. It seems to me that when looking at open wing shots, there is very little to distinguish a cardinal from a female SWF. So, although I think the attached shots both show cardinal, I would welcome a few more opinions.

[Roger Gibbons]

Very hard to be sure with that degree of wear but Silver-washed looks a strong favourite to me. When fresh, Cardinal female has a very strong bronze tinge.

The markings are rather different, especially the hindwing, even allowing for natural variation.

Not sure what books you have been reading, David, but Cardinal is certainly on the wing well into September.

Roger

[Padfield]

Hi David. I am very sure these are silver-washed fritillaries. As Roger says, the markings are different (look at the shape and size of the submarginal markings, for example). The colour is also wrong. September cardinals have entirely bronze-green hindwings. With experience, a glance is enough to separate the species, even though they look very similar in the books.

In Switzerland, cardinals fly through September and even into October. They were actually numerous at one site on 17th October last year. The silver-washed fritillaries were long gone by that time.

Guy

[petesmith]

These say Silver-washed to me too, for the same reasons cited by Roger and Guy. Regarding timings, I have seen Cardinal late into September in Greece (Epirus), and in early October in south-west Spain (Cadiz).

[David M]

Silver Washed Fritillary for me too!

The lack of the 'verdigris' ground colour (particularly on the hindwing) pretty much rules out Cardinal, and in general, with pandora the submarginal hindwing markings are much diminished in comparison to paphia:

[David Tipping]

Many thanks for the comments. What about these three? If the consensus is that none of them are cardinals, I'll have to conclude that I only saw SWF!

[petesmith]

Now you're talking! Yes. These tick the Cardinal boxes!

[Padfield]

Yes, all these last three pictures show cardinals.

Guy

[David M]

Indeed. You can see the cherry-red colour of the forewing underside on the latter two individuals. This is a definitive characteristic.

[David Tipping]

Excellent. Thanks to everyone for clearing up the confusion.