Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae

[Chocky]

I have captured a Small Tortoiseshell today and the thing is along the top of the wings the bars are all white and black as opposed to the first bar being white and the rest black and yellow black and yellow bars. Could this be a female please?

[Dave McCormick]

Males and female of Small Tortoiseshell look the same, but female is bigger see in my pic 9Its not easy to see 100% but the male is the one closest in focus and the female is further away, but you can see they are both similar. I supposed the wings were worn in the one you found, making them whiter from age?

[Chocky]

Oh. Well I guess you are right . Thanks
P.S.
Some one has said it could be a mutation
Here is a photo as it is in perfect condition

[Chocky]

Yes. Thanks for all help and suggestions
The reason my Small Tortoiseshell is so pale is because it has not had sufficient sun to warm up and regain it's full colour from after it's hibernation

[NickB]

Hi - We have found through our collective experiences that the yellow and white bars on the wings do vary significantly - some more yellow, some more white - between examples of this species; it appears quite normal. Nice shot...

No one would fully claim to understand why there are these differences, tho' some speculate that it could be due to low or varying temperatures during their hibernation or pupal stage. Once you get hooked, it is just these sorts of questions which keep us all interested...
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[Jack Harrison]

Didn't we have this discussion a year or so ago? As far as I can remember, no conclusions were drawn. We didn’t seem to think that it had anything to do with conditions during hibernation.

But I offer a different hypothesis. Could it be that the ones with white bars as opposed the more frequent yellow are of Continental origin? (or the other way round). I very much doubt this is in fact the case; most likely yellow or white are just normal variations.

Jack

[NickB]

As good a theory as anything else, indeed!
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