Unknown species
Unknown species
Can anyone help with this? I saw this fellow fluttering about at Aberbargoed grasslands today. It had a damaged right forewing and after photographing it I was able to catch it in my hands for a closer look. It was very skipper-like with clubbed antennae but despite this it has to be a moth since it doesn't tally with any British butterfly I know about.
Last edited by David M on Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Unknown species
I think it may be a strongly aberrant Marsh Fritillary.
Misha
Misha
Re: Unknown species
Thanks, Mikhail. I've taken a closer look and the hindwing bands are identical to those found on the Marsh Fritillary. I feel given the habitat in which it was seen that this was, indeed, an aberrant MF.Mikhail wrote:I think it may be a strongly aberrant Marsh Fritillary.
Misha
- Padfield
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Re: Unknown species
I'm sure that's what it is.
Heavy melanism occurs relatively frequently in fritillaries. This is a meadow fritillary from last year (May):
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2009/parthenoides096.jpg)
And this a false heath fritillary:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2006/diamina3.jpg)
It would not surprise me if these forms were linked with temperatures during the larval or pupal stage.
Guy
Heavy melanism occurs relatively frequently in fritillaries. This is a meadow fritillary from last year (May):
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2009/parthenoides096.jpg)
And this a false heath fritillary:
![Image](http://www.guypadfield.com/images2006/diamina3.jpg)
It would not surprise me if these forms were linked with temperatures during the larval or pupal stage.
Guy
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Re: Unknown species
Thanks, padfield. My mind is now at rest. It was a Marsh fritillary with a large dose of melanism (I've been doing some research tonight being the sad b****r that I am and it seems MFs are quite prone to aberration).
- Lee Hurrell
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Re: Unknown species
I can't see the picture either but would love to!
Cheers
Lee
Cheers
Lee
To butterfly meadows, chalk downlands and leafy glades; to summers eternal.
Re: Unknown species
If I could see the image I could probably put a name to the aberration. Any chance of re-loading the images..?
Felix.
Felix.
Re: Unknown species
I can see them so I'd assumed they were okay. Anyone any tips for providing images visible to all?
- Dave McCormick
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Re: Unknown species
You can upload them directly on here rather than linking them to other sites with the images on them, just when you go to post, go down to "browse" where it says filename then after you find the image, you can or not, write a comment then press "add the file" and when your done, you can write the message, insert the image where you want it (there will be a box that says "Place Inline" after you upload an image) then submit the message when done, should work.
I couldn't see the images either, but I copied the link to my browser and it worked that way... Marsh Fritillary... ab suffusa? Looks similar, if not check here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-cur ... utterflies could be one of these
I couldn't see the images either, but I copied the link to my browser and it worked that way... Marsh Fritillary... ab suffusa? Looks similar, if not check here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-cur ... utterflies could be one of these
Cheers all,
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Re: Unknown species
Thanks, Dave. i've followed your instructions and I hope that people can see the images now. (PS - thanks for the link. Looks more like an ab. atricolor to me).Dave McCormick wrote:You can upload them directly on here rather than linking them to other sites with the images on them, just when you go to post, go down to "browse" where it says filename then after you find the image, you can or not, write a comment then press "add the file" and when your done, you can write the message, insert the image where you want it (there will be a box that says "Place Inline" after you upload an image) then submit the message when done, should work.
I couldn't see the images either, but I copied the link to my browser and it worked that way... Marsh Fritillary... ab suffusa? Looks similar, if not check here: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-cur ... utterflies could be one of these
Re: Unknown species
I can see it now too..!
I would suggest ab. atricolor on the grounds that so much of the wings are dusted with black scales, with just a few rufous spots near the costa of the forewing, and on the hindwings just a reddish submarginal band.
In ab. suffusa the fore and hind wings are usually divided by a thin yellowish median transverse line (does that make sense?) which separates the two predominant colours of black and red. The basal half of the wings are suffused with black scales and the outer half with reddish brown, with the markings more or less normal.
I would hesitate to suggest that this butterfly may well have resulted from a pupa exposed to some of the very late ground frosts experienced across some English and Welsh counties this spring (here in Wilts we still had crunchy grass in the first week of May!)
Felix.
I would suggest ab. atricolor on the grounds that so much of the wings are dusted with black scales, with just a few rufous spots near the costa of the forewing, and on the hindwings just a reddish submarginal band.
In ab. suffusa the fore and hind wings are usually divided by a thin yellowish median transverse line (does that make sense?) which separates the two predominant colours of black and red. The basal half of the wings are suffused with black scales and the outer half with reddish brown, with the markings more or less normal.
I would hesitate to suggest that this butterfly may well have resulted from a pupa exposed to some of the very late ground frosts experienced across some English and Welsh counties this spring (here in Wilts we still had crunchy grass in the first week of May!)
Felix.
Re: Unknown species
You could be right, Felix. This year has been highly abnormal in terms of seasonal weather patterns. I'm a bit ashamed that I didn't automatically identify it as an aberrant MF, but given that I had never seen this species before, I reverted to instinct and assumed it had to be some kind of moth with butterfly-like antennae.Felix wrote:I can see it now too..!
I would suggest ab. atricolor on the grounds that so much of the wings are dusted with black scales, with just a few rufous spots near the costa of the forewing, and on the hindwings just a reddish submarginal band.
In ab. suffusa the fore and hind wings are usually divided by a thin yellowish median transverse line (does that make sense?) which separates the two predominant colours of black and red. The basal half of the wings are suffused with black scales and the outer half with reddish brown, with the markings more or less normal.
I would hesitate to suggest that this butterfly may well have resulted from a pupa exposed to some of the very late ground frosts experienced across some English and Welsh counties this spring (here in Wilts we still had crunchy grass in the first week of May!)
Felix.
I'm satisfied that I know what it was now (thanks to the educated responses by kind folk on this website).