www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

hello everyone,

Not sure what type this is - I found this resting in my shed in january - can anyone help identify this please?


and


many thanks
Martin
( http://www.mgnastro.org/wildlife.html )

Thats a really cool pic! looks like a large white to me: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... ge%20White

It might be a small white, but it looks more like a large white.

I'd say it's a small white.

I tentatively believe this is a small white too, because of the wing shape and the dark scaling beneath the cell of the hindwing. Responding to a recent posting by Dave I noted that small white has a fork in vein 7 of the forewing, a feature useful in distinguishing small white from southern small white where that species occurs, but I have since checked my own pictures and found that the large white has a similar fork, so that is not decisive here:
.
(Certified large white)

The real question is, however, is this: what was a small white (or a large white) doing resting in a shed in January?? Neither species hibernates. Was it a straggler from 2006 or a precocious individual from the 2007 season? I suspect the latter is more probable but I have never come across a small white before March (in the UK). Very interesting!!

Guy

27th of Jan to be precise.