www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi,
I saw an absolutely beautiful butterfly in the Forest of Dean this weekend which was quite large (larger then the red admiral I saw just before) and seemed to have the markings of a fritillary. It was distinct however in that it had very purple colour on the top side of its lower wing. I do not have a clue what it could have been? It was flying along a path clearing through the woods and landed on brambles to allow me to have a good look at it (but of course not long enough for a photograph). Any clues?

Hi Rachel...
It surely has to have been a Purple Emperor... The purple sheen will appear on different wings depending on the angle from which it is viewed, so don't mistakenly think it will always appear purple all over as in some photos. Same family (Nymphalidae) as the fritillaries.

Trev

I was thinking more along the lines of an aberration as there have been so many this year. The dark patches on aberrant Silver-washed Fritillaries for example can almost look purple and would fit this description. Here's a good example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15121707@N00/3696870219/

...Purple Emperors are not known from the Forest anyway are they?

Alexander

Ah... that's where my theory may fall down Alexander...

Trev

It used to - see the distribution map at http://www.thepurpleempire.com/NewFiles/notes.html. Maybe it is still there - is anyone looking?

What about valesina? This can have purple reflections.

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species/ ... Jul-05.jpg

(That picture is Simon Crampin's, reproduced on this site)

Guy

I've also heard of aberrations that are "normal" on the forewings and "valesina" on the hindwings!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks for your replies everyone. I am pretty sure it wasn't a purple emperor - it was predominantly orange and brown. The valensina looks the most like it in the photograph, although I can't find any other info on this - what is a valensina?

Hi Rachel.

Have a look at this, (scroll down the page to see the form valesina SWF.)

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... Fritillary

Denise

Valesina is a genetic variation of the silver washed fritillary and occurs only in females.
Here's one I took recently that also showed a purple irridescence when it caught the light right.