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Hi

New here so please be gentle....

We saw the attached Fritillary in West Kent (North Downs) yesterday. Did a lot of googling and now realise that it can't be a HBF because of the Location

Thinking it might be a Dark Green .... Can anybody help?

Crayfish


oops! forgot to say we didn't get a good look at the underside:(

I'm no expert myself but judging by the location I would say Dark Green Fritillary.
Also I just discovered that the way to tell is by looking at the spots that line the wing, if they're all in line as they are on your shot then it's a Dark Green. The 3rd spot in from the wing tip has to be indented for it to be High Brown. I could be wrong of course... but if I'm not then thanks for asking the question as trying to help you out has made it much clearer in my mind. They do say the best way to learn something is to teach it!

Cheers, have a goodun

Wurzel

Definitely Dark Green Frit.
The row of spots on the forewing are all in a straight line barring the one nearest to the body.
On High Brown these form a more S-shaped mark with the third spot in from the leading edge of the wing being out of line with the others.
Obviously the underwing is the clincher but as you say not always seen.
Nice photo.

Thanks people!

That's pretty much confirmed what we thought.

Lucky my son had his SLR, his photo skill not mine!

It was quite an impressive sight and larger than I expected (I am a complete newbie at Butterflies). We walk this way quite often so will keep looking.

Many Thanks
Crayfish

The alignment of the forewing spots indicates Dark Green (as does the location), but this specimen doesn't seem to have forewings as rounded as normal (unless it's an illusion caused by the angle of the photograph).