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Viewing on my computer the pictures I had taken on my transect in Bishop's Stortford Southern Country Park on Monday, I came across this Small Skipper with what looks like a pair of extra antennae on its proboscis. Anyone come across this sort of aberration before? Or have an explanation for it?

They look like flower stamens to me, perhaps picked up from another flower the skipper had been nectaring on?

I agree it does look very odd though!

Cheers

Lee

Hi Lee.

That was my first thought, but they are on there so symetrically I just wanted to see if there was any other logical explanation. The proboscis would have had to have gone underneath the stamens for them to end up on top.

Thanks for your interest.

Lee is right, this often happens with orchids, and the butterfly is left unable to roll the proboscis back up..!

Piers.

They look like the pollinia of spotted orchids, though these usually attach themselves one at a time, so it might be a related species.

If you stick a thin grass stem down the nectary of a spotted orchid flower it will often come out with one of these sticking on at right angles. With time, the pollinium attachment dries out and lies down against the grass stem. The mechanism is designed to favour cross-pollination, rather than self-pollination, by preventing an insect re-entering nectaries on the same plant.

Guy

In France I have photographed butterflies with several of these attached. They must be quite annoying for the butterflies as they prevent them from properly rolling up their proboscis and you often see them trying unsuccessfully to remove them.

Thank you for answers everyone — you've convinced me that they are stamens!

Bob.