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Heath Fritillary - ab or not?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:01 pm
by Bill S
Hi folks
I saw this a couple of weeks ago in France, NE of Toulouse. The first question is, is it a Heath Fritillary and if so is it an aberration or within normal variance?
Many thanks in advance for any help
Regards
Bill
Re: Heath Fritillary - ab or not?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:35 pm
by Padfield
It's difficult to be sure with
Melitaea at the best of times, so I hesitate to give a confident ID here. I suspect, however, that it is a meadow fritillary,
Melitaea parthenoides. The open area in the upperside hindwing and the pattern of the underside hindwing suggest this.
Melanism is relatively common in this group. I have seen a rather similar but less symmetrical individual (
parthenoides):
I assumed my individual was environmentally produced, rather than genetic, because of the asymmetry. Beyond assumptions, I really don't know!
Guy
Re: Heath Fritillary - ab or not?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:44 pm
by Bill S
Thanks Guy, I hadn't spotted the Meadow Fritillary as a possibility it's certainly a closer match on the underside than Heath.
Cheers
Bill
Re: Heath Fritillary - ab or not?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:04 pm
by David M
That's an amazing butterfly. Thanks for sharing.