www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I am told that there is a spoof picture in today's Times newspaper of a Tortoiseshell with the caption Red Admiral (or something like that).

I no longer read The Times since they stared charging to view online. Anyone any info on the "Red Tortie"?

Jack

Hi Jack,
I put a comment about this under "silly sightings" ,
regards,
Philip

Why do so many people mistake Small Tortoiseshells for Red Admirals?

I personally don't like any "butterfly on snow" images unless it can be shown that they were genuinely taken with the butterflies best interests in mind. I don't think Butterfly Conservation should sell butterfly merchandise like this simply because it is too easy to take a "dopey" butterfly out of hibernation and get it to pose on top of ones Christmas Tree ! (This might not have anything to do with that picture in The Times). I start from the premise that a butterfly does not want to be on the snow.

David M wrote:Why do so many people mistake Small Tortoiseshells for Red Admirals?

Education, education, education! Or not

I read the current issue of the BBC Wildlife magazine last night and was particularly interested what Chris Packham wrote. He commented that he visited a university with one of the best zoology courses in the UK. He found that almost all first-year successful students could not tell the difference between a Blackbird from a Starling or a Chaffinch. Or a Small Tortoiseshell from a Peacock or a Red Admiral. A sad state of affairs.

Peter