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Can anyone help please?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:44 pm
by Paulde
I saw this butterfly in Durnstein, Austria at the castle where Richard I was held prisoner so a very tenuous connection with the UK. Can anyone identify it please?

Re: Can anyone help please?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 2:01 pm
by MikeOxon
Hi Paulde - this is a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly. This species emerges in North Africa and then migrates, often in huge numbers, across Europe, as shown on the following map [Wikimedia Commons]
Migration_PaintedLady.jpg
So the link with UK is not as tenuous as you might have thought :)

Mike

Re: Can anyone help please?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 3:27 pm
by Paulde
Thank you. It just looked so different from any Painted Lady that I've seen in this country.

Re: Can anyone help please?

Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 4:55 pm
by MikeOxon
I think it is a well-worn specimen, in which the blacker areas have faded.

Mike