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Southern White Admiral with a difference
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:42 pm
by David Tipping
Here's a butterfly from a recent Naturetrek holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees which might be of interest. It had us all perplexed for a while, but we eventually concluded that it was an aberrant Southern White Admiral, which lacked the white wing markings.
Re: Southern White Admiral with a difference
Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:04 pm
by Tony Moore
Re: Southern White Admiral with a difference
Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:26 pm
by Padfield
Amazing! I think this is f. pythonissa, Millière, 1859: 'On dorsal side white lines almost disappear, whereas ventral side suffused with russety tone contrasting with a decidedly white basal area on hindwing' (Leraut). Leraut illustrates a female of this form very simliar to yours but just slightly less extreme, with fragments of white still visible. For myself, I've never seen anything like it!
Guy