www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

A strange looking butterfly seen at All Saints Church allotments in Cheltenham late Monday afternoon. At first I thought this was a speckled wood aberration but it was the size of a silver-washed fritillary and twice the size of a normal speckled wood. It was spotted sunning itself on the ivy in the hedgerow. Apologies for the poor quality photograph, it was taken with a mobile phone as i had no camera handy! I've looked through lots of images of European butterflies both in books and online and i can find nothing that resembles this individual. Any ideas what this mystery species could be?

This must be an escape or an illegal release. It is a Junonia species, possibly Junonia lemonias, the Lemon Pansy, found in India and the far east. Astonishing in UK!
Tony M.

Many thanks for identifying it Tony, I guess it must have been an illegal release. It was a huge surprise to find it on my allotment!

Think I'd have had a seizure if I'd seen that!

What a surprise.