pink butterfly??

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by urbantwitcher

Well I saw a really pretty small dark pink, almost red butterfly with solid colour in both sets of wings and the wings were framed with black. I have never seen anything like it before hence looking up google images to see if I could find it. It was in Hounslow in my mum's garden which is on the A4, Great West Road near Heathrow Airport. She does have a lilac bush and other flowers. Any suggestions welcome!

Are there any butterfly houses near you? It might be an escapee

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by urbantwitcher

Well I saw a really pretty small dark pink, almost red butterfly with solid colour in both sets of wings and the wings were framed with black. I have never seen anything like it before hence looking up google images to see if I could find it. It was in Hounslow in my mum's garden which is on the A4, Great West Road near Heathrow Airport. She does have a lilac bush and other flowers. Any suggestions welcome!

Sounds like a Cinnabar to me.

[Scotty C]

Hi,

I saw the mystery pink butterfly in my garden (West Yorkshire) today. It had Dark grey/black upper wings with neon pink markings and the smaller wings and the undersides were the same neon pink.

I could not find it until i came across this post and what I saw was definately a Cinnabar, though the photos do not do the bright colour of the markings justice!

Here is a photo I took in my garden.

Thank you for solving my mystery!

[ametur]

Originally Posted by Scotty C

Hi,

I saw the mystery pink butterfly in my garden (West Yorkshire) today. It had Dark grey/black upper wings with neon pink markings and the smaller wings and the undersides were the same neon pink.

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Hi, I'm new here too and yes I googled pink black butterfly. aside from the lovely tattoo pictures there were no images of what I saw but you described it perfectly!
Neon pink and black, brief sighting on the South Coast of England (Hill Head near Southampton)

[Rachel26]

Hi,
Another newbie here! I'm a zoology student and love the variety of people found on this site and the gradient of expertise from 'expert' to 'amateur'.

Carrying on another year of the Barbie Butteroth... My mum was very excited to tell me that she'd seen a pink butterfly (this was a week or so ago). I thought 'oh, how nice. I'll have to find out what it is so that I can look out for it in future and plant the right flowers to attract it to our garden'. First stage in the search yesterday was use the identification tool on Butterfly Conservation Trusts website. No show. So, as many others have done, typed in 'pink butterfly'. 2 days of reading 414 posts later (yes, I'm a slow reader, and I had to investigate each suggestion made), I'm here and feeling enlightened by all that I've learnt along the way.

My mum's memory is not the best and although a nature lover, doesn't know a great deal about it, so I can only give the vague details I received. It was a 'pink butterfly' sort of 'fuschia coloured' a 'darkish solid pink' with 'no other colours' and 'maybe a dark border round the edge of the wings' (but after showing her so many photos she cant be sure). It didnt have an 'ugly body' (by which she means fat and hairy like a 'typical moth') and it was 'butterfly size' (by which I can only assume she means about the size of a Small White). She saw it fluttering close to the ground then watched as it settled on a low wall for a while before flying off again. It was solid pink at all times. Spotted in the coastal town of Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex.

I would like to say thank you to Geigo who suggested The Vestal, Rhodometra sacraria , in post 326. My mum said that this was the closest match, but that her 'butterfly' was a much darker pink than any of the photos I found for her. Is there a darker variation that wildlifeinsight.com? (just google image 'The Vestal Moth' and its the pinkest one there)

To be honest, she may have just been agreeing to the The Vestal being her butterfly to stop my questions. She did go on to say that it was 'probably a special one sent to her by angels'... but it does look like a butterfly in a certain position and when flying during the say, so I think that may be our mystery solved. This just goes to show that new suggestions are always helpful, if only to narrow the search.

Sorry for such a long message, just showing my support for the pink butterfly/ moth sightings and wondering if anyone knows whether there's a dark pink/ fuschia variation?

[Rachel26]

oh gosh, they really should give me word limits for posts. Sorry again for the length!
Rachelx

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Rachel26

Hi,
Another newbie here! I'm a zoology student and love the variety of people found on this site and the gradient of expertise from 'expert' to 'amateur'.?

Hi, and welcome to the site - there is a good mix of people on here, but don't forget that 'expert' and 'amateur' aren't two opposite ends of a scale. Many of those on here, as well as elswhere, are 'expert amateurs'/'amateur experts' (whichever way round you prefer to put it)!
I can't help with any more suggestions for the ID of your Mums butterfly though!

Originally Posted by Rachel26

Sorry for such a long message, just showing my support for the pink butterfly/ moth sightings and wondering if anyone knows whether there's a dark pink/ fuschia variation?

It seems like these pink butterflies have been around for so long now, with obviously fragmented populations, that any number of different variations could have evolved!

Originally Posted by Rachel26

oh gosh, they really should give me word limits for posts. Sorry again for the length!
Rachelx

No need for that - we don't all read as slowly as you say you do!