pink butterfly??

[Dan Salter]

Ok so im very sceptical about this pink butterfly...but i too thought i saw the thing today.....wrong....was just a falling pink and black petal from an opium poppy


This thread is so frustrating...because in all my time on WAB there has been nothing sighted, discovered, photographed that is truly out of the ordinary...this pink butterfly post really got my attention...but as someone just said 79 ( probably 81) posts now and no one has a single even blurry pic of the dam thing?

So many of you seem to claim to have seen it...but then..90% have since backtracked and realised what we have been saying all along cinnebar/ burnet...but i think 2 of you are still fighting your corner?

Im going to now take half hour scanning the net to see of any other reported sightings?..thing is myself as a keen amateur lepidopterist who knows heaps of "outdoors" people far more knowledgable than me and thats just in my area...these people and people all over the country surveying/ spotting/ photographing butterlfies/moths would know if something new was about? in the same way birders flock to see a lesser spotted winglebat footed dogleg beaver bird perched on a sleeping grannys knitting needle !

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Ok so im very sceptical about this pink butterfly...but i too thought i saw the thing today.....wrong....was just a falling pink and black petal from an opium poppy


This thread is so frustrating...because in all my time on WAB there has been nothing sighted, discovered, photographed that is truly out of the ordinary...this pink butterfly post really got my attention...but as someone just said 79 ( probably 81) posts now and no one has a single even blurry pic of the dam thing?

So many of you seem to claim to have seen it...but then..90% have since backtracked and realised what we have been saying all along cinnebar/ burnet...but i think 2 of you are still fighting your corner?

Im going to now take half hour scanning the net to see of any other reported sightings?..thing is myself as a keen amateur lepidopterist who knows heaps of "outdoors" people far more knowledgable than me and thats just in my area...these people and people all over the country surveying/ spotting/ photographing butterlfies/moths would know if something new was about? in the same way birders flock to see a lesser spotted winglebat footed dogleg beaver bird perched on a sleeping grannys knitting needle !

Any joy in your findings Dan? I have been waiting to get back home to see what you have concluded. Do you believe it's a case of mistaken id or are there summer tourists visiting this year? Or like our mysterious big cats the pinkies are on the wing. I'm not suggesting this pink butterfly thread is a wind up, if something has been blown in (hailing frogs and all)! Freak Weather patterns or new global chaos weather patterns as some call it, may indeed call us to get our butterfly nets at the ready?

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Jez

Any joy in your findings Dan? I have been waiting to get back home to see what you have concluded. Do you believe it's a case of mistaken id or are there summer tourists visiting this year? Or like our mysterious big cats the pinkies are on the wing. I'm not suggesting this pink butterfly thread is a wind up, if something has been blown in (hailing frogs and all)! Freak Weather patterns or new global chaos weather patterns as some call it, may indeed call us to get our butterfly nets at the ready?

Mass Hysteria it isn't Climate change is real!

[Dan Salter]

No Jez
Had a long hard search....only PINK BUTTERFLIES i could find mentioned on any site other than this thread ( which pops to top lof the list ) were some pink butterfly signs designating road verges as good wildlife spots.

No reported sightings on any butterfly sites etc....but then again....until totally proved otherwise maybe these are the only reported sightings on WAB and they havent filtered elsewhere yet....id LOVE it to be true there was a rare/new pink butterfly in the uk...but until its either photographed or trapped and recorded im still betting on burnet/cinnebar.

[sandrablair]

The pink butterfly I saw was a coral pink with a mauve trim round its wings, I dont think it was a moth and it was a bit smaller than a peacock butterfly it was in a field that was growing a type of bean for animal fodder and there were a lot of poppies and celandines growing there

[SparklySarah]

This is the only one I could find on t'internet:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/58/16...a8f6399171.jpg

But nothing with a black body.

Sarah

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by SparklySarah

This is the only one I could find on t'internet:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/58/16...a8f6399171.jpg

But nothing with a black body.

Sarah

Well done sarah...was it a uk site? its more than i managed to find....interesting looking moth ...whats was the name of it ( i dont think its our mystery one though as it lacks the black as u pointed out)

[WhiskyBottle]

I've not read all this vast tomb, so somebody may have said this already.

Scarlet Tiger - it's a moth, day flying, out now, black body & forewings, red(pink?) hind wings hidden at rest.

[Dan Salter]

We can run that one past them Whisky....
But they are all adament it was barbie pink?...

Although..the first sighting on page one was in june and as you say the flight period according to townsend/lewington is june-july

Hopefully there is some in the Gallery for them to go check?

Dan

[GuyF]

One thing that I thought of, (but didn't say because of how unlikely it is) is the Spanish Moth from America which has a black body with black and pink patterned wings. Here's a shot of one.
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstat...a%20031307.jpg
It's listed in the back of the Waring moth book as one of the 'Species doubtfully recorded in Great Britain and Ireland, or recorded as probable imports only'. It says there's only been a single specimen without any data to back it up but said to have been found in London.
Guy