Help with Fritillary ID

[wandering woody]

Hi there,

Can anyone ID this fritillary butterfly I took a picture of in the spring of 2010. I took it somewhere between Polperro and Porthhallow in Cornwall.







Thanks in advance!

Kindest regards,

WW.

[Deb London]

I bought a book that seemed to be good for fritillaries, which I find tricky. Unfortunately it's still at work as I didn't think I'd be needing it yet.

I think it has to be something like Pearl-bordered because you saw it in spring. Without reading that I might have said Dark Green, purely on markings, but the scale looks wrong for this too.

Not much help am I?

Stop press: I've found a Boloria euphrosyne with identical markings. Pearl-bordered for me.

[aeshna5]

Agree it's one of the 2 Pearl Bordered Fritillary species + I'm thinking it isn't Small PB. Would have been easier with an underside view

[Johnny Redgate]

My best guess would be Small PB also.

[Jason Claxton]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Agree it's one of the 2 Pearl Bordered Fritillary species + I'm thinking it isn't Small PB. Would have been easier with an underside view

I'd say Pearl-bordered Fritillary,not Small PB for me too.

[Pease]

was reading up on this earlier today and came up with an interesing identifying feature on the upper forewing which I didn't know before. The dark markings near the edge of the forewing are usually joined in a SPB and seperated in a PB - so we're going for PB on this one

[earthdragon64]

Originally Posted by Pease

was reading up on this earlier today and came up with an interesing identifying feature on the upper forewing which I didn't know before. The dark markings near the edge of the forewing are usually joined in a SPB and seperated in a PB - so we're going for PB on this one

Using that as well as the spots on the uppper forewings I'd go for PBF as well, the spots are roughly equi-distant between the chevrons and the inner dark patches. In a SPBF the spots are roughly nearer the chevrons than the inner patches.

It's much easier to tell them apart if you get a good look at, or photo of, the underwings.

Regards, Audrey.

[Johnny Redgate]

OK consensus is PBF - good find. I had thought that the photo with wings folded just about showed 2 white panels on the underside leading edge of the hindwing as in SPBF but upper sides do look good for PBF.

[wandering woody]

Hi everyone,

Thank you very much for your replies. It was really interesting reading what you all said and then looking at the differences in my butterfly book.

At the time of taking the photo I didn't know any of our native butterflies! Since then I have taken a keen interest in them and when coming across the photos I was surprised to see what I knew was a Fritillary - but not sure what species in particular.

I managed to work out the exact date I took the picture earlier today - 15th May 2010. After reading up on both the PBF & SPBF I noticed that the PBF usually emerges before the SBFB with the latter less likely to be seen in early May. This may be another reason to go with PBF!

Any ideas on this being a male or female?

I am heading down to Cornwall again in June this year, any tips for some good butterflies to look out for?

Kindest regards,

WW.

[ChrisJB]

Try Lands End for small pearl bordered. And you may, if the season is early, get silver studded blue on a few areas of coastal heath and dark green fritillary on the coast adjacent to Mullion Cove.

Chris