External queries

[Padfield]

She made no mention of having gone to the correct end of the horse

By coincidence, I was browsing the d'Abrera volume on Neotropical Riodinidae only yesterday, and had been particularly drawn to this amazing genus (as well as to the even more extraordinary genus Stalachtis). I realised that the only Riodinid I have ever seen, even in butterfly farms, is Duke of Burgundy. There's a whole unexplored world out there ...

Guy

[Vince Massimo]

I realised that the only Riodinid I have ever seen, even in butterfly farms, is Duke of Burgundy. There's a whole unexplored world out there ...

Indeed..............
One reason I failed to find it on a general search, was that I assumed it was a Lycaenid

Vince

[Vince Massimo]

Item 13

I have been sent this image of a mystery (moth) caterpillar on a Willow tree.

Can't find it in my book.

Vince

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Vince,

That's a Knot Grass Acronicta rumicis.

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[Vince Massimo]

Many thanks, Mark . I will pass that on.

Vince

[Vince Massimo]

Item 14

Unknown caterpillar found on garden furniture.

DSCN2748.jpeg (20.88 KiB) Viewed 6387 times

DSCN2747.jpeg (32.12 KiB) Viewed 6387 times

Many thanks,
Vince

[NigelF]

Hi all,

Can anyone identify who owns these eys please? Seen north of Oxford today.

Thanks.

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Nigel.

Welcome to the UKB forum.

This looks like Morpho peleides, the Common Blue Morpho. If seen in the wild, this will be an escape from a butterfly house, maybe Blenheim Palace?

Kind regards. Mark

[NigelF]

Ha. Don't bother identifying this - my daughter evidently took the photograph in Blenheim butterfly collection!

[MikeOxon]

Looks as though Mark had got there anyway

[JIMCOBB49]

Can anyone identify these 2 butterflies.No.1 was taken in the Algarve,No.2 in Crete Thank you Jim

[Padfield]

Hi Jim. Your first butterfly is a female cardinal, Argynnis pandora. The second is a mallow skipper, Carcharodus alceae. I would prefer to see an underside too to confirm the alceae, as there are a few other Carcharodus species in the region, but I have high confidence from the upperside alone.

Guy

[JIMCOBB49]

Thanks for ID Guy

[TonyB]

Item 13

I photographed this lovely butterfly yesterday, but I have been unable to accurately identify it. I have seen images of quite a few similar ones, but none with exactly the same markings. Any Ideas? Thanks! Its' wingspan was between 1 inch and 1 1/2 inches.

[Padfield]

Hi Tony. This is a ringlet. It is a very variable species and perfectly normal that this one doesn't look exactly like pictures in the books.

See: http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species. ... hyperantus

Guy

[TonyB]

Thanks Guy! Much appreciated. It was a lovely butterfly and posed willingly for me!

[Ian Pratt]

I was looking for photos of purple emperors on flickr and came up with this photo entitled "tawny emperor butterflies on milkweed". They look more like fritillaries but can anyone help me?

[Padfield]

Hi Ian. I think those are great spangled fritillaries, Speyeria cybele, and certainly not tawny emperors!

The dangers of the web ...

Guy

[Ian Pratt]

Thanks Guy.