www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

We spotted this butterfly a few days ago at our allotment in Bristol, can anyone help with an id? The wings looked black and white and possibly striped in flight but it was too shy to show them for the picture! It looks a little like a white admiral from my books, but the pattern doesn’t look quite right..

Thanks in advance for your help!

Cat

Hi Cat - this looks like a Common Glider, Neptis sappho. I've no idea how it got to Bristol - the nearest location is Central Europe!

Cheers,

- Pete

Wow yes that looks like it! My other half took a shaky video too and we caught this still from it, which also seems to match.

Would it be possible for it to be blown to the UK do you think? Or perhaps an escapee from a collection?

Thanks very much,
Cat

It looks pretty fresh, too fresh to have been blown halfway across Europe. They are sometimes present in butterfly houses, there's a couple in Bristol.

The very similar Neptis hylas is also often bred in butterfly houses. My first thought was that it was this.

The ground colour of hylas is more yellow-ochre (like this one) than reddish brown.

Guy

Thank you everyone, they look very similar to my eye so I’m satisfied that it was one of the two!
One of the more exotic visitors to our allotment! We’ll continue searching for a white admiral...

Cat