Butterfly & Moth Photos

Nature Photos > Insect Photos > Butterfly & Moth Photos

Green-Veined White, Artogeia napi, on Dwarf Willow. Moorland by Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland
The boggy ground, usually so wet, was crisp and firm on a beautifully sunny day.
The feathered edge and veining of the butterfly's hindwing is mirrored in the soft edging and colours of the new willow leaves.

Mating Pair of Common Heath moths, Ematurga atomaria, Dordogne
The male has large feathery antennae for finding the female by scent.
By pure luck the insects chose a window to perch on, allowing these images of both upper and under sides.

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui on Chives, Allium schoenoprasum, Castell Henllys, Wales

Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius, on Lavender, Dordogne

White-Letter Hairstreak, Satyrium (Strymondia, Thecla) w-album, Dordogne

Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria, Tourbieres de Vendoire

Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus

Adonis Blue, Lysandra bellargus, Chiltern Hills

Clouded Yellow Colias croceus on Few-Leaved Hawkweed Hieracium murorum, Dordogne

Cream-spot Tiger Moth, Arctia villica, on coastal heath/grassland, Zennor, Cornwall

Lackey Moth caterpillar, Malacosoma neustria, on coastal heath/grassland, The Lizard, Cornwall
Lackey caterpillars eat leaves of Hawthorn, Blackthorn and other shrubs.

Six-Spot Burnet Moth and its caterpillar, Zygaena filipendulae, on coastal heath/grassland, Zennor, Cornwall
The caterpillar eats Birdsfoot Trefoil ('Bacon-and-Eggs'), Lotus corniculatus, which is common in the grassland.
Both larva and adult advertise their foul taste with bright warning colours.

Small Magpie Moth, Eurrhypara hortulata, in open and in hiding, London

Ringlet Butterfly, Aphantopus hyperantus, on Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, Aston Rowant

The tiny but beautiful Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus alceae, Dordogne

Large Skipper, Ochlodes venatus, on Lavender, Dordogne

Mating pair of Spotted Fritillaries, Melitaea didyma, Dordogne

Male Silver-Washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia, Dordogne

This large butterfly is constantly chased off by much smaller Gatekeepers Pyronia lithonus which are very territorial.
The dark bands on the forewings are the male's scent glands.

Queen of Spain Fritillary Issoria (Argynnis) lathonia, upper and under sides, on Lavender, Dordogne

This butterfly is smaller and darker than the Silver-Washed. The trailing edges of the hindwings are notably square-cut;
on the underside, the large silvery spots on the hindwings are distinctive.

Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary Boloria selene, Dordogne

This looks something like a small Silver-Washed above, but with clear half-moons around the margin;
the silver spots on the underside of the hindwing are distinctive, forming a row quite unlike the silvery blobs of the Queen of Spain.

The specific name Selene, by the way, means Moon (in Greek), presumably a silvery one.

Glanville Fritillary, Melitaea cinxia, Dordogne

Spotted Fritillaries, Melitaea didyma, Dordogne

Fritillary Caterpillar, Dordogne

Common Wasp, Vespula vulgaris, astride - biting and stinging - a battered Elephant Hawkmoth, Deilephila elpenor, Wraysbury
The Hawkmoth, despite being unable to fly, struggled continuously, whirring its wings and thrashing about.
In the detail photo on right, the wasp's mandibles are seen cutting into the moth's thorax.