Emporer moth

Emporer moth
By Peter Byles

Monday 4 July 2011

Fritillaries


Visited the Deer Park this morning to look for Dark Green Fritillaries and I was not disappointed! I counted 54 in total during my stroll (about 3/4 hour) - it was quite breezy and they were continually on the move, dipping and bobbing up and down over the vegetation. Presumably the males are looking for females and the females are looking for places to lay eggs. But here is a mystery - my book says the larvae feed on violets - are there any violets on the Deer Park? Maybe I have just missed them?

Managed a photo of rather a tired specimen - some of them were positively dazzling in the sunlight. Incidentally, when asked what they are, the answer is always met with disbelief - "But they aren't dark green - they are bright orange" - so you have to explain about the underwing which actually you can never see!



Rosemary

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