Saturday 5 June 2021

Wyre Forest - Pearl bordered Fritillary and other insects

 Another Lepidoptera mission with Dave Chapman - this time to the Wyre Forest and a bit of catch up on the butterflies for me! First up for me however was a Woodland Dor Beetle(Anoplotrupes stercorosus) scuttling across the path!


Incredible violet iridescence to the underparts!


The marmalade fly (Episyrphus balteatus) seen here in flight is usually everywhere by now but it's looking like a bad year for Hoverflies!


Plus a pristine female Broad-bodied Chaser sunning herself!


My catch up was with Pearl-bordered Fritillary and I was quite surprised to see some really fresh ones!


Time for a better background than the path!


And a series concentrating on the underside of the  hindwing...




The 'pearls' running along the hindwing edged in red.


Thank goodness you can decipher the cryptic patterning of these next two shots - Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. The dark markings at the top edge of the forwing are joined together. 



Looks like I need another trip to check out the underside pattern once more :-)