Today we have. . . . leipidopterans, and from two readers.
The bulk of the photos come from reader Mark Jones, who decided to anthropomorphize the insects. His notes are indented:
Among my usual butterfly photos this year I have collected some butterfly faces. I like to think they are reincarnated celebrities, so I’ve linked them to who they look like to me. Your readers may have other ideas, but I think they would be wrong! [JAC: I like his chutzpah
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Terry-Thomas (arch cad from the fifties and sixties):
Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) Zsa Zsa Gabor (glamourous lady of the fifties and sixties):
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) Bob Hoskins ( “You’re joking, intcha?”):
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) Ronnie Corbett (wee Scottish comedian):
Silver-Washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) Leslie Phillips (arch roué from the fifties and sixties):
To round things off, we have a gorgeous moth photographed by Barbara Wilson. Her notes:
The moth is Habrosyne scripta, the Lettered Habrosyne, attracted to lights at Ellmaker State Wayside, western Oregon. The apparent tearing and curving are optical illusions. The round things toward the head are tufts of hairs. A thoroughly deceptive moth. Larvae eat Rubus (blackberries and allies), and so must have plenty of food nearby. After all, this is the home of the Blackberry That Ate the Pacific Northwest, variously called Rubus bifrons, Rubus armeniacus, and other things—reasonable botanists disagree.
I kept meaning to send PCC[E] various beastie photos, for example of Vanessa cardui, then I left my nice camera in a pub last week 🙁 arrrggghhh!
Painted ladies have a migration as great or greater than Monarch butterflies. This year seems to be a good year for them in Northern Europe. I saw lots in June, though the present wet & windy weather will not have been to their liking…
I was expecting a massive influx of cardui but have so far seen just one (possibly two, not certain because its wings were seriously faded and it flew away before I could move in for a closer look… certainly looked like cardui from 6 metres). We haven’t had a whole lot of atalanta either – just two or three so far. Aglais io, however, is abundent and pugnacious (and it was Nymphalis io when I was a lad, so I always have to look the names up these days!)
Yes, I saw lots of Painted Ladies all at once one week in July (in Sussex); but not so many since then. They say we may get a massive influx at some point.
There were lots in North Norfolk in June – never seen them in London! Not spent any time in Norfolk really since – will keep eyes open though this weekend…
Is it just me, or is the Lettered Habrosyne channeling Darth Vader?
Not just you!
Great pictures!
Amusing allusions!
…. might be “references” not “allusions” because the connection is explicit…
Nice pictures and explanations.
Great pictures and love the anthropomorphization…but is that not interspecies cultural appropriation?
Look at their faces and note that none of the butterflies are smiling. Being a butterfly is serious business.
I especially like the Marbled White. Zsa Zsa to a T!
Nice batch today.
Habrosyne scripta, looks like it has had its innards ripped out, is that a deception? Look i got nothing left to pick at… no meal here.
Excellent pictures!
Breath-taking! Thanks!
I like to think of Terry Thomas as a butterfly. It seems peculiarly apt.