Aberrant
Any instant guesses?
This is an aberrant Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas ab. schmidtii) Total kudos to the couple who found this and also notified other butterfly enthusiasts on site at Cerne Abbas. I reckon between the six people gathered, including the couple, there were 150 years of butterfly watching and none of us had ever seen one before. Indeed, I had never even heard of this aberration.
For those not familiar with the species here is the link to a 'normal' Small Copper photo taken in 2014
Aberrant
Any instant guesses?
This is an aberrant Small Copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas ab. schmidtii) Total kudos to the couple who found this and also notified other butterfly enthusiasts on site at Cerne Abbas. I reckon between the six people gathered, including the couple, there were 150 years of butterfly watching and none of us had ever seen one before. Indeed, I had never even heard of this aberration.
For those not familiar with the species here is the link to a 'normal' Small Copper photo taken in 2014