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Butterfly ID Please

NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
in Wildlife gardening
Saw an amazing dark blue butterfly here today, the nearest I could find was this one (screen shot off the net), but it is not named. Does anyone know what this one is?


Also, I have various fritillaries here, but this one is a bit different, is it a Painted Lady?

Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.

Posts

  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    The first is a Purple Emperor, the second is indeed a Painted lady.
  • dave125dave125 Posts: 178
    The first is actually a Lesser Purple Emperor.
    Luv Dave
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    You are correct about the photo being the Lesser, but both species occur near Girona, so the OP could have seen either species.
  • granmagranma Posts: 1,933
    Lovely butterflies, we have the Painted Lady but no Purple Emperors  to my knowing. I enjoy seeing the different butterflies.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Thanks guys. Hmm, I just managed to spot the first butterfly again, but it was high up with wings closed, but I did get brief open view, and the forewings were plainer and darker, with the rear similar to the one you identified. So similar to the purple emperor but not it, I think. This is the best I could get, looks black here but was definitely blue, topside. What so you think?

    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,190
    The second photo is not an Emperor, it looks like the Southern White Admiral, Limenitis reducta. Spain: Ninfa de arroyos.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Ah, thanks very much Alan - the name Southern White Admiral would be why it didn’t come up searching for dark blue butterfly!! It does look much more like that, although this one was missing the spots on the forewings, the rich blue colour is right. One day I will get it to sit still for its portrait  :)
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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