Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Butterflies Page 23

Image Taken on 25 Apr 2025 at 09:44 Image of day on 04 Jun 2025

This male Orange-tip Butterfly sucks nectar from a Forget-me-not flower.

Ref: 20250604_df3_20250425_0944_012 orange-tip butterfly male with proboscis drinking from forget-me-not flower(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 25 Apr 2025 at 09:45 Image of day on 04 Jun 2025

The same male Orange-tip Butterfly sucks nectar from a Lady's Smock (Cuckoo Flower) flower.

Ref: 20250604_df3_20250425_0945_027 orange-tip butterfly male with proboscis drinking from ladys smock (cuckoo flower) flower(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 30 Apr 2012 at 16:28 Image of day on 26 May 2012

An Orange-tip butterfly feeding on a Lady's Smock (Cuckoo Flower) flower.
Where's the 'orange' bit then? Like many sexually dimorphic species, the orange tips to the wings are on the males only - this is a female.

Ref: 20120526_df1_20120430_1628_210+215 orange-tip butterfly on ladys smock (cuckoo flower) flower (montage for differential focus)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 09 May 2026 at 14:31 Image of day on 18 Jun 2026

Something we have never seen before - male and female orange-tip butterflies attempting to mate. The female (left) is offering to mate with the male who is fluttering around her. They flew off into the distance just a second or two later.
We couldn't have disturbed them from at least 20m away, and didn't go chasing.

Ref: 20260618_r52_20260509_1431_066 orange-tip butterfly pair attempting to mate 1 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 19 May 2014 at 17:27 Image of day on 23 Jul 2014

A pair of Orange-tip butterflies courting in the evening sunshine.
A mostly accurate montage to convey the action as they spiraled upwards.

Ref: 20140723_df2_20140519_1727_175+187-189 orange-tip butterfly pair courting in rising flight selected 1-4 of 4 (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 17 Apr 2025 at 15:08 Image of day on 29 May 2025

The male Orange tip Butterflies continue their endless search for a female. We often see them chasing after any white butterfly they get near.
Here in an unusually 'static' opportunity we see this male in a sun-warmed hedge making a real effort to mate with a Small White Butterfly (sex unknown) who just wants to feed on the nectar.

Ref: 20250529_d72_20250417_1508_167 orange-tip butterfly trying to court small white butterfly(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 28 Apr 2017 at 12:32 Image of day on 21 Jun 2017

The Orange-tip butterfly season seems have lasted unusually well this year. This is the head-on view of a male perched on a fallen Dandelion 'clock'. You can see the orange glow between the wing tips.

Ref: 20170621_df3_20170428_1232_037 orange-tip butterfly viewed head-on on dandelion clock (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 28 Apr 2017 at 12:34 Image of day on 21 Jun 2017

Here a male orange-tip with wings spread in the sunshine. You can just see the wonderful green tracery showing through from the other side of his rear wings.

Ref: 20170621_df3_20170428_1234_049 orange-tip butterfly with wings spread(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 11 Aug 2021 at 10:51 Image of day on 21 Sep 2021

Some of the Oxford Ragwort has timed it's growth to make a decent flowerhead before the Cinnabar Caterpillars ravage the plant! The Gatekeeper butterfly you see, not badly disguised here, is the dominant brown butterfly at the moment.

Ref: 20210921_d73_20210811_1051_022 oxford ragwort flowers with gatekeeper butterfly(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 24 Jul 2006 at 12:39 Image of day on 05 Aug 2006

Teasels are now spikily rampant and many are flowering in their unusual rings of florets. The Painted Lady is a summer visitor that have only been common here in the last few years. Here two are refuelling on the nectar.

Ref: 20060805_d10_20060724_1239_027 2 painted lady butterflies on teasel(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 29 May 2025 at 13:18 Image of day on 17 Jul 2025

UK midlands has been rather north to see many of the migratory Painted Lady Butterfly, but this year we do see at least this first one.

Ref: 20250717_r70_20250529_1318_011 painted lady butterfly (1st of 2025)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 28 May 2026 at 12:07 Image of day on 07 Jul 2026

The extraordinary early Spring and then heatwave has produced an early and generous show of Painted Lady Butterflies - a species we are rather too far north to see each year with any reliability.
Its seems that not a lot is known about the cause of the migration, but it seems that they return to the continent en-masse using favourable winds at heights of about 500 metres. A few may hibernate in the UK - as the seasons warm who knows what will happen.

Ref: 20260707_r52_20260528_1207_035 painted lady butterfly - 1st of 2026(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 28 May 2026 at 17:50 Image of day on 07 Jul 2026

Another Painted Lady Butterfly, this time on less attractive but warmer corrugated iron. The right antenna is aligned with the camera rendering it 'invisible'

Ref: 20260707_r52_20260528_1750_011 painted lady butterfly - 1st of 2026(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 31 May 2026 at 15:22 Image of day on 14 Jul 2026

We have an unexpected flurry of Painted Lady Butterflies this year. In many years we see none at all, and before this year never more than one individual.
Here is one tucking into an Oxeye daisy flower.

Ref: 20260714_r52_20260531_1522_027 painted lady butterfly feeding on oxeye daisies(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 27 Jun 2019 at 17:35 Image of day on 16 Aug 2019

Here is a Painted Lady Butterfly also choosing one of thousands of Privet heads for a feed. This one has a slightly damaged edge to the wing - quite normal damage from brushing on foliage. We have always felt that the name 'Painted Lady' is a bit strong for this subtly coloured creature.

Ref: 20190816_df5_20190627_1735_122 painted lady butterfly feeding on privet flowers(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 28 Jun 2019 at 17:39 Image of day on 16 Aug 2019

Another slightly less wing edged damaged Painted Lady Butterfly gives us a lovely view of her underwings as she feeds through her proboscis forming a gentle bend lower right.

Ref: 20190816_df5_20190628_1739_296 painted lady butterfly feeding on privet flowers(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 08 Aug 2009 at 10:46 Image of day on 23 Sep 2009

This painted lady dipped into successive florets (single flowers in a group) on a teasel, dipping into 1 a couple of times - it may be more random than it looks. Anyway, in a single sequence of 3 seconds here are the dips into 3 little fuel stores.

Ref: 20090923_cf1_20090808_1046_419+430+444 painted lady butterfly feeding on successive teasel florets @ 20fps 1+12+26 of 50 (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg

Image Taken on 27 Jul 2014 at 12:42 Image of day on 05 Oct 2014

A painted Lady Butterfly feeding on a Teasel flower head.
"We didn't see one of those last year" we said.
We looked in our database and we found that it has been not 1 but 4 years - last recorded in 2009.

Ref: 20141005_df2_20140727_1242_199 painted lady butterfly feeding on teasel flowers (1st of 2014 - not seen since 2009) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 02 Aug 2019 at 15:49 Image of day on 23 Sep 2019

Many years we don't see Painted Lady Butterflies at all, but this year has been 'bumper'. This one on Teasel (where we are mostly seeing them) looks so delicate when perched above the spikes.

Ref: 20190923_df3_20190802_1549_141 painted lady butterfly feeding on teasel flowers 3 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 02 Aug 2015 at 13:52 Image of day on 05 Oct 2015

Our first sighting of a Painted Lady Butterfly this year, and in fact our first record at all since a large influx in 2009.

Ref: 20151005_da1_20150802_1352_467+1240+273_ft1 painted lady butterfly in flight + thistle flower (montage))(r+mb id@768).jpg

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