David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
___________________________________________________________________Butterflies
21 - Small Tortoiseshells
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais
urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLIES Aglais urticae
SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae ab. semigrina SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY Aglais urticae larva
- The
attractive Small
Tortoiseshell Butterfly Aglais
urticae is one of the most colourful
British butterflies – on the upperside, that is,
as the underside is drab and cryptically coloured to render the insect
invisible to predators when at rest. The larvae feed on Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica.
There has been some concern about the stability of the population of this
formerly very common butterfly in the UK at present following the
establishment of the Continental tachinid fly Sturmia bella
as a breeding species, but at the time of writing the butterfly seems to
have been holding its own. Any relationship between an insect and a parasite
will involve population fluctuations and a parasite cannot afford to wipe
out its host. However, this fly can parasitise the larvae of more than one
species and the butterfly has other parasites to contend with as well. A
temperature aberration semigrina
is shown, with more extensive black markings that indicate that the
earlier stages of the insect may have been exposed to an unusually cold
microclimate during development. A fully grown larva is illustrated in the
final photograph. The above images were taken in England, Wales, and
Norway.
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