David Element
Wildlife
Photography and Digital Video Images
______________________________________________________________________Butterflies
33 - Spotted Fritillaries
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED
FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
SPOTTED FRITILLARY Melitaea didyma (m)
- These
brightly coloured and very attractive Spotted Fritillaries Melitaea didyma were photographed in
southern France. The
nectarine was used in a failed attempt to attract a Two-tailed Pasha
Charaxes jasius
as this species is reputed to have a liking for ripe fruit. One landed but
just as the photographer was approaching it his foot rolled on a stone and
the chance was gone! Lesser Spotted
Fritillaries M. trivia are
very similar to Spotted Fritillaries and there are subtle differences in
the shapes of the marginal spots on the underside of the hindwings that
may be neither clear-cut nor convincing. There are some geographical areas
in which both species may be found but the latter is absent from most of
France. Small fritillaries can be extremely difficult to identify to
species and sometimes one should be prepared for an inconclusive result,
particularly if a specimen is very worn or if the relevant diagnostic
features cannot be seen in a photograph! This Butterfly Conservation
European Butterflies reference: http://www.european-butterflies.org.uk/downloads/EURO%20FRITS%20GUIDE.pdf
offers excellent guidance, and it should enable most European fritillaries
to be identified from clear photographs – if the appropriate features can
be seen. It can be easy to make mistakes as the markings may be almost
identical, albeit variable, between closely related species, and since he
discovered it, the author has been carefully cross-checking old
photographs for misidentifications! There have been some recent
reclassifications in the light of DNA sequence analysis too. There are
many beautifully illustrated reference books available for students of for
butterflies but looking at a high-resolution PDF enlarged on a computer
screen offers distinct advantages when making any direct comparisons with
the details in photographs
- David’s short film of Spotted
Fritillaries pairing may be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPvH55qpeM&list=PL4AirIEc0NofhDbxohAG_PoMc7P2iGR5N&index=77&t=0s.
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