Topic: All the Butterfly trays now identified - thanks to all!

[David E]

Hi all, I've now got photoed examples of all six of the Chance butterfly dishes, but although I have four identified, a couple are confusing me as to their proper name

See: Butterfly Dishes

The six names given by Chance for the series are:

[*]1. Red Admiral
[*]2. Agrias Lugens
[*]3. Milkweed
[*]4. Swallowtail
[*]5. Peacock
[*]6. Holly Blue

Can anyone help me get them ordered properly? Thanks for looking

[Sue C]

www.ukbutterflies.co.uk  hope this helps.

[David E]

Thanks Sue, I have tried looking at the various images on the web, but they don't seem to match very well. As you can see, I have a Holly Blue to find, which I know is predominantly blue (would you believe ), but the two remaining ones are nothing like it  

Agrias Lugens has the most blue of the six designs, but I'm pretty sure this one is correct.

Guess I'll have to wait for a wildlife expert to drop by. Kev, perhaps?

[David E]

Ah, I might have answered my own question here, but the one I have titled Milkweed? does have a smaller blue butterfly in the background. Is this a Holly Blue???

All the other six dishes show a matching butterfly in the background and this is the only one where a totally different one is showing.

Edit: And I've just discovered the Milkweed is commonly called Monarch, which does match the other design!

[Max]

I think the 'Milkweed' one is a Monarch Butterfly (correct at No.3) ...they feed on milkweed.  Still trying to find Agrias Lugens...no luck at all yet.

[David E]

Max, I'm pretty sure Agrias Lugens is correct and I believe I just need to correctly identify the Holly Blue - see my earlier post (think we crossed!  )

[Max]

Your Holly Blue looks the same as the one in my book, except mine is a little darker and the wings are more separated.  Probably your one is just resting.    I'll send you a scan.

Its latin name appears to be:  Celastrina Argiolus   if that's any help.

Very strange about the Agrias Lugens though. I've been all over my book, by name and by characteristics and can't find anything similar.  Maybe the Victorians killed them all.    I hope Kev can shed some light on that, it's annoying me that I can't find it!

[David E]

A couple of links

Agrias Lugens

Agrias Lugens

[Max]

Using the net is cheating!!!   

[Bernard C]

David — My list (other replies unread as I didn't want to get confused)

[*]1. Red Admiral — Correctly identified.
[*]2. Agrias Lugens — Correctly identified.
[*]3. Milkweed — Identified in your images as "? ? ?" — better known here as the Monarch butterfly, a rare vagrant from N. America.
[*]4. Swallowtail — Correctly identified.
[*]5. Peacock — Correctly identified.
[*]6. Holly Blue — Identified in your images as "Milkweed?" — note the unmistakeable row of black dots on the underside of the forewing.  We saw about five or six of these at Grange Arch, Isle of Purbeck last summer, feeding off bramble flowers.

We only discovered at the end of last year that we live in a stronghold of the rare Wood White, with three local woods managed for this species.   So we will be there, first week in June, hoping to see not only this beauty, but also the male's strange wing-bashing behaviour;  see this video.

Bernard C.