Well, this morning, having just snapped a Wall Brown displaying well, I saw what I thought was a Comma, but turned out not to be, as the wings were not Comma-shaped.
It was a Fritillary.
The only one I have seen nearby was a Silver Washed last year and one in our garden this year.
So, I take shots at an angle, walk round and get two better shots before it flies off.
I know that late summer/early autumn last year, a Queen of Spain was seen at the other end of the village, I wanted to go and hunt for it then, but work pressures meant I didn't. So all the way back, I wondered.....Back home comes the identification, and what I was hoping was the legendary Queen of Spain Fritillary, but it didn't look right.
A Dark Green looked right-ish, but two months too late.
I post a shot on FB stating:
"Saw something different in St Margaret's this morning, Saturday, closest match seems to be Dark Green Fritillary?" And waited for any replies.
Within ten minutes, I got this:
"That's a Queen of Spain Fritillary ... 🦋😲🤩"
Confirmation.
I looked at the page on UK Butterflies for the QoS, and found:
"This butterfly is an extremely rare immigrant to the British Isles with the first record from Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire in 1710. It was first noticed in numbers in 1818 and was seen every year until 1885 - with the highest total of 50 records in 1872. Since then, sightings are few and far between with an additional 42 records up until 1939. Between 1943 and 1950 an additional 75 records were added and, since then, there has again been a dearth of sightings with no sightings at all in some years. In 2009 several individuals were seen near the Sussex coast, including a sighting of a mating pair. Even so, there have been less than 400 sightings in total since it was first discovered.
Although females have been seen egg-laying, neither larvae nor pupae have been found in the wild except in the Channel Islands, where larvae were found in 1950, and larvae were again found in 1951 and 1957. However, in 1945, 25 individuals were recorded at Portreath in Cornwall, suggesting that a migrant female had deposited her eggs in the vicinity and that this concentration of adults were her offspring. Unfortunately, this species is unable to survive our winter. The vernacular name of "Queen of Spain" was given in 1775 by Moses Harris in The Aurelian's Pocket Companion, although no explanation for this name was given. This species is a rare migrant to the British Isles. The vast majority of sightings are from the south coast of England, with a fairly even spread from Cornwall to Kent. There are fewer records further north and several records from southern Ireland. It is believed that the presence of this species on our shores is dependent on individuals originating in northern France. Unfortunately, the number seen there is also decreasing due to loss of suitable habitat and this undoubtedly has a knock-on effect.
This species is most-easily recognised by the large silver spangles found on the underside of the hindwings. The hindwings themselves are a curious shape, with a comparatively sharp angle at the edge of the hindwing that is not found in other fritillaries found in the British Isles. This butterfly has a powerful flight, as one would expect of any butterfly that is able to migrate over large distances."
One of less than 400 sightings!
But what Jools has said is this:
I was out looking for butterflies (and flowers).
I saw something, took a second look, and recognised it as something worth photographing.
And got shots.
Since posting, it kinda went viral in the Kent butterfly world, and we shall see how many, if any, come down to hunt for it But it seems that the QoS has a smilar aura to it as does the Ghost in the orchid world.
THis is the 40th species of butterfly seen in the UK for me. 3 of which are migrants: Clouded Yellow, Long Tailed Blue and now the Queen of Spain.
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