Saturday, April 12, 2008

Lepidoptery (Updated)

Update: Jan has come to the rescue in the comments. It is a Small White, or Small Cabbage White. They're quite common so it shows how much I know about butterflies. Fortunately the only vegetables I've planted this year are carrots.

I love the internet.

It's that compound eye that draws me in. And the fragility.

It landed on the bathroom windowsill a few mornings ago and stayed there long enough for me to grab a camera and take some shots. Then it was gone, fluttering erratically towards the trees on the other side of the road. The photographs are worth clicking to enlarge - the digital camera was on form and I had a cooperative subject.

April's quite early in the year for butterflies. Or is it a moth? After searching reference books and online I've drawn a blank. Medium size, perhaps 50-60mm. Pale yellow wings with a mottling of brown. The closest possibility I've come across is a brimstone.

Maybe there's a lepidopterist out there?

Labels aren't everything, but I want to know.

12 comments:

herhimnbryn said...

Furrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!
Well caught pics mm.

Sky said...

beautiful. i vote moth of some sort. i like the new blog.

Anonymous said...

Could be a brimstone - we saw one in Devon the weekend before. I'll have a word with my tame lepidopterist when he visits tomorrow and get a verdict!

Jan

mm said...

HHB and Sky: thanks to you both.

Jan: That would be great. I didn't realise you had a tame lepidopterist!! :-)

Zhoen said...

Love how the antennae look bulbous at the end.

Barbara said...

That is a beautiful photo, how wonderful that it stayed there long enough for you to take the picture. I don't know the name, I will check back to see if anyone else knows.

Anonymous said...

OK, Dick's pretty sure it's a male small white butterfly [though initially he thought it might be a brimstone]. He says the underside of the small white wings is yellow.

Result!

Jan

Anonymous said...

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_White
Quote "Its underwings are yellowish with black speckles.It is sometimes mistaken for a moth due to its plain-looking appearance."

Jan

mm said...

Zhoen: Aren't they cool?

Starnitesky: It wasn't difficult. It was almost as if the insect was slightly dazed.

Jan: Thank you thank you. And D of course!

Anonymous said...

How lucky you were, to have a butterfly sit still for you!
Stella

Anonymous said...

gorgeous pics! like a fairy on your windowsill . . . did you get a sense of what magic follows her??? :)

mm said...

Stella: Lucky indeed.

Kate: You read my mind. It did feel as though I'd been visited by fairy .....