Thursday 7 April 2011

Maps; but not as we know them!

A new butterfly has come into our lives - the Map Butterfly (Araschnia levana). We saw the first one in the garden on the fifth of April and since then they have been coming by the dozen.


The Map is common in central Europe but does not come as far north as the UK. It gets it's name from the intricate map-like pattern on it's underside.



They are relatively small, at about 42mm but at least they are obliging when it comes to posing for photos, unlike their Orange-tip cousins!

1 comment:

Susan said...

You are lucky to have lots of the spring generation. They are not as common as the summer generation, which are a very smart black and white on the upperside.