• ABOUT
  • BIRDING 2018
  • Birding 2019
  • BLOG POSTS
  • Butterflies 2018
  • Resources

earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

earthstar

Tag Archives: aberrant butterfly

An aberrant Gatekeeper

31 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Comments Off on An aberrant Gatekeeper

Tags

aberrant butterfly, aberrant Gatekeeper, British butterflies, Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus var. subalbida

210731 gatekeeper (1)

This striking little Gatekeeper caught my eye during a recent walk. Instead of the vibrant orange hue usually seen in their wings (normal male colouring shown below), this little fellow’s colouring was a pale cream. Looking at the known variations for these butterflies on the UK Butterflies website, this appears to be the aberration subalbida.

210731 gatekeeper (2)

Like this:

Like Loading…

181/365 An aberrant Meadow brown

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, aberrant butterfly, aberrant Meadow brown, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Meadow Brown, pathological aberration

I feel like I should be apologising for featuring butterflies three days in a row but this little butterfly is so interesting that I just had to share it. There are a ton of Meadow browns flitting around the wildflower fields at Cosmeston right now and they mostly look like this – or, at least, the females do.

190630 Meadow brown normal female

So, I think you can see why the butterfly in this next photo caught my eye. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a really clear shot of it, as it kept flying further into the flowers and I didn’t want to trample them, but you get the idea. Thanks to a tweet from UK Butterflies, I now know “This aberration is referred to as ‘pathological’, where wing scales fail to pigment – thought to be caused by some type of damage (physical or chemical) to the pupa. Asymmetrical examples are known too where only 1 wing is affected.” Isn’t it fascinating?

190630 Meadow brown aberrant female

Like this:

Like Loading…

About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

View Full Profile →

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent blog posts

  • Galls: Eriophyes similis 12 June 2026
  • Black-clouded longhorn beetle 12 June 2026
  • A fledgling Long-tailed tit 11 June 2026
  • The larval webs of the Apple ermine moth 10 June 2026
  • NFY: Brown argus 9 June 2026

From the archives

COPYRIGHT

Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

Fellow Earth Stars!

  • FrankieWoodknob
  • Louis Spadorcia
  • Caleb Cheruiyot
  • joyfullycreation4f2bcb3356
  • toure16
  • 大阪のうめ吉
  • Farida
  • Penny Bowers
  • Geraldine Hughes
  • samcoppard2
  • MLLESHOPPING
  • klindajames
  • Robert Galpin
  • famous65e373e926
  • Danny @ DGPIX
  • The New Renaissance Mindset
  • Luigi Spadorcia
  • Jillian
  • Maria Vincent Robinson
  • Boys Will Be Boys Michael Jackson
  • evie h
  • pkster101
  • Tammie Rogers
  • MalcolmSafechuck
  • Rr
  • boruma1977
  • Matthew James
  • Michael Jackson Facts
  • Vito Prasad
  • Fatima
  • UK Safari
  • scotishhobbit
  • Jean Reiland
  • shillingt
  • Keith
  • Kana Smith
  • shankar019
  • debbiestevens084bd32238
  • shannon
  • Bob Ramsak
  • Ric Holmes Wheelbuilding
  • Hannes
  • supernaturallyd92135e67a
  • Alison Moya
  • Strivemindz
  • goateeironb98ef7f4ba
  • The Michael Jackson Debate
  • Daniel Greenwood
  • lleuadwr
  • aykutatila

Powered by WordPress.com.

Loading Comments...

    %d