A Marbled white surprise

24 Saturday Jul 2021

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British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Marbled white, Melanargia galathea

Considering the Marbled white butterfly (Melanargia galathea) thrives in tall grasses, growing in calcareous unimproved grasslands, in woodland clearings and rides, in disused quarries and roadside verges, I always expect to find them in my part of south Wales. But they are rare here, my very occasional sightings consisting of rapid fly-bys and distant record-only photos like the one below.

210724 marbled white (1)

So, getting close views of this beauty during my trip to Slade Woods last week was a lovely surprise, not from within the woodland itself, but rather at the edge of a farmland footpath on my way back to the train.

210724 marbled white (2)

Though it may seem difficult to believe when you look at its colouring, the Marbled white butterfly is a member of the ‘brown’ group of butterflies that also includes those that are recognisably brown (Speckled wood, Meadow brown, Ringlet, etc).

Marbled whites

21 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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Arlington Reservoir, British butterflies, butterflies, Half-mourner, Marbled white, Marmoress, Melanargia galathea, West Park Local Nature Reserve, Woods Mill Nature Reserve

The week before I went down to visit my friend Jill in East Sussex I thought I spotted a Marbled white butterfly at Lavernock Nature Reserve but it flew off before I could get close and I couldn’t find it again.

180721 Marbled white at Arlington

In Sussex, a Marbled white (Melanargia galathea) was the first of seven new species of butterfly I saw in just seven days, and I managed to see three of them at three different places. The first was at Arlington Reservoir, the second at Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Woods Mill Reserve, and the third was at West Park Local Nature Reserve near Uckfield.

180721 Marbled white at Woods Mill

According to Patrick Coulder’s book A Natural History of the Cuckmere Valley:

… 200 years ago, this butterfly was known as the half-mourner, because women then wore black and white dresses during the period of ‘half-mourning’ which followed full mourning for a dead relative. Its name then changed to marmoress, meaning ‘marble-like’, and finally about a hundred years ago it became known as the marbled white.

180721 Marbled white at West Park