I just love this butterfly! It has such intricate markings – so beautiful and I particularly like the way its blue mosaic edging seems to mimic the tiny buddleia blooms it’s feeding from. This is a Small Tortoiseshell. The Large Tortoiseshell has more pronounced ‘swallow tails’ to its wings, but a less striking border. Also it is declining in numbers, whereas the Small Tortoiseshell is more common. Back in my Nettles post, small tortoiseshells were mentioned as a species whose caterpillars eat nettles. I’d say it’s definitely worth a few nettle stings to see a sight like this.
I had to look long and hard at this one to make sure that it was actually a Small White. I went back to my Green-veined White post. Had I got that one wrong? The two seemed so similar. I read and followed my diagnostic process all over again. Sure enough, there were differences. Obviously neither are the Orange-tip or the Large White. The Green-veined has more noticeable veins, the black tip goes patchy across the upper edge of the fore-wing, darker wing-backs and two black dots which mark it out as female. The Small White has definite black wing tips, lighter wing-backs and one dot, which means it is a male.
Then, Mr C pointed out that the wing-shapes differ. The Small White has quite a triangular fore-wing, while the Green-veined White’s is more rounded in shape. Below I’ve put the two photos side-by-side so you can make your own comparisons.
