Marbled White

Lovely photo and close up

Wow...a Marbled white Ilex, stunning pattern.....usually this is too far north for them...I wonder if it came up with the heat last week?

Thanks once again :-)

Janey, these are actually resident here, there are currently quite a few in amongst the grasses right now, and it's another species who's larval food-plants are various different grasses.

The perfect habitat for them Ilex......they are a stunning insect. It amazes me that butterflies have such vivid colouring and aren't camouflaged at all....whereas moths usually are.

You're right Janey, they do employ very different strategies don't they. These Marbled Whites, in particular, are incredibly conspicuous and visible for quite a distance since they don't blend with the natural vegetation at all. Of course most butterflies do have a camouflage option with their wings closed and a display option with the wings open, but even so they don't approach the often amazing camouflage and mimicry of moths.