Marbled whites

[Jannyfox]

Out for a walk on the Blackdowns this morning and another guy drew my attention to this pair. What wasn't so good was him poking the lens of his (bridge?) camera about an inch away from them. Fortunately they were too busy to notice and sat tight for me to have a go (from considerably further away. The closest my 135mm lens will focus is about 9 or 10 inches, which doesn't cause any disturbance if I'm careful).

Marbled white pair by Jannyfox, on Flickr

 

[Graham]

Thats a lovely shot there Janny and this is a butterfly that I really like.
Its obvious that that man can`t tell the difference between close up and really close up and in ya face.

 

[Jannyfox]

Thanks Graham. I did tell him several times not to disturb them but sometimes you just end up talking to yourself. All for the sake of something to put on Facebook. I hope they were out of focus

 

[Stuart Philpott]

just lovely Jan. Hmmm photographers,what can I say mate ,it's probably best I don't say much at all !!

Jan love marbled white,first seen on a trip to Dorset as a kidlet,I was blown away by them. I always remembered them as this butterly with a chess board on it's back, in my defence, I was tiny

Do they have an association with ants Janny? We had a field other end of the village lot's of anthills not ploughed,heaving with Marbled whites,sadly all gone built on. I used to take me cared for guy to see 'em. It's real sad when something like this so abundant,in one small spot gets completely trampled. I rarely see them here,what half a mile away we never really have seen them here. but that one field had something special for them,what a crying shame.

Sorry mate the image sparked a few things lovely to see though cheers for sharing this one

stu

 

[Jannyfox]

Thanks Stu. They are lovely aren't they. I've seen Spanish marbled whites in Portugal and they're equally lovely, just slightly different. They don't have any association with ants but they are very much a butterfly of unimproved, uncultivated grassland, which sounds like a good description of where you used to see them. Also a very good description of where I saw these - in the wild plants bordering a grassy track between grazing fields.