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This fritillary spotted at high altitude looks likely to belong to the genus Melicta or Melitaea, but I am having trouble narrowing it further down. Fritillaries are difficult customers as their banding can be highly variable and similar species can hybribize. Further help appreciated.
Alpine meadow, 2500 m above sea level.
The second shot shows the underwings. I find the following site of great help: www.eurobutterflies.com
Spotted on Jul 6, 2011
Submitted on Jul 13, 2011
4 Comments
I must check your Polish one Marta. IDying fritillaries is so tricky!
This is the other type of fritillary I was seeing while finding an ID for the one I saw in Poland. Nice!
Thanks LauraMaria!. I got close because I think the butterfly was on its last leg... its even let me crawl under to take a shot of the underwings.
I've always found it amazing that some butterflies can have such a vastly different pattern on the underside of their wings to the top. I have a spotting of a butterfly I found in Gibraltar that took me forever to ID because it was SO differently patterend on the underside of its wings! This is a gorgeous photo, you got so close!