Destinations
The air holidays shown are ATOL Protected by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is ATOL 3253. ATOL Protection extends primarily to customers who book and pay in the United Kingdom. Click on the ATOL logo if you want to know more.
The Glanville fritillary
Glanville fritillaries have fascinated me since I read in the Mitchell Beazley pocket guide that the species is named after Mrs Eleanor Glanville, a butterfly enthusiast of the late 17th/early 18th century "whose Will was contested on the grounds that nobody of sound mind would have such a hobby!" Read more about this here on Wikipedia.
It may strike as odd that the name fritillary is used for both a group of butterflies and a plant. 'Fritillary' means chequered, which explains the shared name and why there isn't a 'chequered fritillary' as that would be a tautology, like 'reverse back.' But enough of the etymology of this branch of entomology.
Eleanor Glanville found them in Lincolnshire, but in the UK they are now restricted to the southern part of the Isle of Wight. I have failed to see them there on two recent family holidays, but that's down to timing: August is too late by about six weeks. Glanville fritillaries are widespread in central Europe, and this one was photographed in the Dordogne.
Plantains, especially the abundant ribwort plantain, are the larval foodplant, so will they spread north as the climate changes?
Chris Durdin, January 2009
Iberian fritillary photographed in Extremadura. Curiously, this species of fritillary flower is less chequered than most.
ID tip
Fritillaries are often pretty similar but the dark spot in the last-but-one row of cells of the upperside hind wing are a good feature on Glanville fritillary.
Links
More information on Glanville fritillaries from Butterfly Conservation here.
Lady of the Butterflies
... is a fictionalised story of Lady Eleanor Glanville's life. Read more here.
To buy this book, the best deal online was on Amazon (October 2009).
