Nick Baker takes a look at one of Britain’s biggest butterflies, the silver-washed fritillary <\/p>
T<\/span>riangles of tin foil on the breeze, the butterflies flash and flare, the silver wash that gives them their name catching both the eye and sun. This is not a random tumbling flight: it has a pattern, driven by a purpose. It is a midsummer\u2019s aerial ballet, a dance of seduction and intoxicating perfume. Meet the silver-washed fritillary<\/span><\/p>\n The silver washed fritillary is one of Britain\u2019s largest butterflies, and one of the most beautiful<\/span><\/p>\n Its wingspan is a pretty impressive 72-76mm<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Its their silver streaks on their underside that give them their name<\/p>\n Sadly, the sight of them today is confined to southern England, in wildflower-rich woodland rides at the height of summer. <\/span><\/p>\n your best chance of seeing them is from around noon until 3pm: females tend to be more active in the morning and males in the afternoon, with a period of overlap between the two.<\/span><\/p>\n They are particularly partial to feed on bramble and flowers in sunny glades, while their caterpillars love violets, particularly common dog-violet.<\/p>\n Among the largest British butterflies, silver-washed fritillaries are spectacular even on their own, while perched relatively still on a favourite bramble bloom. But to see a pair of them at their sexual peak, going through the moves of securing a future generation, is something to behold.<\/span><\/p>\n The male fritillaries patrol with a zig-zag flight very different to their usual frivolous flutterings when seeking the sugars to fuel their lust. If you see this, <\/span>keep watching. When a male approaches a virgin, ripe female, he casts tight circles about her. Should she be up for it, she leads him on a merry dance. What now unfolds clearly has form, though it\u2019s often difficult to work out as the human eye sometimes struggles to keep up. But in a good view, you\u2019ll witness an elaborate courtship.<\/span><\/p>\n The female butterfly flies straight, dragging the male\u2019s ardour along on an invisible plume of scent particles; pheromones that she drips from glands at the tip of her abdomen. His response is to follow close, almost tailgating her irresistible odour. Next he engages in a loop-the-loop flight, flying under and above her straight trajectory. Slow the action down and you would see him close his wings and stoop, an act that allows him to catch up, briefly overtake by a length, then rudely rise up in front of her, barging into her path and causing her to stall.<\/span><\/p>\n In that apparent clumsy, bumpy interjection the male turns almost upside-down, with the female\u2019s antennae purposely close to his androconia, or sex brands. Compare the surface of his wings with hers and the <\/span>pattern is clearly different. He has four stripes per forewing, where she has none. These are his androconia.<\/p>\n Zoom in and you\u2019re now entering a hidden world of microscopic function and atomic smell. For the markings are more than just the regular pigmented scales found on the rest of the wing \u2013 they are raised and textured, like small brushes. Their job is to provide a large surface area to disseminate perfume made by pouches at the scales\u2019 base. The heavy scent molecules are wafted in her face.<\/span><\/p>\n The looping courtship is repeated again and again, him showering her with the perfume of his intent, until she either declines his offer and flies off, or settles \u2013 in which case there follows a more intimate ritual. There is more flapping and fanning, as well as a face-to-face bow where he traps her between his forewings and forces her antennae, the organs by which these insects perceive pheromones, onto his androconial organs. A lengthy mating of a couple of hours ensues, a time worthy of the investment of the dance.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Main image: Silver-washed fritillary \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Nick Baker takes a look at one of Britain’s biggest butterflies, the silver-washed fritillary <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25161,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-scaled.jpg",2560,2093,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-300x245.jpg",300,245,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-768x628.jpg",768,628,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-1024x837.jpg",800,654,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-1536x1256.jpg",1536,1256,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/03\/silver-washed-fritillary-facts-a-guide-one-of-britains-biggest-butterflies-including-how-they-mate-2048x1674.jpg",2048,1674,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Nick Baker takes a look at one of Britain's biggest butterflies, the silver-washed fritillary","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/25160"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is a silver-washed fritillary?<\/h2>\n
How big is the silver-washed fritillary?<\/h2>\n
\n
Why are they named silver-washed?<\/h2>\n
Where do silver-washed fritillaries live?<\/h2>\n
When is the best time to see them?<\/h2>\n
What do silver-washed fritillaries eat?<\/h2>\n
How do silver washed fritillary mate and reproduce?<\/h2>\n
\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"