Argynnis paphia f. valesina, Esper, 1800.

[nomad]

When fresh, the dark female form f. valesina, Esper, 1800 of the Silver-washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia is a beautiful insect, having a lovely bluish sheen that is almost entirely lost in dead examples. The great British Lepidopterist Frederick William Frohawk so admired f. valesina, he named his daughter after the butterfly. This form only occurs as a small percentage of the population in the larger woodlands of Southern England. The New Forest was once a noted locality for f. valesina.

Few butterfly experiences in England can be more pleasant on a warm summer's day in July, when along a wide woodland ride, Argynnis paphia glides in and out of the dappled shade, stopping frequently to take nectar at the pink and white bramble flowers. If you are lucky among the typical forms will be a few examples of f. valesina.

Below. Argynnis paphia f. valesina South Wiltshire.



Below. Argynnis paphia females & a mating pair. Usually mating takes place higher up in the trees.



Below. Argynnis paphia males.



Below. Specimens of Argynnis paphia f. valesina. Ex G.B. Coney Coll. Bristol Museum. BM.



A Happy New Year to all ICF members. 

[luehdorfia]

Very pretty photos! Do you know why the blueish sheen disappears in dead specimens? It could be the same with some Erebia sps they also have that blueish sheen and then after a few months the become very dull.
I saw a f. valesina this summer in South Germany for the first time, an extremely fresh one, and it was just magical. It was in a patch of flowers with 30 other A. paphia and then in between this dark and shiny form in perfect condition, you can see them from a long distance.... very pleasant memory and a highlight of this summer.
Do you know what is the probability of occurence of f. valesina in British populations? It must be pretty low, in Germany it is also very low and the more South you go, Italy etc the higher the probability gets. I heard there are populations in Italy with half f.valesina.

[bobw]

The prevalence of f. valezina varies hugely from population to population.  There are many populations where it is unknown but in Britain in the past it was always considered to be not uncommon in the New Forest, I don't know if this is still the case as no butterflies are common in the New Forest any more.  There is one wood in Wiltshire I know of where it is still fairly common (about 10% of all females) but I'm sure there may be many others.

[nomad]

form f. valesina is today of a low occurrence in Argynnis paphia populations in the UK but there are a few localities, such as where I took the images in a large woodland in south-east Wilts where if you visit the right area you should be guaranteed in finding it on a warm summer's day. The wood is large and the A. paphia population is strong but only in certain areas and I suspect even here f. valesina forms still only 5%-8% of the normal form. In some localities you almost never see it. In Savernake Forest in North Wiltshire where this species is locally frequent I have never seen one, although my brother has observed one individual there.

The New Forest I believe indeed had one of the best populations of f. valesina but in the 1950s/1960s there was an entirely different management of that area. Many enclosures in the forest were tidied up, bramble the main nectar source was removed from the rides and there was much planting of conifers which had the usual detrimental effect on butterfly populations. There are still good colonies of A. paphia in the forest and no doubt f. valesina is still there but not in the numbers it used to occur.

I believe the bluish sheen seen in fresh specimens of f. valesina is perhaps a refraction of the natural sunlight light on the insect scales which is not present when set specimens are viewed, but it is interesting because Apatura iris still retains its purple iridescent sheen in both live and dead specimens, however it is more stronger and more vivid in those that are alive.