Switzerland, March 2006
The same insect
Resting among leaves, March 2006
Switzerland, March 2006
Switzerland, April 2005
Suffolk, 1985
Large Tortoiseshell - Nymphalis polychloros
Switzerland, March 2006
The same insect
Resting among leaves, March 2006
Switzerland, March 2006
Switzerland, April 2005
Suffolk, 1985
The large tortoiseshell is widespread in Europe and although not normally common is sufficiently conspicuous to be a fairly regular find. I never look for them but just come across them, usually at a rate of several per year. In this respect, spring 2005 (as I write) has proved exceptional. The butterfly suddenly seems to have proliferated, for no obvious reason, and I have seen more than my usual annual quota already, at the beginning of April. My friends in other parts of Europe have noted the same phenomenon.
In Britain, by contrast, the large tortoiseshell is now an extreme rarity - often considered extinct. But it is an elusive insect, not tied to just one wood or group of woods, and has the ability to persist at low levels. The two pictures above were taken in Suffolk, near Woodbridge, in 1985, over 20 years after the last accepted previous record. The butterfly is fresh and does not appear to have immigrated. No breeders admitted releasing large tortoiseshells and it seems most probable it was indeed a native-born, wild butterfly.
Records of large tortoiseshells are , in reality, often of over-enthusiastically identified small tortoiseshells. If you get a good look, however, there should be no danger of confusion. The large tortoiseshell has 4 dark spots in the open orange of the forewing, beneath the cell. The small tortoiseshell has only 3.