Marbled white butterfly

[nanila]

I'm currently in a new part of rural Worcestershire, UK, which happens to host a large population of marbled white butterflies. I've seen many a cabbage white, but these are new to me, and it's thrilling to see so many hovering above the grasslands.

This particular butterfly zoomed into the front porch this afternoon and straight into a spider web. I got to it before the spider did (sorry, spider) and carried it back outside. It sat on my finger for a while, which puzzled both of us, until I worked out that it still had its feet entangled in silk. I managed to disentangle it without causing any damage. It flew away, not very far, and spent some time cleaning its feet and legs with its proboscis before setting off back to the fields.

Comments

[nanila]

I didn't know how common marbled whites were until I looked them up. We don't see them at all in our area.

Lots of meadow browns here, too! I think butterflies in general are more abundant this year. It makes me wonder if it's related to the lack of vehicle traffic in rural areas over the lockdown.

[cmcmck]

Could be! Certainly the deer locally are coming closer to town as are the raptors.