Monday, 12 August 2013

and of course creepycrawlies!

No visit anywhere would be complete without a few!


                                                       Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. Vanessa as a first name was invented by Jonathan Swift of  Gulliver fame in 1709, I've no idea who gave it to the butterfly. Atalanta was a Princess-huntress abandoned, then suckled and raised by bears, a bit fearsome for such a delicate creature.
        PS My brother has corrected me, this is a painted Lady, he always knew more about these things!


                      Peacock, Inachis io. Mythology again, Io was a nymph seduced by Zeus, then disguised as a heifer to escape detection by Zeus' rightly suspicious wife Hera

                                                                           
                   Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticai. I wonder if the "urticai" is because the slightly-hairy-caterpillars are irritant or because they feed on nettles.

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