Butterflies: Map

The map (Araschnia levana), landkaartje in Dutch, gets its name from the pattern on its wings:

^{Olympus XZ-1, 112mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/320s}

This butterfly has two generations per year, and the funny thing is, that these two broods look very different, like two different species. The spring form looks like this:

^{Olympus Stylus1s, 300mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/160s}

The summer form looks like another butterfly entirely:

^{Olympus Stylus1s, 300mm, ISO200, f7.1, 1/125s}

No wonder these were initially classified as two different species.

If you see one unelegantly hanging from the bottom of nettle leaf, it is probably depositing eggs:

^{GF, Samsung GT-I9100}

They lay eggs on nettles, so if you want to see more of these butterflies, stop treating nettles as unwanted weeds; butterflies are born there.

Thanks for watching!

Previous in series: Purple Admiral.