His Grace

Still flushed with success from yesterday's sightings of Glanville fritillary I decided to look for an iconic Sussex species the Duke of Burgundy. Extinct in East Sussex since the 1980s and almost extinct in West Sussex twenty years ago, it has bounced back, as a result of extensive conservation effort, and now thrives at several sites on the South Downs. However, the first week of June is towards the end of its flight period and I set off more in hope than expectation. In fact I only saw two all morning and neither (both males) would co-operate with me as they always seemed to be facing away. In the end this was the best I could manage. At least it shows most of the glorious underwing patterning. 

Writing in 1699 James Petiver originally called this species "Mr Vernon's  Small Fritillary", presumably after the person who had sent him a specimen. Later, in 1766, it became the "Duke of Burgundy Fritillaria" although no one seems to know who the Duke was or why he was honoured in this way.