This is a large butterfly with soft orange upperwings marked with black spots/ lines and with a green flush. The forewing on the under side are smudged green at the tip with the rest a strong salmon and black pattern, the hind wing is pale green with silver stripes.

This butterfly can be seen in flower rich areas next to woodlands.

The caterpillars of this species are up to 4cm with a basic black colour to the body bearing tiny orange spots, they are covered in rows of black/brown spiny looking hairs.

Family: Nymphalidae
Scientific name: Pandoriana pandora / Argynnis pandora
English common name: Cardinal
Spanish common name: Pandora

Portuguese common name: Pandora

Wing size: 64-80mm
Altitude: 500-1500m
Flight time: May-July also August-early October in warmer zones (Bivoltine)
Over-wintering: Caterpillar
Caterpillar food plant: Viola
Distribution: Southern Europe, Mediterranean.

Similar species: Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), which lacks the green flush on the upper wings.

Butterflies of Iberia
These are included in the list of butterflies in Andalusia.
Images taken in Andalucia, Southern Spain.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Comment

smaller | bigger

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment