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Butterfly on purple coloured flower. Dark Green Fritillary. Argynnis aglaja

The ringlet butterfly - Aphantopus hyperantus resting on Cirsium arvense the creeping thistle or field thistle

Beautiful Silver-washed fritillary [Argynnis paphia] butterfly on a flower in summer

$Vanessa cardui is a very common migrant that arrives from Africa every summer. Numbers fluctuate annually, depending on the reproduction in Africa.\nThe species is most likely to be seen in open areas were the vegetation has a mosaic structure, such as waste land, fallow ground and pasture land.\nit uses various species of Carduus, Arctium and Cirsium both as larval food plant and as a source of nectar.\n\nThis is a common Migration Butterfly in the Netherlands.$

Brown Argus butterfly on a blade of grass in a nature reserve. Stukeley Meadows Nature Reserve Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Melanargia galathea, the marbled white, butterfly on Centaurea jacea flower closeup in meadow

Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly on Field Thistle Flower at Oronoco Prairie

$Vanessa cardui - Painted lady butterfly - Distelfalter\nBeautiful butterfly on a thistle flower. Europe.$

An image of a Red Admiral feeding on a thistle head

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) feeding on bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) inflorescence in summer.

Spicebush swallowtail butterfly on field thistle, close-up. Taken at a Connecticut farm in summer.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, Aglais urticae on Hemp-agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum. Devon, UK.

Hauhechel-Bläuling (Polyommatus icarus) on Kugelblume, Burgenland, National Park Neusiedlersee,

$Description:\nMelanargia galathea has a wingspan of 46–56 millimetres In these medium-sized butterflies the upper side of the wings is decorated with white and gray-black or dark brown markings, but it is always gray-black or dark brown checkered in the basal and distal areas. The underside is similar to the upper side but the drawings is light gray or light brown. On the underside of the hindwings is present a row of gray eye spots. The males and the females are quite similar, except that some females may have a yellowish nuance on the underside of the wings.\nLife cycle:\nLike other members of its subfamily, the larvae feed on various grasses. These include Phleum (P. pratense), Poa (P. annua, P. trivalis), Festuca rubra, Bromus erectus, Dactylis, Brachypodium pinnatum, Agrostis capillaris, Elytrigia, Holcus, Dactylis, Triticum and Agropyron species . \nEggs are laid on the wing, or from brief perches on grass stems, and are just sprinkled among the grass stems. Upon hatching, the larvae immediately enter hibernation and only feed the following spring when the fresh growth occurs. They are a lime-green colour, with a dark green line running down the middle of their back. Pupation takes place at ground level in a loose cocoon. Adults can be found from early June to early September. On a good site, in warm, sunny weather, thousands can be seen gently fluttering amongst the grass heads.\nHabitat:\nIt is found in forest clearings and edges, meadows and steppe where it occurs up to 1,500-1,700 m above sea level. They are a common sight in unimproved grasslands across Europe.\n\nDistribution:\nThis species can be found across most of Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. There is an isolated population in Japan. It is not found in Ireland, North Britain, Scandinavia (except Denmark) and Portugal or Spain. The late twentieth century saw an expansion of its range in the UK (source Wikipedia).$

Beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on Gayfeather wildflower in tallgrass prairie.

butterfly Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia) on a field scabious flower (Knautia arvensis) in the Swiss alps

A closeup of a butterfly perched on green grass on a field

Balck Swallowtail, Latin: Papillo poluxenes, is feeding on purple flower of Milk Thistle plant

$Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) showing the silver \$

Butterfly (Argynnis) on Globe Thistle captured during summer season.

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