After much waiting, I recently got hold of the new Olympus 90mm F3.5 macro lens. I have been testing out its capabilities on the butterflies at Sharpenhoe Clappers. So far this month there have been a lot of windy days' and first trip turned out to be one of those. I struggled to keep things in the frame, let alone in focus. The second trip was much better. There were plenty on marbled whites on show.
I also found a few other species. A nice little Green Veined White, and rather scruffy looking examples of a Gatekeeper and a Dark Green Fritillary.
It was only when I started reviewing the pictures that I noticed a red spot on the back of one Marbled White. This turned out to be a parasitic mite, Trombidium breei. Apparently these are quite common on Marbled Whites, and some other species, and mostly harmless to the host.
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