Mating Glanville Fritillaries

A break in the clouds yesterday, had me reaching for my walking boots and field bag, and dashing out of the house before you could say, 'What about the washing up?'  Each year, about this time, Island nature lovers are on the look out for the Glanville Fritillary.  This stunning butterfly, once found as far north as Lincolnshire, is now mainly confined to the south coast.  A couple of weeks ago, I noticed they were about, but they didn't settle very often and when they did it was frustratingly out of reach.  Yesterday however, they were distracted, as you can see.

Below you can see the characteristic orange spots with black centres on the yellow post-discal band on the hind wings.

According to How To ID Butterflies by Richard Lewington, the male is lighter in build and colour than the female, which would make him the bottom one in my photo.  You can have a guess at the sex while in flight (the butterlies, not you) as the male will patrol habitat edges looking for a mate, while the female generally lays low among the vegetation.