Williamson's Weekly Nature Notes

MEET more of the Brown family. Last week I introduced the speckled woods. Here is another member of the tribe: the marbled white.

By The Newsroom

Published 25th Jul 2008, 16:47 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 04:08 BST

It isn't very brown, being mostly white. But the Browns are a huge family with many different cousins varying between white, black, and brown.

Our ancestors just couldn't understand what the marbled white was up to. Why wasn't it white like all the 'cabbage' whites (except for their wing tips)?

Nor was it all over brown like all the normal Brown family.

So it was known as the 'Half- mourner' in 1717. Half is mourning and half is glad tidings.

People were puzzled by it '“ well, those few who ever noticed insects.

Other names were the Marmoris or Marmoress. Marbled whites have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years and it is no longer uncommon to see one in the long grass of the Downs in June and July.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette July 30

West Sussex Gazette People