Fumbling Under the Covers

This afternoon eventually turned sunny and warm, so I headed out to the meadows (or 'Meedies' as they are known locally) and started searching through the long grass to see who or what was hiding there.

Sure enough, I came across this couple hoping that they hadn't been spotted.

Now, every schoolchild knows that insects have six legs, but these two each seem to have only four! Maybe by coincidence, both met with an unfortunate accident and lost two limbs in the process? Highly unlikely. So that leads to the conclusion that the other two pairs are out of sight, cloaked by their wings. What can they be up to?



Ringlet butterflies mating (Aphantopus hyperantus)



PS
After looking at other pictures of ringlets, they ALL seem to have just 4 legs - very strange.