Great report and pictures Wurzel … and you’ve featured three species I’ve never seen at Wisely nor any other butterfly house for that matter :D :mrgreen: . Interesting to see a butterfly that has adopted the evasion tactics of a squirrel :o :? . Also, that cracker lives up to its name in looks alone...

Excellent report and pictures Wurzel on the Common Crow. Funnily enough the only stage I've seen of this species is the pupa in the Benalmadena BH on my Spanish trip.

Phil

I agree with your comments about the scarcity of Purple Hairstreak Wurzel. In the hairstreak table I would say they’ve been relegated to 3rd (possibly fourth) behind Green and Brown (and white-letter) :( . I have not been seen them locally at all this last couple of years, yet 5 – 6 years ago they w...

A Lovely marked moth …and the most variable of a trio whose larvae are tree feeding species (Eyed and Poplar being the other two) :) . Also (perhaps) the most difficult of the three larvae to rear. Such a shame that these hawk moths tend to fly at night meaning we rarely catch a glimpse of them. The...

NickMorgan wrote:It is good to know that there are butterflies flying somewhere in Europe while we are having cold and gloomy weather. It makes the butterfly season seem that little bit closer!

It certainly does Nick, though it never can come quick enough .

Phil

There is a back story to the appearance of Bobette. Last season (2014) Philzoid gave me five Eyed Hawk Moth caterpillars which he’d brought on from eggs left by a female in his Moth trap. All five emerged over a weekend and when I came in on Monday morning four were in cop. I took two home as they ...

Love your Green Striped White, Phil. Members of this family are very flighty so you did well to nail down a handful of images. Thanks David :) . Yes, members of that family can be flighty which I found out in Tenerife this year trying to get close to a Bath White which for some reason, I'd got it i...

Thanks Chris. It looks like you get to see a good selection of butterflies around the Marseille region, and you’re not too far away geographically from getting those two species on your wish list (although the canaries would improve your chances for the Monarch). BTW good luck with getting a Swallow...

You're not playing fair Philzoid. First you taunt us with a Monarch :mrgreen: (great shots btw) only to reveal it was in a butterfly house :roll: Yeah, not entirely fair :oops: :wink: but I had to keep the best (Green-striped White lifer) till last because that's how it all-panned out. Your specula...

As the sun began to sink the beach goers began to drift off for home, the sky took on evermore colours and shades, intermingling with and distorting the shape of the clouds 8) . Even my daughters were moved enough to break off from their fun of digging deep pit-traps in the sand to take pictures of ...

Dare I entertain the thought that what I see in the paella photo is a portion for 1 person, or would this be one of the seven sins ? You could be forgiven for indulging in a bit of gluttony on this holiday Chris but that Paella was for four ... and the waiter has already doled some of it out o the ...

A nice report and great photos Wurzel :) . I too missed out on my fix of DGF’s at Martin Down, normally one of my highlights of the season. It was scuppered by that unseasonal cold afternoon on the 28th of June :( (after our meet-up at Bentley for my successful last minute dot.com Small Pearl sighti...

No photos of the paella I suppose ? I'm feeling hungry now :) since you mention it Chris ... IMG_9399.jpg This was the mixed version, with chicken; prawns mussels and clams and well as all the other usual ingredients. I love Paella :D . It’s making me hungry too and longing to be back :cry: . Some ...

So … at the apartment we had an early lunch of baguettes with various fillings ‘bits and pieces’, ‘weird combinations’ basically, trying to use up our half eaten packs of purchased food before flying back the next day. Then we set off in the car for Andy’s Beach. As soon as we got our loungers and b...

Nice Grass Blue, Phil. :mrgreen: Definitely on my wish list should I ever visit Spain. Looking forward to the next instalment. Cheers, Chris Thanks Chris :) Wasn't expecting to see that species to be honest (common in the Canaries mind). One species I thought I might see but didn't was the Geranium...

Another lovely selection of photos, Phil Thanks Dave :) . I think the weather was unseasonably clement even for Southern Spain. If it was the norm then it’s a great time to go there. That little Grass Blue is a treat Indeed it is :) I’ve been lucky enough to see this tiny species in Tenerife virtua...

continued from part 2b This excursion started a half hour earlier than the Ronda one and was run by the same company, different driver but same guide, Daniel :) . This time we were the last passenger pick-up so after we boarded it was all systems go to Malaga and onward to Granada. The weather remai...

Thanks Mikail :D . The internet images I can find certainly point to that genus Heteracris but as you’ve alluded to, there doesn’t appear to be any literature or reliable images to draw a comparison of the two species. One website I found states that littoralis is found in Dune habitat (littoralis s...

continued from part 2a Eventually I lost sight of the little red-orange beauty so decided to go back to my initial plan and check out the lanterna. The Lanterna as expected provided me with another two Painted Ladies. The Painted Lady turned out to be the most common butterfly that I saw in my week ...

Great report, Phil. Interesting and amusing as always. It also makes me think that I should plant some Lanterna in my small garden in Marseilles. It should thrive and attract some flying insects. Cheers, Chris Thanks Chris :) . Lanterna will definitely attract butterflies. Unfortunately one thing t...