I'm hoping to visit the Cancun area of Mexico, and am hoping someone can advise on the best time of year to go for a good range of species? The Monarchs are not my top priority, because I've already seen them in Madeira. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Scott,
Thanks for you input, and for the identification. The butterfly was photographed at the Sebatana Private Reserve (nearest town Vaalwater), just over a week ago.

Any thoughts on the identity of this butterfly, spotted in the Waterberg Mountains region of South Africa? I'm thinking possibly Brown Playboy or Purple-brown Hairstreak, but I could very easily be wrong.

Excellent. Thanks to everyone for clearing up the confusion.

Many thanks for the comments. What about these three? If the consensus is that none of them are cardinals, I'll have to conclude that I only saw SWF!

I've very recently returned from a holiday in Corsica, where I'm pretty sure we saw both cardinal and silver-washed fritillary, although according to the books I've checked, the cardinal should no longer be on the wing in September. It seems to me that when looking at open wing shots, there is very ...

Thanks for the replies. I'd seen the Joss Stratford blog and was hoping it might be possible to combine the chance of seeing Southern Festoon and TTP, but perhaps it's wishful thinking.

Just wondering if anybody can confirm whether Kos offers a chance of seeing Two-tailed Pasha? Collins Butterfly Guide lists it as present on most of the surrounding Greek islands, but makes no reference to Kos.

The holiday is planned for late June, which I'm aware is tail-end time for the first brood - other commitments prevent me from going earlier. We've decided to head for the Ria Formosa Natural Park in the Algarve rather than Spain, which should offer something of interest even if we miss the two-tail...

I'm thinking of travelling to Almunecar, in the Grenada Province of Southern Spain (approx 50 miles west of Malaga) this June. I'm hoping there might be a realistic chance of seeing Two-tailed Pasha, amongst other species. Can anybody who knows the area offer encouragement?

Thanks for your help.

I'm struggling to identify these two butterflies, seen recently in Costa Rica. Any help appreciated.

Here's a butterfly from a recent Naturetrek holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees which might be of interest. It had us all perplexed for a while, but we eventually concluded that it was an aberrant Southern White Admiral, which lacked the white wing markings.

Thanks to you all - that seems conclusive.

Thanks Roger. Unfortunately there is no upperside view available - I was surrounded by lots of butterflies at the time and was photographing everything with a view to establishing identifications later!

Can anybody confirm the identity of this skipper, seen in the Spanish Pyrenees in July?

Thanks.

This butterfly was photographed in Slovenia in June last year. Unfortunately I didn't manage an underwing shot. The nearest match I have managed to find is Damon Blue, but given that this species is not normally on the wing until mid-July, the likelihood is a different species. Might it be nothing m...

Thanks again Guy. You are right about forgetting which individual the photo represented in the case of the second shot - I was just snapping anything that looked a bit different, with a view to identifying it later.

Here's another one from the Spanish Pyrenees. It was seen at high altitude and I had it marked down as mountain argus, but there are two additional spots on the upper wing (arrowed), which shouldn't be there if my identification is correct. Any ideas?