Hi David, Essex, Wurzel, Paul and Nick. Thanks for your encouraging comments. For a year now I have been following the life cycle of the Black-veined White, from mating, from a female laying eggs last June, eggs hatching, the early stages, over-wintering and parasiting. Now, the last week of May is ...

Thanks Dave and Essex, I see that on the Beds and Northants sightings list http://www.bedsnorthants-butterflies.org.uk/northants_first_sightings_2019.html the first BH sighting last year was on June 3rd, so I'm going to have to be really lucky to get a sighting during my time slot, tomorrow or Tuesd...

Hi Folks, I'm back in the UK (Leicester) for a few days - 1st to the 5th of June. I would like to see Black Hairstreak which would be a lifer for me. I believe they fly at Glapthorn Cow Pastures, Bently Wood and Fermyn Woods. Does anyone have "precise" dates for the flight periods at these...

Hi Folks, I believe this is a Southern Heath Fritillary ( Melitaea helvetica - unless that's changed), seen in the south of France 2 days ago at 650 metres altitude. At least it was flying in the vicinity of other Southern Heath Fritillaries. Does anyone know if this aberration has a name? Thanks, C...

Welcome Tom,
Good hunting,
Chris

Hi Folks,

Meadow Brown has been flying down here since May 10th.
Today was my first reasonable photo opportunity: Cheers,
Chris

.... Didn't know they were scarce round your way. I always thought they favoured dry environments? Hi David, down here there is dry and there is DRY. DRY is the garrigue (scrub) where a limited number of species venture :shock: . My Turquoise Blues are in a transition (lush, hospitable) area of my ...

Another cracking species Chris :D :mrgreen: Interesting to see the underside - seems really unusual to have the white margins, I don't know why, I suppose it just goes against all the usual species I see :D Have a goodun Wurzel Hi Wurzel, At a glance, the Turquoise Blue could easily pass for a Comm...

An interesting report, Pete, particularly when I think that this is not a particularly protected species in France (as far a I know, and apart from some subspecies).
We clearly have less problems with land occupation with less pressure on the BF and its host plant.
Chris

Hi Folks. South of France, late May. Introduction to Turquoise Blue. Not a common butterfly and unusual so close to home. This is a newcomer near me in Marseilles. Turquoise Blue male on its host plant (the female is brown) : dorylas10 male Parc Bruyères 19May19 (18).JPG Male undersides (wide white ...

David M wrote:That was great timing with those Glanville larvae, Chris.
As for Spanish Festoon, I wonder whether they are toxic, given their colour pattern of yellow, black and red.

Hi David. I do believe the cats are toxic having eaten the host plant.
Chris

4 Marsh Fritillaries and 1 Small Pearl Bordered seen yesterday (16th) on Fairwood Common, Gower .. Nice photo of the Small PBF, David, which I have no chance of seeing in my part of the south of France. However, this is probably not the right place but it is certainly the right moment to sneak in a...

I love the early stages, Guy, and its interesting to see them on host plants other than those that I'm used to. In particular your camera (still a bridge ?) picks out the detail. My camera has difficulties with 1st instars :? . Let's hope you can follow these cats a long way through their developmen...

Hi Folks - south of France - month of May Here is bit of a catch-up: Remember the fresh Glanville eggs on Plantago lanceolata from April 26th ? cinxia35 eggs on Plantago lanceolata Vitrolles olive grove 26Apr19 (2).JPG In the olive grove near work: context cinxia35 eggs on Plantago lanceolata Vitrol...

... Those Festoon cats are quite bizarre. I presume the series of spikes affords them some protection, given they are quite conspicuous on their lhp? Hi David, Their spikes may well be dissuasive to some predators. I know of other species down here that are much more visibly susceptible to predatio...

essexbuzzard wrote: Interesting, Chris. I had no idea there was such a difference, either in flight times or caterpillar progress. Southern Festoon is high on my wish list, having only seen the caterpillar.

Hi Essex,
See you down here beginning of April 2020 then ?
Chris

A great series of photos Buggy, you're certainly getting out.
Chris

Hi Folks - south of France In the south of France there is a time lag between the start of the Southern Festoon (Z. polyxena) and Spanish Festoon (Z. rumina) flight periods - as a rule of thumb in my limited experience and on my patch, it seems to be about (at least) 10 days. Whereas many polyxena c...

.... Are there any regional differences between the Pearls over there and over here? ..... Wurzel Hi Wurzel, In France we have the Pearl-bordered Frit and the Small Pearl-bordered Frit. I'm on the edge of Pearl-bordered Frit territory but I've never seen the 'Small' cousin - still on my wish list -...

Hi Folks - south of France A couple of images from last week-end. I went looking for Black-veined White pupae but I think I'm at least 1 week too early at my latitude and at this altitude (650 m ASL), because the cats were still on the Hawthorn and on the Wild Pear. However amongst the BVW cats I di...