I took these pictures while on holiday in Bulgaria last year. I’ve always read that the Black Veined White lays eggs on the underside of the leaf, however as these pictures prove it, this is not always the case. The tree was a kind of prunus and I saw that other females (there were about 20 others a...

Thanks Roger (Cédric also) for sharing ! Excellent work and worth keeping with Tolman ! I have such great difficulty with the pyrgus that most of my pictures are left with a question mark.
I will certainly give it another go.
Sylvie

Hi Kev, I bought a 1200D a year ago and I am very happy with it. It is quite light in weight and not too expensive, it is also easy to use and does not have too many gadgets (which I personaly dislike). However, I believe this camera has been replaced by the 1300D (only change is the addition of WiF...

Thank you Vince for this information, interesting thread. After reading this, there may be the possibility that the imagoes fly South again if the wind blows from the right direction.... that makes sense otherwise why would the migrant adults lay eggs in colder climates if the migration South was no...

Caterpillars of the Painted Lady found at Whiteford Burrows on marsh mallows in August. As the adults are very likely to die with temperatures below 5 degree C, I wonder if these caterpillars are doomed or if they have had the chance to emerge and migrate south to better climes to escape the cold wi...

Thank you very much Mikhail for your help.... I never know where to start with caterpillars of moths...
Sylvie

Hi, I have spent some time trying to identify this caterpillar but not sure what it is. I tought at first that it was the first instar of the drinker but not convinced.... It was found on grass at Whiteford Burrows in March this year... Caterpillar_1027.JPG Thanks for any help with this. Sylvie

Hi Russ, The first picture is Aeshna Mixta - Migrant Hawker : Blue eyes, yellow triangle on the second segment of the abdomen and 2 small incomplete bars on the upperside of the thorax. The second is a Common Darter: 2 yellows patches on the side of the thorax and yellow streaks on legs. At first, I...

Hi Russ, This is definitively common darter (sympetrum striolatum) which is widely distributed in Europe. The yellow streaks on the legs as well as the 2 yellow patches on the side of the thorax are the characteristics of this species. Ruddy darter can be ruled out because as Bugboy said it has blac...

Hi Roger,

Thank you for sharing.
What a stunning and beautiful moth!! How lucky you are ! Did you see it emerging?
Sylvie

Thank you Guy for the information and explanation. Personally I am not ready to kill a butterfly to find out which ssp it belongs to. I am quite happy to stick P. Daplidice on the picture above.
Thanks again,
Sylvie

I took this picture of a Bath White in Bulgaria. However Tolman specifies that in Eastern Europe, the Bath White is replaced by the Eastern Bath White. Both species are alike but they are biochemically distinct. Can anybody explain what this means? Or does anybody know anything about this? Thanks Sy...

Hi Mikhael, You've made an interesting comment. Personally I don't think this is a 100% reliable feature as there is very little difference in the coulour of the face in the South of its range. The only way to differentiate both species is to look at the wings and the behaviour. O. Coerulescens is a...

Hi Russ, I think all specimens are Keeled Skimmers (Orthetrum Coerulescens) for the following reasons: I can see that the radial supplemental vein (rspl) on the wings subtends a single row of cells whereas Southern Skimmer’s has a double row of cells. Also the behaviour tells me that they are keeled...

Hi Nigel, Thank you so much for your identification ! This is great, I know now what it is and will add it to my garden sightings list. I found the caterpillar of the white ermine last year (it had a lot of hairs though) and it is good to know that I have the buff ermine breeding in my garden also. ...

Hi Chris and Mikhael, Thank you for your help. It is a difficult one ! I have had a look on the link you have provided Mikhael. What an interesting website ! There is a lot of work and research done on the moths (I have not looked at the butterfly pages yet)... For anybody who can read German I woul...

Hi Russ,

This is a potter wasp. I have seen those gathering mud for building their nest in France. They are very impressive insects.
Not sure what they are called though.
Sylvie

I have spent some time yesterday trying to identify this caterpillar but the plates in my French book are not very good.... Can anyone help? I found this caterpillar in my garden in South Wales near nettles and herb Robert, it was on the ground. I put it back where I found it after I took the pictur...

Thank you all for your replies and explanation and more of all your expertise ! This is useful information, I have already said so in the past, this website can be very educational thanks to people like you.
Sylvie

I follow up on my first thread and would appreciate any comments from experts on the following species. Anomalous blue? IMG_1631.JPG Small Heath Female? The butterfly was not small but rather big in size.... maybe there are some variations in the Balkans. IMG_1560.JPG Pearly Heath? The number of occ...