There are about 330 species of butterflies in Arizona which comes second after Texas. This is due to the diversity of habitats in the state. From Alpine meadows of the White Mountains to canyons and deserts, Arizona has it all. It would take a whole year or more for anybody to see them all. There ar...

Thank you Andy, Guy and Essex Buzzard. Will see in the future how this species will fare.
Sylvie

I was back in Annecy (Hte Savoie - France) in October this year and to my delight, I found several Geranium Bronze right below my mum's flat and more behind the Centre Bonlieu near the lake. It was still hot there (25 degrees) with a lot of sunshine but I had never thought I would find these little ...

Thank you Mike and Guy for your comments. Here is what I do: I shoot in RAW only, download the pictures on my laptop. I process the RAW picture with the Canon software with some sharpening and if some cropping if needed, and convert and save in a JPEG. When opening the JPEG, I always check the sharp...

Hi David, You have seen some nice species in 9 days and with the spring starting later than usual this year this is quite incredible ! 70 species in all in a relatively small area I believe.... isn't that a bit more than the total number of butterflies species in the UK? I bet you can't wait to be i...

Hi Chris,

This is wonderful ! Are you going to be able to keep an eye on the emergence? That would be fantastic to see some pictures.
Thank you for sharing.
Sylvie

Hi Alan,

Excellent. The green specimen is an hypochrome form, a form which is rarely seen.Well done!
Sylvie

I use the Canon processing software. I shoot in RAW only and convert and save on a JPEG when processed. However, when I copy my JPEG images on a stick to transfer them to another computer, the sharpness is lost. I don’t know if this is something that can be remedied. Does anybody know why that is? S...

Thank you Mikhail, I am glad I got it right first time.
Sylvie

I wonder if anybody can help with the ID of this clouded yellow. I took the picture in South Western Bulgaria near Bansko. I had identified this as a clouded yellow, however I am not 100% sure now because the black markings are very wide on this specimen. Can somebody with good knowledge of the area...

Thank you Peter and Bugboy. I think you are right Bugboy, it is one of the Scopula sp. difficult to know which one though. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Kind regards,
Sylvie

Does anybody know what this caterpillar is? It was found on a piece of grass amongst wild thyme on North Gower coast during the summer and adopted this position when I took pictures.
Thanks a lot,
Sylvie

Hi Roger,

Thank you for this, this is fascinating. The poor caterpillar having to stay alive when all this frenzy happens : larva coming out of the body, imago emerging and males waiting for females to get the chance to mate.....
Thanks
Sylvie

Thanks Guy, that would be interesting to find out, I will try to find some information and will post it if I find out.
Sylvie

While in France in July, I found a caterpillar of the spotted fritillary which unfortunately had been parasitized by a wasp ... nature can be so gruesome.... Any idea of what kind of wasp could have parasitized it ?
Sylvie

Hi Roger,

Nice pictures! and well done on the Scarce Fritillary (that is beautiful specimen you've found). I believe that this butterfly was more widespread in France but has now the status of threatened (espece menacée)...
Sylvie

Hi Guy,

Thank you for the information, it is good insight as I did not know this. Do you know why the summer brood is different than the spring brood?
Sylvie

Hi Roger, David, This year I saw an abundant numbers of Niobe, Silver Washed and High Brown Fritillaries in the Savoie but not so many Dark Green Fritillaries. Likewise David, I saw my first mating pair of Scarce Coppers ever, aren't they beautiful? It is also one of my favourite butterfly. Sylvie S...

Thank you David for confirming the ID.
Sylvie

I really don't know how I should label this pretty butterfly. My feeling is that it is a green veined white with reduced markings maybe ? It was found at 900m in Savoie (73) . Can anybody with a good knowledge of French butterfly fauna help with this ? Thank you very much indeed. Sylvie IMG_3596.JPG