Thanks, Guys. That counts as a win - graeca was my choice .

T.

Can anyone tell if this is pales, napea or graeca from the upper alone? ( or none of these in which case I shall slit my wrists ).
Tony M.

Surely must be HBF from wing shape alone, but what an astonishing ab.

Tony M.

Thanks, Chris - I now have to stay alive and fit enough until next year....

The mortal remains of T. Moore Esq;

Thanks, David - much of it down to you...

T.

Took off up the mountains the next morning. Je vois les lacets dans mes reves... (sorry about the lack of circumflex). I was looking for cynthia at over 2400m and when I arrived at the top, at 11.20 nothing was to be seen ( apart from stunning views all round): 1-DSC07901_edited-1.jpg I was startled...

Thanks, Guy - what else could it be?

T.

Found this at about 1200 m. in the French Alps. It looked very white in flight, but I have no idea what it might be unless it's a very oddly marked Holly Blue?
Any ideas, anyone?

Tony M.

I've just returned from 13 amazing days in the French Alps. I saw at least 100 species and must have missed many more due to inexperience. If there are any ID mistakes below, I would be grateful if they could be pointed out. It's all a bit confusing for someone used to 55 possibles and only one Pyrg...

Many thanks, Guy, The Aricia species were at about 1100m and in flowery meadows so perhaps agestis is the more likely. I had the next two down as you suggest, but the argus fooled me completely. I guess I don't want to see UK species! The last 'Blue' was very pale in flight and I was hoping for some...

The last five - sorry about the crap photo of the 'Ringlet?', it was a long way away...
Tony M.

I've just returned from the French Alps, where I more or less followed the footsteps of David Moore, whom I have to thank for many pointers to good spots. Unfortunately, I don't have his expertise and although I saw around 100 species, I'm sure many others were missed through simply not knowing what...

My Clouded Yellow pupa is just about to eclose, but I think the terrible weather has made it decide to stay snugly in its pupal case for now.
Off to Mercantor on Monday, so hope for some interesting species in a couple of weeks.

T.M.

Despite giving my CY larva a forest of twigs upon which to pupate, it elected to use the roof of the cage, making it very awkward to photograph:
Tony M.

Thank you so much Roger and Guy, Such pointers are just brilliant for a tyro comme moi. Very relieved by your parthenoides comments, Roger, they were the commonest Fritillary where I was and most were fresh and very orange. I also saw several PBFs which seemed miles brighter than any that I had seen...

Thanks for the 'pointers', David. Here are another couple from the area:
Tony.

Thanks, Guy, I'm sure that without this site, I'd give up and collect stamps... :shock: I should also stick to English names - I meant Red-underwing rather than the Orbed variety, which I knew didn't fly that far west. Any pointers as to why meolans ? I saw quite a few Erebias . They all looked very...

There were quite a lot of these flying around some boggy ground - whizzing about like mini-helicopters. I believe they are Libelloides coccajus and fairly rare. If approached too quickly, they wrap their wings around their bodies and move rapidly anti-clockwise around to the far side of their stem. ...

I would be grateful for some help with IDs for these butterflies. Being something of a glutton for self-embarrassment, I'll venture my own thoughts - if I have any - with each photo :oops: Is this orbifer ? 01-orbifer.jpg No idea... 11-Unknown Skip 2.jpg Bright-eyed Ringlet? 14-Bright-eyed Ringlet 1...

Thanks, Guys,

And all with a little help from my friends...

T.