Hi David,
My guess would be E. oeme ssp. spodia.
Roger

I agree with Neil that there are two distinct camps, and that what you appreciate is largely a matter of taste. And good to see Gary back posting on UKB – his images are breath-taking and a pleasure to look at (I resist saying “behold”), especially the landscapes. Personally, I find the technically-...

This gives some idea of what it was like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6Fv12BL8s We were in Var in 2010 when the two rivers, bizarrely named the Artuby and the Nartuby, combined to completely flood the south of Var killing officially 25 people (but probably many more). We were lucky, being on a...

The devastation of one our favourite parts of the world.

https://news.sky.com/story/storm-alex-v ... e-12088604

Roger

I would love to meander around in a motorhome. To my mind it has two big advantages: 1. If you go to specific location for a particular species and the weather isn't good, well, just stay another day (or two). Much better than a fixed itinerary. 2. You can be in the right place early in the morning ...

However, it was a trio of “small white” butterflies that was setting off alarm bells in my head. They were mud-puddling and nectaring in between brief bouts of flying low down to the ground, with a weak, slow, quite floppy flight. This flight pattern was distinctively different for me to spend some...

I would have labelled this as a Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto). If you have an upperside shot, that should be conclusive.

Roger

The skipper, I would suggest, is between Dusky ( P. cacaliae ) or Carline ( P. carlinae ) and my feeling is that it is a lightly marked carlinae . Olive ( P. serratulae ) can’t be entirely ruled out. It’s one of those Pyrgus that doesn’t readily fall into any camp. The fritillary I would suggest is ...

Well done getting so close to those chamois. Nearest I've got was at Madone de fenestre a couple of years ago when there was one in the light woodland about 50m from me. I have managed to get even closer. I used to stay in a little chambre d'hôte at Le Coin in the Queyras at 2000m altitude. It was ...

Only five in practice - False Grayling is a red herring (if you'll forgive the fishy analogy).

Roger

I'll venture some thoughts:
The first Erebia - Large Ringlet (E. euryale)
The Pyrgus - they all look like Carline (P. carlinae) to me, supported I believe by what I could see of the underside.
The second Erebia - Marbled Ringlet (E. montana)
Roger

In which case we are in complete ID agreement!

Regarding the blue, I only put eros in the frame (and only just) because some of Jim's photos are end of season and with varying degrees of ageing. It would have to be a very faded eros to match that photo, and I agree that it is almost 100% icarus beyond question. For the Erebia , we may be in Vala...

I have rather come to the opinion that the hair tuft clue to foulquieri is something of a red herring. Lafranchis shows an illustration of the foulquieri tuft extending under the abdomen in comparison to alveus . Why only alveus ? I can only conclude that it is because, from an upperside view, foulq...

I'll express a view, sticking my head above the parapet, that the Pyrgus undersides are carlinae. The uppersides are too worn to give any meaningful clue. Could possibly be carlinae.

For the blue, I would suggest argus rather than idas.

Roger

I don't think there can be any doubt that it is titania , even allowing for the fact that dia is not an altitude species (though I have seen it as high as 1320m). It is the nominate form, not the subspecies cypris . I have seen it said that the nominate form and cypris do not fly together, a theory ...

This is extracted from my glycerion page, which throws a little more light on this topic: There is a very similar species of perhaps indeterminate taxonomical status, the Spanish Heath ( C. iphioides ) which flies in northern Spain and does not occur in France. In H&R it is classified as a separ...

Hi Jim, Your athalia isn't that - it looks more like a female varia to me, although the female of the dark form of Meadow Fritillary ( M. parthenoides ) can look similar. I'm guessing that you would prefer this to be female varia . Like many of these high altitude species, the females tend to be rat...

My understanding was that vernetensis was endemic to the eastern Pyrenees, and we are currently in the Écrins. This is a diamina from Valjouffrey July 2018. I also find athalia to be very variable, as Pete says. Melitaea diamina_45394W.JPG With regard to the Pyrgus , I’m fairly sure that several dif...

I think your first thought of aethiops was right, Guy. Most of Valjouffrey is flat and around 1100m altitude, probably too low for most other Erebia at that time, and aethiops is quite common there. So the circumstantial evidence becomes quite a significant pointer in this case, I think. For the Mel...