I would have liked to attend, as the first workshop in March 2007 was excellent, but I leave for France around 10 April, so have not been able to make the workshops in 2008 or 2009, and probably the same for 2010. Fishiee's post prompted a thought: why not hold a "workshop" in France? Ther...

I hope Guy's not reading this! I think he follows quite a strict vegetarian regime, if not actually being vegan. However, on the subject of health and fitness, do not accept an invitation to go butterflying in the mountains with Guy unless you are superfit, because you will not be able to keep up. I...

Tim Cowles, who lives in Lyon and undertakes an ongoing scientific study of the butterflies of the Rhone departement, has asked me a camera question about the relative merits of the Canon PowerShot A710 and the Canon PowerShot SX200 IS for butterfly photography. I haven’t a clue but I am sure the ex...

One interpretation of your observations is that there is a resident population in that warm Mediterranean olive belt and you don't see them there in the summer because they're on the wing for such a short time. Maybe, but for the last four years I have spent most of April-October butterfly watching...

Chequered Skipper occurs quite widely in eastern and central France. I have just checked my records for the past seven years and I have seen it in ten or more separate locations in central France as well as in the Pyrenees and the French and Swiss Alps at around 1500m. Most of the central France loc...

No problem now!

Roger

An old photo from 1955. I was studying a case of moths I had been given by a friend of my father, and it seems that Garden Tigers and Red Underwings were pretty common then. I suspect there is a Goat Moth and a Leopard Moth and a few Buff Tips in there too. I remember that Eyed, Poplar, Lime and Ele...

It cuts off at 21 min 34 secs when I try to watch it. Am I doing something wrong? (The answer is obviously yes as no-one else seems to have a problem).

Roger

I’m not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere on the site, but the Butterfly Conservation AGM and Members Day is on Saturday 21 November in Winchester (link as below). The AGM is from 10.35-11.30 so it is possible to arrive around 11.30 and not miss anything except the AGM. http://www.butterfly-...

I'm travelling somehwere in Lot & Garonne, so don't have any reference books or sites, but I would be confident that these are Cleopatras. Brimstones are noticeably more "pointy" although natural variation means that the two species can sometimes be closer than that shown in the books ...

3462 is clearly a Lysandra species, and almost certainly a female, either Adonis Blue ( Lysandra bellargus ) or Chalk-hill Blue ( Lysandra coridon ). They are very hard to differentiate from the underside alone, especially if only the hindwing is visible, as both have slightly chequered fringes. My ...

Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus).

It's a Bath White (Pontia daplidice).

My avatar is a female.

De rien.

Roger

If you hadn't said where you had seen it, I would have said female Reverdin's Blue ( Plebejus argyrognomon ) would have been a strong contender, but as this doesn't occur in Finland, Amanda's Blue of the form isias looks most probable. No doubt you will hear from JKT in due course, but I checked his...

This link re the transfer of the NHM archive might be of interest: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8184270.stm BC European Interest Group organised a trip to the archive earlier this year and are planning to run this as an annual event. No doubt someone will ask, so here is the link to the EIG p...

Just before leaving Guy's clue, wasn’t the clue that “causes rational girl” is an anagram of celastrina argiolus? “Upset” usually means an anagram in crossword compiler-speak? So the “upset” meant an anagram rather than “blue”?

Roger

Guy, we are really sorry to hear that. We know just how much she meant to you. Maybe some people on UKB won’t know that she had suffered under the previous owner, and that Guy had taken her on in the knowledge that she had suffered abuse. Which takes a lot of courage and compassion. So I think you c...

The definitive European site already exists and is run by Guy’s mate Matt Rowlings. Take a look at this species list - http://eurobutterflies.com/species_index.htm! As I say on the links page on my site, where else are you going to see an Agenjo's Anomalous Blue? Before I first met Matt last year I ...

Here are a few of the highlights of my butterfly year so far. I have so far seen 167 species in France, including five life-ticks (i.e. a first-ever sighting) and for four of those I am indebted to a French colleague who provided specific location and flight period information. I have put more highl...

Re the fritillary, the one thing that bothers me about Knapweed is that the dark margin usually “follows” the shape of the lunules (i.e. going into the lunule) in Knapweed, which Denise’s one clearly does not. The Pyrgus flight periods quoted by Tolman are by definition quite general as he is dealin...