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...

I wouldn’t have thought there would be a lot of difference between 400m and 800m but higher than that, say 1000m+, is the start of the range of a number of altitude species, especially the Erebia ringlets. If you have the opportunity to drop down into Ariege, there are quite good spots around Ax-les...

1. The marginal lunules suggest Knapweed Fritillary to me especially on the hindwing, and the prominence of the forewing lunule in s3 compared to the two adjacent ones also says Knapweed. Also the weak orange colouring is often found with Knapweed and I have not seen this with Heath, although I have...

I have been experimenting with exposure times, especially in poor light, and have got down to 1/25 sec with a still subject on a few occasions. This beautifully-fresh Map Butterfly was considerate enough to stay still for a few moments and with rare conditions of absolutely no wind, I got the exposu...

It is hard to say whether the upper shot is a Southern Small White from this photo, but the one visible clue suggests not, at least to me. The unf black spot usually has a straight or concave external edge for Southern, so this looks like a Small White to me. I think this is probably a consistent fe...

I can report the same story from the far south of France. Overwintering Camberwell Beauties are turning up all over the place in the oak forests near the coast, in eight locations so far, including the odd one or two gliding around our patio. Never stopping for a photo of course, and very nervous wh...

A couple of quick observations: Marsh Fritillary certainly isn’t endangered in Var. I have visited two sites in the past week and could have counted hundreds at each, and it occurs in most places. Nice photo of the “white” female Spotted Frit, Guy, but here’s one (14944) that would be hard to beat f...

In case anyone should think that the butterflies in Provence are all exotic, most are, in fact, the common species encountered in the UK, although Var does have an extra 100 or so species. Orange Tip, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Small Heath are all very common here, and for the most part look identica...

Just for interest, here is a male Speckled Wood of the orange, nominate form – the form found in the UK is the subspecies tircis. I think it’s as beautifully coloured as fritillaries and rather a pity this isn’t the form that is found in the UK.

Thanks, Roger. I don't quite understand it (i.e. why Evaluative was not as dark as Centre-weighted Average), but it is reassuring to know that what I'm finding is "as expected".

I'll just leave it in Partial metering mode and not worry about it.

Many thanks.

Roger

A question for the photography experts: I have a Canon 20D and generally use Partial metering as it seems best for dark butterflies on a lighter background. So I have no real problem in the field. However, I recently tested a dark subject on a white background for all three modes – as described in t...