SPAIN EARLY 2017.

[LancsRover]

Plain Tiger 9.3.2017.

[LancsRover]

Plain Tiger in the dry river bed area, 9th March 2017.
Russ

[LancsRover]

Poor internet, pictures and brief comments at the moment.
Russ

[LancsRover]

All the following b/f's were seen on the Sierra De Irta on the 10th March 2017.
Russ

[LancsRover]

10th March 2017.

[LancsRover]

10th March 2017, Sa. De Irta.

[LancsRover]

Sierra De Irta, 10th March 2017.

[LancsRover]

10th March 2017.

[Sylvie_h]

Hi Russ,

Nice species, especially the plain tiger...
Your orange wasp is an Anthidium - usually very active especially around flowers in blossom waiting for females and defending their territory against any intruders. Your interesting bug could be a rainbow beetle but not sure, if yes then it is a nice find.
Sylvie

[Chris Jackson]

Thanks for the images of the Panoptes Blue, Spanish Festoon and Black-eyed Blue, Russ.
You certainly are benefitting from your late-winter holidays this year.
Glad you are now a fully signed up member of the LSTB female uppersides club.
Do I detect a desire for permanent residence in Spain ?
Chris

[Padfield]

Your Spanish festoon is a beautiful, deep ochre colour - presumably f. canteneri. I've never seen this form in the parts of Spain I visit.

Guy

[David M]

Agreed. The rumina is positively glowing.

Wikipedia refers to it thus:

...orange aberration of both sexes which is frequent in Morocco but occasionally appears in warmer parts of south Spain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zerynthia_rumina

[LancsRover]

Hi Sylvie, thanks for the wasp and beetle ID's and you kind comments.
Russ

Cheers Chris, Yes I'm finally in the LSTB female club now but I don't fancy the heat of Spain in summer, I just hate cold damp winters, like you I think?
Russ

[LancsRover]

Thanks Guy for comments and the ID of the f.canteneri, I just thought it was a dark female, I didn't realise it was something "special/different", It was the first Spanish Festoon I have seen in a couple of years.
I saw another Spanish Festoon yesterday(18.3.17.) again in the Sierra De Irta about 800 metres from where I found the f.canteneri, this one looks completely different with a lot more black than a "normal". What do you think Guy?
Russ

Cheers David for your comments.
Russ

[David M]

That one looks a whole lot different, Russ, but this species does fade remarkably during its life span.

[LancsRover]

10th March 2017 cont'd.
Photo's, report to follow.
Russ

[LancsRover]

Report from last photo's, 10th March 2017.
In the afternoon we moved to the Hermitage, a little church on a hilltop overlooking ALCOSSEBRE, here we found 10's of butterflies circling just below the church, Swallowtails, Walls, Blues and Whites. The Whites including Western Dappled a "lifer" for me.
Russ

[LancsRover]

Wednesday 15th March 2017. Sunny 17C
A quick visit to the scrub, south of our campsite, produced Small Copper, Large White, Green Hairstreak, Holly Blue and a mating pair of Speckled Wood.

Russ

[LancsRover]

Thursday 16th March 2017. 19C Sunny.
On a 9mile hike with our camp's walking group in the Sierra De Irta region, I saw 4+ Cleopatra, 5+ Provence Orange-Tip, 4+ Red Admiral, Black-eyed Blues, Panoptes Blue, Wall Brown and Speckled Wood, as we walked up a dry stream bed on to high hill tops and down again, to almost see level, 6 hours of hard fast walking(I don't know why I do it)
Needless to say no pics of any of the above.
Russ

[NickMorgan]

Wow, somehow I have missed your last few posts. What a fantastic variety of butterflies you have been seeing. I am now longing to go back to Spain!!