Greenwings: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Lycaenidae - Coppers & Hairstreaks
24. Small Copper
25. Violet Copper
26. Sooty Copper
27. Green Hairstreak
Not a great deal happening on this front. The usual explosion of late May Hairstreaks had clearly yet to materialise, and only Green Hairstreak was seen. Apart from the iconic Violet Copper, the only other members of this group observed were Small Copper (in small numbers) and Sooty Copper (around 30 seen). Here's a male Sooty:
24. Small Copper
25. Violet Copper
26. Sooty Copper
27. Green Hairstreak
Not a great deal happening on this front. The usual explosion of late May Hairstreaks had clearly yet to materialise, and only Green Hairstreak was seen. Apart from the iconic Violet Copper, the only other members of this group observed were Small Copper (in small numbers) and Sooty Copper (around 30 seen). Here's a male Sooty:
Last edited by David M on Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:27 am, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Nymphalidae - Aristocrats
28. Small Tortoiseshell
29. Comma
30. Peacock
31. Southern White Admiral
32. Camberwell Beauty
33. Red Admiral
34. Painted Lady
As ever, there weren't too many of this group to see. Most were seen at high altitude although three Camberwells provided fly-by entertainment at lower levels without ever stopping for a photograph.
Southern White Admirals were also quite scarce this year, with the only ones observed being at the Spanish Fritillary site:
28. Small Tortoiseshell
29. Comma
30. Peacock
31. Southern White Admiral
32. Camberwell Beauty
33. Red Admiral
34. Painted Lady
As ever, there weren't too many of this group to see. Most were seen at high altitude although three Camberwells provided fly-by entertainment at lower levels without ever stopping for a photograph.
Southern White Admirals were also quite scarce this year, with the only ones observed being at the Spanish Fritillary site:
Last edited by David M on Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Nymphalidae - Fritillaries
35. Provençal Fritillary
36. Weaver's Fritillary
37. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
38. Marsh Fritillary
39. Spanish Fritillary
40. Queen of Spain Fritillary
41. Glanville Fritillary
42. Spotted Fritillary
43. Meadow Fritillary
44. Knapweed Fritillary
Southern France always delivers on Fritillaries, and even though we were a bit early for the larger members of the group such as High Brown & Dark Green, there were plenty of others to provide interest. Here's one of the two dozen or so Queens recorded:
The commonest by far is Glanville Fritillary:
Spotted Fritillaries are fairly regular too, although this year I only saw one female. Here's a male:
The occasional two-toned Knapweed would turn up:
Weaver's are quite widespread, but you very rarely see more than one at a time:
Meadow Fritillaries are usually seen in numbers here, but it took till the penultimate day for the first handful to reveal themselves:
I still need to hone my ID skills for Provençal Fritillaries, although given that Heaths hadn't emerged, this made things rather easier. A male:
...and a beautiful female:
35. Provençal Fritillary
36. Weaver's Fritillary
37. Pearl Bordered Fritillary
38. Marsh Fritillary
39. Spanish Fritillary
40. Queen of Spain Fritillary
41. Glanville Fritillary
42. Spotted Fritillary
43. Meadow Fritillary
44. Knapweed Fritillary
Southern France always delivers on Fritillaries, and even though we were a bit early for the larger members of the group such as High Brown & Dark Green, there were plenty of others to provide interest. Here's one of the two dozen or so Queens recorded:
The commonest by far is Glanville Fritillary:
Spotted Fritillaries are fairly regular too, although this year I only saw one female. Here's a male:
The occasional two-toned Knapweed would turn up:
Weaver's are quite widespread, but you very rarely see more than one at a time:
Meadow Fritillaries are usually seen in numbers here, but it took till the penultimate day for the first handful to reveal themselves:
I still need to hone my ID skills for Provençal Fritillaries, although given that Heaths hadn't emerged, this made things rather easier. A male:
...and a beautiful female:
Last edited by David M on Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Papilionidae
45. Spanish Festoon
46. Iberian Scarce Swallowtail
47. Swallowtail
48. Apollo
49. Clouded Apollo
All this group were seen, but in much lower than usual numbers. In fact, only three Apollos were sighted during the whole trip, and I personally didn't get any images of them. The others were about in lowish numbers, and the only pictures I got of Swallowtails were when I was pottering about in the quarry at the Spanish Fritillary site prior to being distracted by the arrival of said Spanish Fritillary - never in my life before have I been so guilty of dereliction of duty in observing gorganus!!
45. Spanish Festoon
46. Iberian Scarce Swallowtail
47. Swallowtail
48. Apollo
49. Clouded Apollo
All this group were seen, but in much lower than usual numbers. In fact, only three Apollos were sighted during the whole trip, and I personally didn't get any images of them. The others were about in lowish numbers, and the only pictures I got of Swallowtails were when I was pottering about in the quarry at the Spanish Fritillary site prior to being distracted by the arrival of said Spanish Fritillary - never in my life before have I been so guilty of dereliction of duty in observing gorganus!!
Last edited by David M on Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Pieridae
50. Orange Tip
51. Provence Orange Tip
52. Black Veined White
53. Berger's Clouded Yellow
54. Clouded Yellow
55. Cleopatra
56. Brimstone
57. Wood White
58. Large White
59. Green Veined White
60. Small White
61. Bath White
Last year, I saw enough Black Veined Whites on this trip to fill a sports hall. This year, however, they had barely emerged, with probably no more than a dozen seen:
Large Whites were even MORE scarce...I think I only clocked two in the entire period!! Wood Whites were the commonest of this group, whilst the others turned up in low to medium numbers.
Bath White was seen several times, and this one was spotted in dull and cool conditions which allowed an abnormally close approach:
50. Orange Tip
51. Provence Orange Tip
52. Black Veined White
53. Berger's Clouded Yellow
54. Clouded Yellow
55. Cleopatra
56. Brimstone
57. Wood White
58. Large White
59. Green Veined White
60. Small White
61. Bath White
Last year, I saw enough Black Veined Whites on this trip to fill a sports hall. This year, however, they had barely emerged, with probably no more than a dozen seen:
Large Whites were even MORE scarce...I think I only clocked two in the entire period!! Wood Whites were the commonest of this group, whilst the others turned up in low to medium numbers.
Bath White was seen several times, and this one was spotted in dull and cool conditions which allowed an abnormally close approach:
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Riodinidae
62. Duke of Burgundy
Having missed out on this species in the UK, I was grateful that a few were around during this trip. They seemed to pop up in many low to mid altitude sites although there were never more than a handful in any one location.
62. Duke of Burgundy
Having missed out on this species in the UK, I was grateful that a few were around during this trip. They seemed to pop up in many low to mid altitude sites although there were never more than a handful in any one location.
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Nymphalidae - Satyrids
63. Pearly Heath
64. Small Heath
65. Large Wall
66. Wall
67. Spanish Gatekeeper
68. Western Marbled White
69. Speckled Wood
70. De Prunner's Ringlet
Of the above, Pearly Heath was only seen once but the rest were fairly regular, with Spanish Gatekeeper being seen in low numbers on a very cloudy day near the coast.
Of the erebia genus, only De Prunner's Ringlet was recorded, although this is an early species that has almost a complete monopoly in late May:
Large Walls would tantalise every now and again around steep rocky slopes. Here's a male:
...and a female:
....and undersides:
63. Pearly Heath
64. Small Heath
65. Large Wall
66. Wall
67. Spanish Gatekeeper
68. Western Marbled White
69. Speckled Wood
70. De Prunner's Ringlet
Of the above, Pearly Heath was only seen once but the rest were fairly regular, with Spanish Gatekeeper being seen in low numbers on a very cloudy day near the coast.
Of the erebia genus, only De Prunner's Ringlet was recorded, although this is an early species that has almost a complete monopoly in late May:
Large Walls would tantalise every now and again around steep rocky slopes. Here's a male:
...and a female:
....and undersides:
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Thanks for this post David, very interesting for someone like me who is unfamiliar with most of the continental species.
A beautiful range of butterflies, and very nicely captured as well. Fantastic stuff.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
A beautiful range of butterflies, and very nicely captured as well. Fantastic stuff.
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Thanks, Andrew. Don't be afraid to dip your toe in the water. Believe me, it's quite an experience!
- Tony Moore
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
But Andrew, beware!! It is a VERY addictive pursuit
Tony M.
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Tony M.
- Roger Gibbons
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
There are some 237 mainland species in France, and it’s surprising how quickly they become as familiar as British species. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that most of them are closely related to British species.
What Tony says is true - it can become VERY addictive – some people even become obsessive about seeing them all. I'd like to say I wasn't one of them (only 7 to go) but then I would have to tell porky pies on UKB.
Roger
What Tony says is true - it can become VERY addictive – some people even become obsessive about seeing them all. I'd like to say I wasn't one of them (only 7 to go) but then I would have to tell porky pies on UKB.
Roger
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
that is a very impressive tally Roger !Roger Gibbons wrote:There are some 237 mainland species in France, and it’s surprising how quickly they become as familiar as British species. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that most of them are closely related to British species.
What Tony says is true - it can become VERY addictive – some people even become obsessive about seeing them all. I'd like to say I wasn't one of them (only 7 to go) but then I would have to tell porky pies on UKB.
Roger
could you tell us which 7 you are missing ?
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
I'm pretty sure Spanish Fritillary is one of them, Charles. I'd be interested to know the others (I've got an idea regarding two or three).Charles Nicol wrote:...could you tell us which 7 you are missing ?
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
I have a sneaking suspicion Roger's actually missing 8 speciesDavid M wrote:I'm pretty sure Spanish Fritillary is one of them, Charles. I'd be interested to know the others (I've got an idea regarding two or three).Charles Nicol wrote:...could you tell us which 7 you are missing ?
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
The paper can be found here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ymphalidae
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
- Roger Gibbons
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Yes indeed, David, Spanish Fritillary is one. The others are Gavarnie Blue, Cranberry Fritillary, Mountain Small White (does it still occur in France?), Larche Ringlet, Lefebvre’s Ringlet and Water Ringlet (the nearest I got to that was that trip we made on the rack and pinion train a few years back, Guy).
For all of these you have to make a special trip to be in the right place at the right time. I went to the Pyrenees on 21 July 2015 for Gavarnie Blue and was too late for the flight period. So I went back on 11 July 2017 and I was too early, 2017 being a late season in that part of the world. I’ll try again in 2019. That's part of the charm!
Regarding, ignasiti, I'll wait till the taxonomists meet again and decide to merge it into another species
.
Roger
For all of these you have to make a special trip to be in the right place at the right time. I went to the Pyrenees on 21 July 2015 for Gavarnie Blue and was too late for the flight period. So I went back on 11 July 2017 and I was too early, 2017 being a late season in that part of the world. I’ll try again in 2019. That's part of the charm!
Regarding, ignasiti, I'll wait till the taxonomists meet again and decide to merge it into another species
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Roger
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
I remember it well, Roger! I still see pronoe every year there but it is one of the later Erebia and we were before peak season. The species is locally very common, I have since discovered, in several other places in the region and throughout the Swiss Alps, in August.Roger Gibbons wrote:... Water Ringlet (the nearest I got to that was that trip we made on the rack and pinion train a few years back, Guy).
You can't get out of it that easily, Roger!Roger Gibbons wrote:Regarding, ignasiti, I'll wait till the taxonomists meet again and decide to merge it into another species.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
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The Butterflies of Villars-Gryon : https://www.guypadfield.com/villarsgryonbook.html
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
I so wanted to search for this on the road towards Nohèdes, but sadly the weather was pretty grim on the day we passed by the village of Conat. This is one that will have to wait for another year but I read some of the historic literature regarding the presence of this species in this particular spot and one would hope that it is still present, albeit unconfirmed.Roger Gibbons wrote:... Mountain Small White (does it still occur in France?)
- Roger Gibbons
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
I spent a day in the region of Conat last July looking specifically for Mountain Small White (Pieris ergane). I saw a lot of white butterflies but none that met the requirements for ergane.
By a strange conincidence, given my question as to whether ergane still occurs in France, I just got an email from an old friend who recently moved to Toulouse (Guy will know, sorry I can't be forthcoming on UKB) who said that he had found ergane in that south-west corner of France. The photos showed it clearly different to Small White (P. rapae) and Southern Small White (P.manii).
Maybe I'll get lucky next year.
Roger
By a strange conincidence, given my question as to whether ergane still occurs in France, I just got an email from an old friend who recently moved to Toulouse (Guy will know, sorry I can't be forthcoming on UKB) who said that he had found ergane in that south-west corner of France. The photos showed it clearly different to Small White (P. rapae) and Southern Small White (P.manii).
Maybe I'll get lucky next year.
Roger
Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Interesting comments, Roger, as (according to the Lafranchis guide), ergane is present in SIX départements! Much as I hesitate to carry a net this is one species where it may be beneficial.
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Re: Pyrenées Orientales - 21st to 30th May 2018
Wow, David! That sounds like a great trip. You managed to get so many good pictures, too. I think I have seen less than half of the species you saw.