Padfield

[Pete Eeles]

I'm almost holding my breath for you, Guy

Ditto! Although Oz doesn't look that plump to me, but I hope he/she decides otherwise!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Thanks David and Pete.

I think you might be right, Pete. He's full grown and not far off - definitely paling - but I think he's going to sit around digesting that last leaf then zoom off somewhere! I'd hoped he has chosen his place and was just waiting to nip over the top.

I didn't check on Oz today, though he was in place last night. I went off for Provençal fritillaries and it was raining by the time I got back. In fact, it was overcast all day, but it was warm and an amazing amount flew. These were the conditions:



As always, that made photography difficult with my camera, but I was pleased with some of the results.

Here are a male and a female Provençal fritillary, subspecies berisalii:


(male)


(female)

This is a different male, but still showing the characteristic dumbell:



In this male the dumbell had coalesced into a square:



Also flying were heath fritillary ...



... and knapweed fritillary:



By far the commonest butterflies were Apollos and black-veined whites:





Here, a male Apollo is trying his luck with a female:



She, however, is wearing a shiny new sphragis and so his overtures are doomed ...





Marbled skippers were new for the year ...



... as were small and large skippers:





Pearl-bordered fritillaries still look fresh at this altitude:



Next, I dropped closer to the valley to look for Swiss Zephyr blues, Plebejus trappi. Despite the weather, I saw two males. Here is one of them:



Altogether I saw three Camberwell beauties. Two were alive, though to be fair, only just:



The white border is almost completely eroded.

The third consisted of four wings on the ground, clearly left by a bird who had eaten the body:





Not so terribly sad when you consider this butterfly must have died today (the wings were still near each other) and would have been about 11 months old.

A scarce swallowtail wing lay in close proximity:



I suspect it was one of the many white wagtails that run along that track.

Southern white admirals were conspicuous. One landed on the ground not far from Minnie:





Marbled fritillaries were behaving similarly:



I could go on and on ...

Guy

[Wurzel]

I think if you did Guy my head might explode with envy Apollos and Black-veined Whites were the commonest species
On another note I've finally persuaded Mrs Wurzel that we really should have a holiday in France so we have a week in August in the Dordogne, I know it's a long shot but any tips on what to look out for?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[trevor]

Yes Guy, I could go on and on as well !. Simply fabulous.

Trevor.

[David M]

Even by your standards, that is a magnificent sequence, Guy. I'm interested in your Provençals as they DO seem to exhibit that dumb-bell on the lower forewing, much like Grison's. I've looked out for this in France but although there's often a suggestion of it, the markings never seem to join completely. Perhaps it is a characteristic of your Swiss subspecies?

Nice to see Minnie enjoying herself again. Remind us how old she is now?

[essexbuzzard]

Feel free to go on and on, Guy...

[Padfield]

Thank you for the kind comments, Wurzel, Trevor, David and Buzzard.

The short answer to your question, Wurzel, is 'lots'! The longer answer depends a little on what kinds of habitat you will be exploring, and what you want to see. The French specialists will be able to give you more detailed advice than I can but I can certainly make you a list of what to look for.

Yes, David, the dumbell is constant in berisalii. I think this is a genetically rather homogeneous subspecies as there is generally little variation.

I tried for populi again today, still without success. But my 30km cycle ride under oppressively heavy skies was amply rewarded with the first emperors of the year, as well as hundreds, if not thousands, of white admirals.

As so often recently, it was entirely overcast for most of the walk, but the sun did come out for a time. This didn't make a lot of difference as all the butterflies were hugging the shade.

Here is a purple emperor - the earliest individual I have ever seen, by some considerable margin:



He was not alone in the forest. Here is another, sharing something generally vile with a white admiral:



This is lesser purple:



Lesser purples seemed more inclined to open their wings:



White admirals were ubiquitous and generally present as a side-order with all the main dishes:

With ilia:





With polychloros:





With ... just loads and loads of white admirals:






(don't ask ...)



I didn't take many photos as I was keeping my eyes peeled for the big one, but here are a couple of satyrids:


(woodland brown)



I saw at least one larger fritillary - probably dark green - but as the other day, it didn't stop so I couldn't be sure what it was.

Guy

[bugboy]

Jaw dropping

[trevor]

You have jam on it as well, Guy. Can your season get any better ? !
I expect it will, half a dozen Poplar Admirals perhaps.

Stunning, in the true sense of the word.

Trevor.

[Padfield]

Thanks Buggy and Trevor. Not so sure about the poplar admirals now - if the emperors are on the wing, they really should be too. We'll see!

Back home, Oz is definitely about to pupate. I say that because his pupal skin is now visible within, revealing clear transverse fissures. These pictures are awful because of the light and the distance (I checked on him late this afternoon) but they show what I mean.

When I arrived at my vantage point I initially muttered a resigned 'bugger!' because he was nowhere to be seen, on or beneath leaves. Then I spotted him heading down a stem. His appearance is distinctly different from the last time I caught him moving around (then, I had snuck in closer, so the pictures were better):



He crawled onto his habitual leaf and turned round. In this picture you can see how fat his abdomen is, and how it is ringed with dark lines:



I took that picture on my way out. He resumed the head up posture and I continued on my way. If he has just been eating he will want to digest his food before going heads down so I didn't expect any further change this evening. I checked on my way back and he was still heads up on the same leaf.

There are three possibilities:

1) He will pupate on the underside of that leaf. That would be brilliant but is unlikely.

2) He will wander a bit and pupate somewhere else on the same tree. I have seen that happen before.

3) He will climb down to the ground, climb up another tree and pupate where I will never find him. That is what all 6 of this year's 5th instar cats have done so far!! But he is a long way off the ground - at least 15m - so this would seem a lot of energy expenditure just to mess me around.

Guy

[Goldie M]

WoW! thats all I can say Guy, I've never seen such photos with all the white Admirals together like that, Fantastic! Just hope I see an Emperor this year I missed them last year Goldie

[kevling]

Guy,

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of white admirals" you are blessed for sure. They are beautiful. I particular like the Lesser Purple, what a stunning colour. There is something fulfilling about seeing so many butterflies together like that.
If I may be permitted to ask, where is the location of these great encounters.

Kind Regards
Kev Ling

[Padfield]

Thanks Goldie. Here's a video I took some years ago at the same place - with a much younger and leaner Minnie!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKq0GNbpdwc[/video]

EDIT: The video opens on my iPhone but not on my PC. The link to open it in YouTube is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKq0GNbpdwc

Thanks too, Kevin. This site is in the canton of Geneva. It seems a multitude of factors combine to make it an exceptional place for white admirals.

I made a couple of animated gifs yesterday, bringing the white admirals and that super-shiny lesser purple emperor to life. They will take a little while to load fully:





Guy

[Cotswold Cockney]

Good to see those Guy.

What was the attraction for these insects? Man made or natural?

[David M]

It's just not possible, Guy!!! I need a ticket to Geneva yesterday!!

So many amazing sights it's difficult to pick one out, but from a UK perspective, if someone captured an Emperor and an Admiral on a felled tree-stump like you have, it'd go viral!

In la Suisse however, it is clearly not so unusual.

[Pete Eeles]

I made a couple of animated gifs yesterday, bringing the white admirals and that super-shiny lesser purple emperor to life.

Love 'em!

EDIT: I can't take my eyes of the ant in the White Admiral GIF - very subtle and perfectly timed!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Goldie M]

Fantastic that short Video Guy Minnie looks a bit bemused with the Butterflies Goldie

[Matsukaze]

I think if you did Guy my head might explode with envy Apollos and Black-veined Whites were the commonest species
On another note I've finally persuaded Mrs Wurzel that we really should have a holiday in France so we have a week in August in the Dordogne, I know it's a long shot but any tips on what to look out for?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Hi Wurzel,

http://www.european-butterflies.org.uk/ ... rdogne.pdf

I'm off there myself in a couple of weeks - a first visit to the area so I have no idea what I am doing (though I quite like it like that). I did find a half-used, 10 year old tin of shrimp paste in the garage at the weekend though, which I have taken as a sign.

[Wurzel]

That's great cheers Matsukaze Good luck on your travels! I expect you'll get to see more than me as I will have the family in tow and only have a hire car for a day or two

Cheers Guy, I'll check into the area I'm staying at in a little more detail and get back to you if that's okay? Stunning photos and gifs!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Padfield]

Thank you all for your various comments! In answer to your question, CC, the main attractants were fox droppings and horse dung, both of which were in plentiful supply. It wasn't possible to say what everything was ...

Pete - it's quite fun making these GIFs but they do give a 'Groundhog second' effect that makes you just long for that ant to do something different!!

That pdf is far better than anything I could have mustered up for you Wurzel - thanks Matsukaze.

Guy