Butterflies of Var, Southern France

[Roger Gibbons]

Spring is not far away, so let's get the ball rolling with this just-released video about the Orange-tip produced by Filming Var Wild.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=601Z2Bgrq44

Roger

[David M]

I love these short films, Roger. There's something about the lack of audible commentary that makes it very peaceful, with just the natural sounds of running water, birdsong, etc as accompaniment.

More to follow, I hope?

[Roger Gibbons]

Hi David,

Here are two more recent films - Lesser Purple Emperor (form clytie) and Provence Hairstreak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THGh-UdWKuU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdN616s4Fno

They do the filming in the summer and the editing in the winter.

Roger

[Chris Jackson]

That Orange Tip video is great, Roger.
I hope to be experiencing that live as of April.
Thanks for the link.

Chris

[David M]

Love the Provence Hairstreak video, Roger. Haven't they released an earlier version concentrating on this species?

I DO believe I recognise that stone outhouse in the first couple of minutes of footage!

[Charles Nicol]

Hi David,

Here are two more recent films - Lesser Purple Emperor (form clytie) and Provence Hairstreak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THGh-UdWKuU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdN616s4Fno

They do the filming in the summer and the editing in the winter.

Roger

thanks for the LPE film link Roger ! it was very enjoyable.

[Roger Gibbons]

Love the Provence Hairstreak video, Roger. Haven't they released an earlier version concentrating on this species?

I DO believe I recognise that stone outhouse in the first couple of minutes of footage!

Hi David,

Yes they did release a video of ballus a while back. This follow-up was prompted in part by the expansion of the vineyards in adjacent terrain and the destruction of the ballus habitat.

I'm sure you would recognize the stone building - Chris may also recognize it. So that it isn't a secret just between us, ballus (the Provence Hairstreak) is very localized in southern France and the stone building marks one of those spots. Ballus is strange in that it tends to fly mainly over bare earth.

Roger

[Vince Massimo]

Thanks for flagging these up Roger. I have put a link for the Orange-tip in the Species-Specific Forum.

Vince

[David M]

Yes they did release a video of ballus a while back. This follow-up was prompted in part by the expansion of the vineyards in adjacent terrain and the destruction of the ballus habitat.

Grrr. Surely there can't be demand for MORE vineyards in that part of France? At least that other site with the long track that descends into a low gully should be safe (I hope).

[Roger Gibbons]

Here is my nomination for the butterfly least prepared to call it a day after hibernating.
download/file.php?mode=view&id=140998

It was still able to engage in aerial warfare with a just-emerged Glanville Fritillary.

And, yes, it is (just) a Large Tortoiseshell.

Roger

[Charles Nicol]

Here is my nomination for the butterfly least prepared to call it a day after hibernating.
download/file.php?mode=view&id=140998

It was still able to engage in aerial warfare with a just-emerged Glanville Fritillary.

And, yes, it is (just) a Large Tortoiseshell.

Roger

it reminds me of the Black Knight from Monty Python & the Holy Grail

[David M]

Here is my nomination for the butterfly least prepared to call it a day after hibernating.

Just how on earth can that specimen get off the ground, let alone engage Fritillaries in aerial combat?

[NickC]

.

[Chris Jackson]

... Here is my nomination for the butterfly least prepared to call it a day after hibernating ... It was still able to engage in aerial warfare with a just-emerged Glanville Fritillary ... , yes, it is (just) a Large Tortoiseshell .. Roger

Yes, probably deserves a long service medal, this one. I havn't seen a Large Tort flying in the west Var or the Bouches du Rhone for 2 weeks now.
Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

Here are some images from my travels this year. They are in chronological order and this is the first of three postings.

Always an early emerger, its flight period is almost over by mid-April, Provence hairstreak (Tomares ballus).

There are both Festoons in the region where we stay in Var in the spring, this one is the Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina).

Another very early emerger in Var is the familiar Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) and I rarely get the opportunity to see a very fresh one, and this very late season gave a rare opportunity.

There are four species of Marbled White in France, this one being a Western Marbled White (Melanagia occitanica) which occurs in the west of Var at the easterly limit of its range. This is a rather dark male.

Erebia ringlets are notoriously difficult to photograph as a rule, as they often fly non-stop and when they do settle it is usually deep in the grass, and they are also very difficult to approach. This is one time when they are amenable to the camera, these being Bright-eyed Ringlets (Erebia oeme), the lighter female above.

In some parts of Gard and Lozère, the Grayling (Hipparchia Semele) can be very common, sometimes in hundreds. This, I believe, is a female.

Probably France’s rarest butterfly (or maybe equal with two others) is the Mountain Small White (Pieris ergane). There were several at this location and they flew incessantly up and down the slopes of a ravine. Luckily, the cold wind of an approaching storm slowed them down and at least one came down to nectar on Scabious. Not that Scabious in the wind makes for easy photography, but I was delighted to have at least this opportunity. Yes, it would have been much easier to take a shot of a Small White (P. rapae) and Photoshop out the discal spot.

I am fairly sure that this was a female Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) from seeing it in flight. The underside pattern seemed even more bizarre than usual.

Another rarity, the Pyrenees-endemic False Dewy Ringlet (Erebia Sthennyo). It is highly localised in spots usually over 2000m and often inaccessible to us humans. I visited this location arriving in the afternoon and they flew weakly but almost incessantly, and when they did settle – as noted earlier – it was deep in the grass. However, when I went back to the same spot the next morning, they, the males at least, were settling on damp vegetation and distance shots were at least possible. I had seen one possible sthennyo two years ago but had doubts as to whether it was, even though it was hard to see what other species it could be, so I was very pleased to see the species and be 100% sure.

More to follow in a few days.

[petesmith]

Great stuff Roger. Congratulations on seeing and photographing ergane - that must have been a real highlight! Likewise with sthennyo. Two species I can only dream about for now...

[David M]

Fabulous, Roger. I'm so pleased you managed to get an audience with both Mountain Small White and False Dewy Ringlet. They are tough ones to crack in France.

[Roger Gibbons]

Posting 2 of 3:

Small Blue (Cupido minimus) is a very hardy species, often being found at very high altitudes. I see large numbers of males at times, but females only rarely as it the case with most high altitude Blues. This was one occasion where a female (on the right) posed nicely for the camera.

In one of my favourite spots in the Pyrenees, not particularly high altitude, only 1600-1700m, it has a great diversity of species in a short space of a track alongside a river. There are puddling spots where eight or so blues converge, but in this spot it was False Heath Fritillaries (Melitaea diamina) that were predominant.

Also at this spot there were several different Erebia, this one being a female Piedmont Ringlet (E. meolans).

Not too far away at a famous barrage (dam), a Pyrgus which I am fairly sure is Large Grizzled Skipper (P. alveus), even from an upperside view alone, but I also got a clear view of the underside which increased my confidence level to almost 100%.

At the same location there were huge numbers of Marbled Skippers (Carcharodus lavatherae), a species I normally only see in ones or twos. Here is a group puddling together.

Still at the dam, my main target was Gavarnie Blue (Agriades pyrenaicus) which I still have failed to see. It appears that pyrenaicus had an unusually early year and I was too late on 8 July. Another trip is planned for 2021. However, the second prize was a very fresh Large Blue (Phengaris arion) which sat very obligingly on a Blue Iris and then – unusually in my experience – opened up to show its upperside. The heavy markings are typical of arion at high altitude.

Eastwards on to a region on the border on the Var/Bouches-du-Rhône border where it was very dry and baked. Not much was flying, but there is a smallish water hole at the end of the track. It is an ideal spot to sit in the shade and wait to see what turns up. And in the heat of July this year, sitting in the shade was a seriously good idea. It is a very good location for one of my favourite blues, Furry Blue (Polyommatus dolus) and there were at least three puddling at this spot which by now had become just mud. Chris J will recognise the mud they are sitting on.

Further east, at a spot in Var at the base of a track leading up into the hills (Kip may recall this spot as the one where he first saw Black-eyed Blue (Glaucopsyche melanops) some ten years ago). There is a bridge over a small brook and a damp area at the side, often good for puddling. On this occasion, there were a male and a female Purple Hairstreak (Favonius quercus) stranded flat out in the water. I managed to rescue both and this is the female drying out before flying off. The male didn’t even have the decency to wait for a photo.

Third set to follow in a day or two.

[Roger Gibbons]

This is the third of three posts. It is the last two weeks in July, from the Mercantour back to the UK via eastern France.

First up is an increasingly popular spot in the Mercantour, heaving with butterflies in mid-July. I counted 46 species in one day and I’m sure there were many more I missed. This is Foulquier’s Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus foulquieri), a male with the characteristic jagged markings. It is generally seen as the prince of Pyrgus as it is large and boldly marked and highly localised. My friend Dave P was so delighted he sat on the track for half an hour admiring the photo of foulquieri he had just taken.

Also at the same spot, a False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi). It can be exceptionally common – at the site where I saw the Purple Hairstreaks in the previous post, there were hundreds of esculi. They are often very mobile, but this one was sedentary.

On to one of the highest Cols in Europe, I was very fortunate to see both Sooty Ringlet (Erebia pluto) and this one Silky Ringlet (E. gorge). They both fly almost incessantly up and down rocky scree, rarely stopping, except in overcast weather. Normally it is a case of standing at roadside at the bottom of the scree, but at this particular spot the roadside is at the top of the scree and they very occasionally come over the top of the scree and settle momentarily at the roadside. There has been some debate on David M’s report on the Greenwing’s tour in the Queyras regarding gorge and False Mnestra Ringlet (E. aethiopella) as to whether one or two photos were gorge. I don’t think there was a clear outcome, but my feeling is that gorge in this locality does not have ocelli while aethiopella does.

On the north slope of the same Col but lower at around 2100m there was a particularly rich riverside spot with many different species, including this rarely-seen female Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)

On to the Queyras, Cynthia’s Fritillaries (Euphydryas Cynthia) were out in good numbers, some reasonably fresh. It is sometimes quoted that cynthia is the first species to fly after the snows have cleared, but that isn’t generally my experience (I would say that Dewy Ringlet (E. pandrose) has that accolade) and certainly not the case this year. This is a male, with the iconic black/white/red pattern unique among fritillaries. Yes there is a piece of grass just below it; it was blocking the clear shot and I snipped it – it landed close to the subject, luckily not scaring it off.

On the north side of the Col d’Izoard, one of my favourite Erebia, a Mountain Ringlet (E. epiphron).

Still going north, east of Lyon, a species I see rarely as it does not occur in Var and probably not in the PACA region, a female Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades) caught in the act of egg-laying on what I believe is Ribbed Melilot (Melitotus officinalis).

And, finally, a very lucky find, a female Alcon Blue (Phengaris alcon alcon), the lowland and wetland cousin of the more commonly-seen Mountain Alcon Blue (P. a. rebeli). It had been egg-laying on Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe) and was resting in the shade.

And the result of this activity, numerous eggs on the area of the Gentian where the flowers would emerge, although they had not done so yet. It took a while for us to be sure that it was alcon as there was no evidence of the flowers.

[David M]

Great stuff, Roger! One day I'll get to see gorge!