Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
#4 - Cardinal
The most physically imposing of all European Fritillaries, and a butterfly that always excites the guests who see it during my trips.
I get lucky and see a handful in some years in the French Pyrenees, but it turns up in Spain in greater numbers in late July:
The most physically imposing of all European Fritillaries, and a butterfly that always excites the guests who see it during my trips.
I get lucky and see a handful in some years in the French Pyrenees, but it turns up in Spain in greater numbers in late July:
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
A worthy #4 David! Look forward to the all-important top three...
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Have to search two PCs for my images, Pete, meaning that it's not as quick an exercise as I would like.
It'll all be done over the Bank Holiday (though I'm sure you can guess the three, if not necessarily in the right order).
It'll all be done over the Bank Holiday (though I'm sure you can guess the three, if not necessarily in the right order).
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
#3 - Scarce Fritillary
I had no idea this species had colonies in NW Italy, which was good because its distribution in France is rather off my radar.
Pleasingly, they weren't difficult to find, and what a beautiful Fritillary it is, endearing itself both with its looks AND behaviour:
I had no idea this species had colonies in NW Italy, which was good because its distribution in France is rather off my radar.
Pleasingly, they weren't difficult to find, and what a beautiful Fritillary it is, endearing itself both with its looks AND behaviour:
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
#2 - Cynthia's Fritillary
This is undoubtedly an iconic species of Fritillary. The males are quite unlike any other in this family, with a hefty white suffusion on the upperwings and a very attractive underside too.
The female are more like 'waxy' Marsh Fritillaries, but are still attractive in their own right.
In 2017, this species was around in serious numbers, but largely thanks to the 'Beast from the East' the following March, they were scarce in both 2018 AND last year too. Let's hope their populations rebound in 2020, even if few of us are around to see it.
This is undoubtedly an iconic species of Fritillary. The males are quite unlike any other in this family, with a hefty white suffusion on the upperwings and a very attractive underside too.
The female are more like 'waxy' Marsh Fritillaries, but are still attractive in their own right.
In 2017, this species was around in serious numbers, but largely thanks to the 'Beast from the East' the following March, they were scarce in both 2018 AND last year too. Let's hope their populations rebound in 2020, even if few of us are around to see it.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Yet more consensus on the Euyphydryas being at the top of most people's list, and rightly so!
I have a feeling, David, that your #1 is going to make me green with envy.
I have a feeling, David, that your #1 is going to make me green with envy.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
I think Cynthias take 2 years to go from egg to adult. So they take some time to recover from low populations.
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Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
I think they were just late last year. I counted at least 20 in the Queyras on 20 July.
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Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Re cynthia: they do indeed take two years. This gives them quite a lot of latitude in their timing, so low numbers at an expected place and date don't necessarily mean the species didn't do well that year. In Switzerland, I see the first males from the end of June in good years and the last females in September (I have a photo of a female dated 12th September). 2019 was clearly a late year - I saw a single female and no males at a good site on 1st July (during my one week back in CH) but I could see the vegetation was very late so it didn't worry me. The males never lek before the plants reach a certain state. 2018 was even later. One of my favourite cynthia sites was still snowbound on 11th July. The caterpillars probably hadn't even pupated by then (at a similar site, at a similar stage of snow but a different year, I found a final instar caterpillar still munching away on 6th July).
So I expect 2018 and 2019 were just late years, not necessarily bad years.
Guy
EDIT - just seen Roger's comment confirming that.
PS - great pictures! Cynthia will appear in my top 5 ...
So I expect 2018 and 2019 were just late years, not necessarily bad years.
Guy
EDIT - just seen Roger's comment confirming that.
PS - great pictures! Cynthia will appear in my top 5 ...
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
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Not sure about that, Pete, as it's a species that probably isn't that iconic in the right places, but it wins my vote mainly due to its heavyweight rarity in France.
#1 - Spanish Fritillary
Never before (or since) in my life have I spent so many fruitless hours looking for a species of butterfly. I dread to think what my total count is - certainly 20 hours+.
Spanish Fritillary is only known from one very small area in the eastern French Pyrenees, but I have managed to find it twice, although never at the actual location where it is purportedly most likely to be seen.
The first time was in 2017. We (14 of us) had scoured the hillside at the main site without success following on from a pre-tour recce which had also seen us come up blank. So, having given up on it we were concentrating on the similar beckeri form Marsh Fritillaries which were very common. I wandered off on my own and suddenly noticed a Fritillary behaving differently from the local Marshies, and God alone knows how much my heart rate jumped when I realised what it was:
The following year, we were all in a quarry half a mile up the road from the supposed main site, and I was patiently waiting for all the guests to file back so we could go back to the minibuses. I'd been watching a Knapweed Fritillary basking on the rocky ground for round 10 minutes when suddenly it was buzzed by another Fritillary. This again turned out to be an incredibly rare desfontainii and at one point I had to ask the guy driving the bulldozer in the quarry to wait a couple of minutes so as many people as possible could get to see it:
So, the main reason why it's #1 is its colossal rarity in France, but that said it is also a strikingly beautiful insect, like a brighter version Marsh Fritillary with a paler underside and white upperwing margins. The females are even more attractive than the males, but sadly I am yet to see one. Doing so may prove tricky given the amount of time it has taken to find just two of the far less scarce males.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Definitely envious! I have never seen desfontainii and it is rapidly climbing towards the top of my "most wanted" list...
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Probably best for you to look for it in Spain, Pete. I fear it is not far off becoming extinct in France.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
David
I can remember vividly being a 'social distance' behind you when you found it - what an exciting moment that was for us all. Yes, even leaders are entitled to get excited after they have made a find of such magnitude.
I can remember vividly being a 'social distance' behind you when you found it - what an exciting moment that was for us all. Yes, even leaders are entitled to get excited after they have made a find of such magnitude.
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Well hello, Barrie. Good to see you on here at last!
Yes, that Spanish Fritillary moment was a memorable one, and if I remember correctly, your patience in standing by that valerian patch meant you got the best images of any of us.
Yes, that Spanish Fritillary moment was a memorable one, and if I remember correctly, your patience in standing by that valerian patch meant you got the best images of any of us.
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Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
I'm getting very behind on these European top tens, but others have covered most of my favourites and it's been a pleasure to see the pictures and stories.
Anyway, here's the rest of the Swiss vote!
No 5: 2020 is likely to be the first year since 2006 I won't see Asian fritillary (Euphydryas intermedia wolfensbergeri). Not necessarily, if I can get back to CH by the beginning of July, but that is currently a forlorn hope. Every year since Matt Rowlings first showed me a site in 2007, I've headed up the same valley and spent time among the blue honeysuckle and rhododendrons with intermedia and a host of other beautiful butterflies. The name 'Asian fritillary' is misleading, as the European subspecies is quite isolated from the Asian populations and is a rather rare, alpine specialist.
(male)
(female)
(underside)
And for those who've never seen one in the flesh, a couple of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccbdITeRVQY[/video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWyDZYJtJk[/video]
No 4: Cynthia's fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia) is a wonderful species and others have quite undertandably placed it higher. The only problem is the number of favourites competing for the top slots! I saw my first one in 1987, high above Crans Montana, when I was holidaying in Switzerland with a tetraplegic friend. I pushed his wheelchair, he paid my holiday. I can't remember where he was when I saw the cynthia, but I loaded him onto plenty of funiculars and télécabines so he was probably with me, or not far away. We went again in July 1988 and then in August 1989. By that last trip I had fallen so much in love with the country I rang every school in Vaud one morning and secured a job for 1st September. The rest is history.
My 1987 cynthia, taken on my old Praktika Nova I SLR (which sadly died in 2004):
Some more recent pictures:
(female)
(final instar caterpillar)
No 3: Thor's fritillary (Boloria thore) is among my all-time favourite butterflies. I had never seen one until 2013, when I did a concerted search, using Google Earth and the published 5km square data. To my delight, I found a thriving colony, spread out over a large region, and have revisited almost every year since. I don't know what it is that makes it so special. Quite possibly it is, as Pete mentioned for cynthia, the fact it has stared out of European butterfly books at me since I was a child. Then finally to see it in the flesh ...
I had a particularly enjoyable day with thore last year. These first two pictures were taken then:
(with aegeria)
Here are some more, from previous years:
(a female oviposturing)
(a male, surveying his shady world)
(two males by the same bridge, a year earlier)
(with my best friend)
No 2: Some might be surprised, but my second favourite fritillary has to be Queen of Spain. Those who have followed my diary over the years know I see it every month of the year and that it is often my first butterfly. From memory, my latest sighting was 20th December and my earliest 6th January. How many sunny days in January and February have I spent among the vines of the Rhône Valley, with the chalky smell of grape terraces, searching for and finding Queens ... And when I find one, I crack open a beer, give Minnie a bowl of water and enjoy the moment. Sometimes there are small tortoieshells there too, and sometimes the odd clouded yellow, but it is the Queens I am there for.
My first picture is a view along the vineyard road in December 2015, with a Queen on the rock on the left:
This is probably the same butterfly (I took the photo on the same day):
By March, numbers are usually high - sometimes in the hundreds - but the land is still bare:
The underside is extraordinary, with its silver pearls:
Courtship is extremely brief. I was watching the female of this couple (the upper one) when a male flew past and picked her up. They were coupled within a second and immediately landed:
The caterpillars feed on Viola tricolor agg.:
No 1. I have no choice - it has to be the cardinal (Argynnis pandora). My name is now written into the history of this species in Switzerland, and its name is written into my history in Switzerland. As I've noted before, when I had my final interview before becoming Swiss, I presented the panel with a paper I'd co-written (with Yannick Cittaro and Vincent and Michel Baudraz) on its establishment in the country and after that all we talked about was butterflies. I'd learnt by heart all the citizenship stuff about the history, geography and politics of Switzerland, but when the chairwoman asked the others if they wanted to ask their stock questions they all said no - butterflies was fine. So here are a few photos of what is now my favourite butterfly of all:
This is a frame from a video I took in 2005, when I didn't have a proper still camera. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the first confirmed record of cardinal in Switzerland since 1947:
(for the rest of that story, see: https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ymphalidae)
(a male)
(a female)
(male underside)
(female underside)
(an aged female, showing the extensive green tarnishing that matures with the months)
And finally, a video of the flight of the cardinal. See how soon you can pick up the butterfly, flying left-right (in slow motion). At the end, the butterfly changed direction and flew over my left shoulder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgsq5XdpFY[/video]
Guy
Anyway, here's the rest of the Swiss vote!
No 5: 2020 is likely to be the first year since 2006 I won't see Asian fritillary (Euphydryas intermedia wolfensbergeri). Not necessarily, if I can get back to CH by the beginning of July, but that is currently a forlorn hope. Every year since Matt Rowlings first showed me a site in 2007, I've headed up the same valley and spent time among the blue honeysuckle and rhododendrons with intermedia and a host of other beautiful butterflies. The name 'Asian fritillary' is misleading, as the European subspecies is quite isolated from the Asian populations and is a rather rare, alpine specialist.
(male)
(female)
(underside)
And for those who've never seen one in the flesh, a couple of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccbdITeRVQY[/video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWyDZYJtJk[/video]
No 4: Cynthia's fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia) is a wonderful species and others have quite undertandably placed it higher. The only problem is the number of favourites competing for the top slots! I saw my first one in 1987, high above Crans Montana, when I was holidaying in Switzerland with a tetraplegic friend. I pushed his wheelchair, he paid my holiday. I can't remember where he was when I saw the cynthia, but I loaded him onto plenty of funiculars and télécabines so he was probably with me, or not far away. We went again in July 1988 and then in August 1989. By that last trip I had fallen so much in love with the country I rang every school in Vaud one morning and secured a job for 1st September. The rest is history.
My 1987 cynthia, taken on my old Praktika Nova I SLR (which sadly died in 2004):
Some more recent pictures:
(female)
(final instar caterpillar)
No 3: Thor's fritillary (Boloria thore) is among my all-time favourite butterflies. I had never seen one until 2013, when I did a concerted search, using Google Earth and the published 5km square data. To my delight, I found a thriving colony, spread out over a large region, and have revisited almost every year since. I don't know what it is that makes it so special. Quite possibly it is, as Pete mentioned for cynthia, the fact it has stared out of European butterfly books at me since I was a child. Then finally to see it in the flesh ...
I had a particularly enjoyable day with thore last year. These first two pictures were taken then:
(with aegeria)
Here are some more, from previous years:
(a female oviposturing)
(a male, surveying his shady world)
(two males by the same bridge, a year earlier)
(with my best friend)
No 2: Some might be surprised, but my second favourite fritillary has to be Queen of Spain. Those who have followed my diary over the years know I see it every month of the year and that it is often my first butterfly. From memory, my latest sighting was 20th December and my earliest 6th January. How many sunny days in January and February have I spent among the vines of the Rhône Valley, with the chalky smell of grape terraces, searching for and finding Queens ... And when I find one, I crack open a beer, give Minnie a bowl of water and enjoy the moment. Sometimes there are small tortoieshells there too, and sometimes the odd clouded yellow, but it is the Queens I am there for.
My first picture is a view along the vineyard road in December 2015, with a Queen on the rock on the left:
This is probably the same butterfly (I took the photo on the same day):
By March, numbers are usually high - sometimes in the hundreds - but the land is still bare:
The underside is extraordinary, with its silver pearls:
Courtship is extremely brief. I was watching the female of this couple (the upper one) when a male flew past and picked her up. They were coupled within a second and immediately landed:
The caterpillars feed on Viola tricolor agg.:
No 1. I have no choice - it has to be the cardinal (Argynnis pandora). My name is now written into the history of this species in Switzerland, and its name is written into my history in Switzerland. As I've noted before, when I had my final interview before becoming Swiss, I presented the panel with a paper I'd co-written (with Yannick Cittaro and Vincent and Michel Baudraz) on its establishment in the country and after that all we talked about was butterflies. I'd learnt by heart all the citizenship stuff about the history, geography and politics of Switzerland, but when the chairwoman asked the others if they wanted to ask their stock questions they all said no - butterflies was fine. So here are a few photos of what is now my favourite butterfly of all:
This is a frame from a video I took in 2005, when I didn't have a proper still camera. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the first confirmed record of cardinal in Switzerland since 1947:
(for the rest of that story, see: https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ymphalidae)
(a male)
(a female)
(male underside)
(female underside)
(an aged female, showing the extensive green tarnishing that matures with the months)
And finally, a video of the flight of the cardinal. See how soon you can pick up the butterfly, flying left-right (in slow motion). At the end, the butterfly changed direction and flew over my left shoulder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKgsq5XdpFY[/video]
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
Re: Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.
Thanks for that summary, Guy. Just proves that it's often particular personal circumstances that dictate people's favourite species.
I can't argue with your #1 choice given the experience behind it, and I know QoS is something of a clarion call for spring in your area of Switzerland.
I can't argue with your #1 choice given the experience behind it, and I know QoS is something of a clarion call for spring in your area of Switzerland.