Hautes Pyrénées - 6th to 10th July 2023

[David M]

Great read David and sums up my experience there . A pleasure to meet both you and Roger onsite. Staying on for the additional days meant that I just managed to catch up with recently emerged manto and rondoui.

Thanks, Andy. Amazing who you can bump into in a grassy meadow up a little trodden Pyrenean mountain road!

I bet manto is flying in numbers now. They were certainly plentiful in mid-July last summer.

[David M]

In spite of not seeing manto nor gorgone, there were plenty of other Erebia about. Mountain Ringlet was seen in the multi-dozens:

At slightly lower elevation, Piedmont Ringlets were the commonest:

There were also large numbers of Bright-Eyed Ringlets:

In this late season, there was no chance of seeing Water Ringlet.

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Erebia

1. False Dewy Ringlet
2. Lefebvre's Ringlet
3. Bright-eyed Ringlet
4. Pyrenean Brassy Ringlet
5. Mountain Ringlet
6. Piedmont Ringlet

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Satyrids

One of the main differences between the Alps and the Pyrenees is that the latter are far more bereft of Heaths. Normally, only Small Heath keeps one company at altitude in the Pyrenees, but my diversion into Spain saw me find several delightful Dusky Heaths:

Other members of this group picked up on that day in Spain were Spanish Gatekeeper and this Rock Grayling, which took a fancy to my hire car:

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Satyrids

7. Ringlet
8. Great Banded Grayling
9. Pearly Heath
10. Dusky Heath
11. Small Heath
12. Large Wall
13. Wall
14. Meadow Brown
15. Marbled White
16. Speckled Wood
17. Gatekeeper
18. Spanish Gatekeeper
19. Woodland Grayling

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Fritillaries

Didn't see Shepherd's Fritillary, which was disappointing, but as ever there were plenty of others in this group.

Heath Fritillaries were ubiquitous at lower elevation:

I had this one down as a Provençal. If anyone is more familiar with this species, please let me know.

I'm used to Spotted Fritillaries in the Alps, even in spite of their extreme variation. This one caught my eye though. In theory, it cannot be Lesser Spotted because that doesn't occur in France. Still, this individual looks strange if it truly is didyma:

One Fritillary that turned up much more regularly than I anticipated was Weaver's:

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Fritillaries

20. High Brown Fritillary
21. Dark Green Fritillary
22. Silver Washed Fritillary
23. Weaver's Fritillary
24. Pearl-bordered Fritillary
25. Lesser Marbled Fritillary
26. Heath Fritillary
27. False Heath Fritillary
28. Provençal Fritillary
29. Spotted Fritillary
30. Meadow Fritillary
31. Knapweed Fritillary

[Padfield]

Hi David. Out of interest, why do you say that is rock grayling? To me, not seeing the size, of course, it ticks all the boxes for woodland grayling, which flies in the Spanish Pyrenees and lower down on the Spanish side. I'm not suggesting you're wrong - just interested to know how you know.

The one you show is almost identical to this one, from the Val d'Aran:



I know that particular population is fagi both because I found a dead one, so could examine the upperside, and because a local entomologist had taken and dissected one.

This next one is rock grayling (I believe), from just south of the Val, in Aragón:



My permission to net only extended to the Val d'Aran, so I couldn't catch any of these to get a glimpse of the upperside and cannot be certain. Apart from size, one of the things I look at is the eyebrow on the forewing underside. In fagi, the dark above the eye runs straight across. In hermione it curves up, often leaving a little orange, making an 'eyebrow' form. I've tested this against the books and it's not 100% constant across the range of the species, but it is at least a statistical difference.

Guy

[Andy02]

Guy/David . I photographed this presumed Rock Grayling at the same time as David on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees .
Since arriving home I have had doubts also and considered Woodland Grayling. It just about shows the eyebrow you mention , a feature I had not been aware of

[David M]

Hi David. Out of interest, why do you say that is rock grayling?

Thanks for the response, Guy.

Essentially, I believed it to be Rock Grayling because it appeared darker than the Woodland Graylings I'm used to seeing quite commonly in the French Alps.

I take your point regarding the 'eyebrow' though. With that in mind, this one that I managed to pot on an earlier occasion looks to have the curved brow that you refer to. Does that mean it is Rock Grayling?

[David M]

Nymphalidae - Aristocrats

Map & Peacock were welcome since I see neither of those in the French Alps. The rest were the usual suspects:

32. Map
33. Peacock
34. Small Tortoiseshell
35. Large Tortoiseshell
36. Comma
37. Red Admiral
38. Southern White Admiral
39. Painted Lady

[David M]

Hesperiidae

I didn't pay this group too much attention, but this Pyrgus caught my eye, and I reckon it's most likely to be Olive Skipper:

[Roger Gibbons]

I have been using the “eyebrow” for quite some time (I outline this on my alcyone (Rock) page – and T&L shows this quite clearly) and I find it actually quite reliable and aligned with other factors – alcyone is noticeably smaller and alcyone doesn’t in my experience site on tree trunks.

There are some suggestions in books and web pages that the shape of the discal line can be an indicator, but this line is so variable that I would say that to draw any inference from the shape of this line is very unreliable. My feeling is that the post-discal area is more clearly white for males and more irrorated (to use a Higgins & Riley word) in females.

So I would say Andy’s (good to meet you in the Pyrenees and nice that you got manto) is clearly fagi (Woodland) and David’s is clearly alcyone (especially so if it was seen in everyone’s favourite location in the Mercantour – where I believe only alcyone flies, not fagi).

Roger

[David M]

Thanks, Roger. I thought fagi was the default around the hostellerie? Certainly, those are far paler than the darker Rock Graylings I see in the hundreds each summer in Montes Universales.

[David M]

Hesperiidae

40. Large Chequered Skipper
41. Marbled Skipper
42. Mallow Skipper
43. Dingy Skipper
44. Large Skipper
45. Large Grizzled Skipper
46. Safflower Skipper
47. Southern Grizzled Skipper
48. Olive Skipper
49. Red-underwing Skipper
50. Lulworth Skipper
51. Essex Skipper
52. Small Skipper

[David M]

Lycaenidae - Coppers and Hairstreaks

Coppers have been in extremely short supply everywhere I have gone this year and the same was true here. I managed to find a handful of Purple-Edged Coppers:

I also saw my first (and last) Scarce Copper of the summer, at a grassy pull-in on the road down from the False Dewy site. Sadly, it proved too elusive for an image.

On the Hairstreak front, things were little better, although I stumbled upon some Spanish Purple Hairstreaks on the day I ventured south of the French border and into Spain:

[Medard]

Hello David, what an exciting visit,some great species, the Vallé de la Neste looks great for a visit, it's not one that I have had the pleasure of visiting.
You have inspired me to make one last visit, if not for butterflies just to enjoy the scenery.
My first visit to the Pyrenees was the result of a twinning visit some fifty years ago, how quickly time passes.
It seems that we share the same taste in wine, Madiran is not for the faint hearted, last year on a visit to the Gers I visited Le cave de Plaimont to indulge myself, my excuse my 82nd year.
.Cheers.
"I didn't know what I had done to deserve all this good fortune, "it was the Madiran of course !!!

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[David M]

Madiran is certainly a strong red wine, Jim. Made from the Tannat grape, I believe, which isn't at all common.

You won't regret visiting the area I stayed in. It's also relatively easy to get to, with the mountains only really beginning around the town of Arreau.

It took just half an hour to get from Lannemezan (by the junction of the motorway) to my base in Ancizan.

[David M]

Lycaenidae - Coppers and Hairstreaks

53. Small Copper
54. Purple-Edged Copper
55. Scarce Copper
56. Spanish Purple Hairstreak
57. Ilex Hairstreak
58. Sloe Hairstreak

[David M]

Papilionidae

The biggest surprise was seeing two Clouded Apollos in the same roadside meadow as I found my only Scarce Copper of the trip.

Apollos didn't fare much better - just a handful in Vallé d'Ossoue.

Neither of the Swallowtails appeared with great regularity either.

59. Apollo
60. Clouded Apollo
61. Scarce Swallowtail
62. Swallowtail