Corfu, Old Perithia, 21st-23rd June

[ChrisStamp]

Last weekend I spent 3 days in Corfu practicing butterfly photography with a few different types of lens, and making records for the local atlas project. There is a very active butterfly community of locals, ex-pats and regular visitors, a good Facebook group, and a great website and super printed reference guides for Corfiot species available.

I was based in Old Perithia, a formerly abandoned village in the mountains that is slowly being renovated and has a guesthouse and tavernas, but still provides an interesting post-apocalyptic setting. It is also one of the prime butterfly sites, so I just based myself here and did my excursions within walking distance. All of the species photographed here can be found within half an hour's walk of the guesthouse, most within the village itself, but a walk up the trail from the village to Mount Pantokrator provides some added variety and adventure.

I took many pictures, but here's a selection. The main summer species I missed was Two-tailed Pasha which can also be seen in the village if you are lucky.

[petesmith]

Great stuff Chris! Old Perithia and Mt.Pandokrator are excellent butterfly locations. Particular congratulations on seeing the Cardinal - it is by no means guaranteed out there!

[ChrisStamp]

Thanks Pete. I did look at a lot of Silver-washed Fritillaries before identifying the Cardinal.

I have one more slight mystery with the white attached. Someone eventually identified it as Green-veined white, which was surprising but does make sense on very close inspection, but I was also reading about Balkan Green-veined white which has much less pronounced veins. Is that a species you have any familiarity with from that area? Apparently it is debatable whether it is a species at all though and it is not currently identified as a Corfu species

[petesmith]

Hi Chris,

I have just checked through my records from our trips out to Corfu in 2012 and 2021, and I didn't record any "Green-veined Whites" at all!

The Green-veined/Balkan Green-veined question is very tricky to answer, and as you note, there is some doubt as to the specific rank, but your individual is certainly very lightly marked. DNA analysis probably required