French trip - 17th to 24th June

[owen figgis]

Hi,

I've recently returned from a superb holiday in the Causses/Sevenne area of France. At a rough count I made it 76 species for the week which was beyond my wildest dreams. I have had trouble with some of the ID's though particularly the grizzled skippers and the blues and would be grateful for some help with these.
My adventure started at Carcassonne where I picked up a little Fiat hire car for the week. First stop was a service station on the motorway. There was a rough flower filled area behind it which was alive with butterflies including Iberian marbled white.

Also great banded grayling.

Other butterflies that I did not see elsewhere were Spanish gatekeeper, Lulworth skipper and swallowtail.
The rest of the week was spent in the area to the east of Millau and I basically just drove around and stopped at likely places. The diversity of wildlife is astounding and the landscape spectacular, particularly around the Gorge du Tarn where I spent a couple of nights.
Heres a few of the better images.
I was surprised to see pearl borders as they are just about finished here. There were much fresher ones than this too.

More to follow. Owen

[owen figgis]

Thought I'd start with the coppers. Theres only four of them and I think I have the ID's OK. The higher slopes of the Cevennes were the best for these on the more acidic soils.

scarce copper

sooty copper female

sooty copper male

purple shot copper

small copper

Cheers, Owen

[owen figgis]

Ok. Now onto the hairstreaks. I'm not so sure of these especialy the false ilex.

ilex hairstreak

blue spot hairstreak

sloe hairstreak

false ilex hairstreak

Cheers, Owen

[Vince Massimo]

That's a stunning Purple Shot Copper image, Owen .

Could you add it to the Species-Specific Album when you get time please. Just click on the "Gallery" icon at the top of this page and navigate from there.

Thanks,
Vince

[owen figgis]

Very glad you like it. Previously I had seen only one other and it was on a family holiday to the Jura region about 35 years ago.

Owen

[Padfield]

Yes, lovely shots.

I think you've got all the IDs correct. I would unhesitatingly have called false ilex too for that last one.

Guy

[owen figgis]

And now to the browns. There were two species that seemed to be everwhere; pearly and small heaths and also marbled whites.

pearly heath

small heath

Around the middle of the week I decided to look for mountain ringlet on Mont Aigoual and found plenty of dark butterflies near the summit. Not sure if these are the real deal as there were plenty of similar looking insects further down the slopes that I was able to examine more closely.

mountain ringlet

Piedmont ringlet

A couple more new to me were:

large wall

rock grayling

and one that looks a little diferent.

speckled wood

Owen

[owen figgis]

Now it starts to get difficult. There were masses of fritillaries everywhere I went but in their normal fashion were very difficult to get close to let alone photograph. I have named them all but am not at all certain so please feel free to disagree.

Knapweed fritillary

Marbled fritillary

Queen of Spain fritillary

Heath fritillary

Weavers fritillary

Twin-spot fritillary

Spotted fritillary

False heath fritillary

Knapweed fritillary

Knapweed fritillary

Meadow fritillary

Heath fritillary

Provencal fritillary

Marsh fritillary

Dark green fritillary

Owen

[David M]

I certainly wouldn't challenge any of those, although Twin-Spot, False Heath & Meadow Fritillary are outside my experience so I'll leave those to others.

[Padfield]

Hi Owen. I really enjoy looking at these pictures - especially as cloud and rain have descended on CH.

Your first 'Provençal fritillary' is a knapweed fritillary. Apart from that, I agree with the IDs, with the single caveat that your final heath fritillary (fourth picture from the end) has the distinct feel of false heath about it and although no form of false heath that looks like that appears in the books those individuals do make me wonder. The problem is, both heath and false heath are almost infinitely variable and without an underside I don't feel confident on that one.

Guy

[owen figgis]

Thanks for that Guy. I'm still not sure how to tell the difference between knapweed and provencal. My Collin's guide is not very clear on this.

Cheers, Owen

[owen figgis]

Here's a few of the skippers from my holiday. My confidence level is extremely low in correctly ID'ing most of these but will have a stab at it!

Red underwing skipper

Small skipper

Oberthur's grizzled skipper

Oberthur's grizzled skipper

Dingy skipper

Large skipper

Essex skipper

Tufted marbled skipper

Owen

[Padfield]

Hi Owen.

For the knapweed/Provençal, note that knapweed has a very spotty appearance on the underside hindwing, with dots and broken lines. It also has pale veins. Species in the old Mellicta genus (which included Provençal) are not like this.

As for your next batch of skippers ...

The second Oberthür's looks a lot like safflower (carthami) and I think some of the others you show are also safflower. In the field this is a very distinctive butterfly but when worn some of its features get blunted and are not so obvious in a photo. Nor can you appreciate the huge size or distinctive flight from a photo, obviously. The third 'Oberthür's is Oberthür's, I think, and the first might well be - but I'd love to see an underside ...

I suspect the first 'Foulquier's' is not that - but it might be large grizzled skipper (alveus). Foulquier's is a tricky one and I won't claim any authority there, but the male is supposed to have a conspicuous hair tuft at the tip of the abdomen and those I have allowed myself to call Foulquier's have shown quite a coiffe in the male:


(male on left)



The one you label 'large grizzled skipper' looks again like safflower to me.

The 'marbled skipper' is a tufted marbled skipper. The elongated marginal markings are distinctive.

The next 'Foulquier's' I'm tempted to call safflower again, though as I always say, I'd love an underside...

The last one could be olive.

See what others - Roger in particular - have to say about the Pyrgus. Because I identify safflower in the field by its size, flight and general appearance I find myself strangely ill at ease with upperside pictures!

Guy

[owen figgis]

Thanks Guy for your expert knowledge. I'm afraid my ID's are little more than guesses. Many of the skippers I saw on the Causse Noire were very large and at first thought they were large grizzled but they lacked the eye on the fore wing I hadnt realised that the safflower skippers are big too. I may have some more underside shots which I will post tomorrow.

Cheers, Owen

[Roger Gibbons]

I think what Guy is saying is that 1020443 and 1020492 are armoricanus and the others (including the Olive – serratulae) are carthami albeit worn and I would certainly agree with that. Foulquieri is a very localised species and quite rare – I have had probable/possible sightings in the past but the first certain sighting only three days ago.

Curiously, the only Pyrgus I have seen in the last two days has been carthami, dozens of them and all very fresh, recently emerged. It is a beautiful butterfly when fresh, with a pale underside that gives it a light appearance in flight – note Guy’s comment that ID in the field is often easier.

I wonder if 1020600 is carlinae – the v5 marginal mark looks quite long and neatly rectangular and the discal band is empty in s2 but if the altitude were too low or the location wrong, I would suggest maybe alveus would be the best bet.

[owen figgis]

I've found a few more images of skippers but I dont know if they will be much help.

File 492 uns I think. Causse de Sauveterre approx 1000m

File 600 ups Causse Noire approx 1000m

Causse Noire

Owen

[owen figgis]

I've been putting this off for a while but have finally sorted through my blues. A few I am confident with my ID's but some I am not at all sure of. There's not many species to worry about here in Scotland but a very different matter on the continent.

Chapman's blue?

Long-tailed blue

Mazarine blue

Mazarine blue?

Common blue

Chapman's blue ?

Adonis blue?

???

Small blue

Brown argus

???

Adonis blue

Osiris blue

Common blue

Large blue

Silver-studded blue

Silver-studded blue

Chapman's blue?

Chapman's blue?

Holly blue

This was laying eggs on black medic - very small.

Brown argus

Owen

[Padfield]

Hi Owen.

Your skipper undersides are both safflower (carthami).

The first blue in this latest batch is Escher's - the half-chequered hindwing fringe and the pale 'antler' marks around the cell of the forewing are characteristic, as well as the colour and what can be seen of the underside.

The next one you label Chapman's ? does appear to be Chapman's. I can't rule out Escher's - the half-chequering is only visible from the upperside in that species - but the general appearance is Chapman's, not Escher's.

The one you call Adonis, and the next (???) are not easy to call. They could both be chalkhill rather than Adonis but to see such faded chalkhill blues at that time of year would seem anomalous. They are not Provençal. If I were forced to choose, I'd go for chalkhill despite the dates.

The next ??? (515) is a male common blue. The lack of androconial furring in the cell rules out Chapman's and the colour says common too.

The Osiris blue is very probable, especially as it is on the foodplant.

The next 'Chapman's blue' (663) is certainly Escher's blue, as is the female below it. Are they the same individual?

The penultimate butterfly is a female common blue.

Guy

[owen figgis]

Hi Guy,

I am very pleased that you have ID'd Escher's. There were a lot of similar butterflies on the high limestone plateau along with other blues but I did not see a single chalkhill male and I am sure I would have recognised one.

Is it normal to find such tiny and dark common blue females? My local ones tend to be large, with quite a lot of blue showing.

663 and 665 are the same insect.

You didnt mention the underside of the Mazarine. The markings dont look quite right to me. It was one I saw only very briefly on the first day and only saw one other right at the end of the week - the photo above it.

Thanks, Owen

[Padfield]

Is it normal to find such tiny and dark common blue females? My local ones tend to be large, with quite a lot of blue showing.

Later broods of Chapman's and common blue female are often dark, with very little blue. The one you have shown on black medick can't really be anything else, given the cell spot and the foodplant. It is also common in the south of Europe to find very small blues in the summer broods, a phenomenon I put down to dessication of foodplants. Females are, of course, smaller than males in this group.

You didnt mention the underside of the Mazarine. The markings dont look quite right to me. It was one I saw only very briefly on the first day and only saw one other right at the end of the week - the photo above it.

What colour were the uppersides of that butterfly? The only alternative to mazarine is little blue (which can be surprisingly big in the mountains). That is a male. If the ups were dark it is little blue. If the ups were blue it is mazarine. It is (almost certainly) not Osiris.

Guy