I am vraiment chuffé to have stumbled across those lovely coppers...
Here are some more pics from this morning
Any help with IDs would be appreciated
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Charles
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Which appears to be Aplocera plagiata in case you didn't know...Charles Nicol wrote: And an interesting moth
Aaah, how I love that spot. Happy memories.Charles Nicol wrote:... tomorrow will potter round the Cité... departure Thursday.
Bonjour DavidDavid M wrote:Aaah, how I love that spot. Happy memories.Charles Nicol wrote:... tomorrow will potter round the Cité... departure Thursday.
I bet it's in the nineties right now too?
The only butterfly 'much bigger' than a female Emperor would be Two Tailed Pasha, but I know you have experience of these, so one now has to wonder whether it was an escapee from a nearby 'farm' /breeder (King Shoemaker?)Charles Nicol wrote:Bonjour DavidDavid M wrote:Aaah, how I love that spot. Happy memories.Charles Nicol wrote:... tomorrow will potter round the Cité... departure Thursday.
I bet it's in the nineties right now too?
We had a violent electrical storm last night & it is still very overcast & hot & threatening to rain... not the best for butterfly spotting![]()
I forgot to mention an interesting sighting on Sunday. Because there are no buses on Sunday i walked 3 miles from the hotel to the centre of town. On the way back i noticed an enormous butterfly
in the front garden of a little house by the railway crossing. It flew slowly to the next garden where i lost sight of it.
The colour scheme was similar to female purple emperor but it was much bigger... i do not think it was a mating pair or a huge moth; any ideas ? The garden had plenty of bushes etc but was not close to any woodland.
Charles
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Thanks for those suggestions David... it was definitely not a 2TP ... some kind of UFO butterflyDavid M wrote:
The only butterfly 'much bigger' than a female Emperor would be Two Tailed Pasha, but I know you have experience of these, so one now has to wonder whether it was an escapee from a nearby 'farm' /breeder (King Shoemaker?)
Can't see it being a moth really. I've seen Emperor moths and they are grey rather than brown and pretty unmistakeable.
Thanks for that interesting suggestion Paul... the underside colours seem about right. I read that the flying season is July so my sighting in late August does not match.Paul Wetton wrote:Hi Charles
Sounds like a possible female Poplar Admiral sighting. They have similar white and brown markings to a female Emperor and are definitely bigger.
All the best.
Thanks for that input Roger... it was certainly the biggest butterfly i have seen in France but it took me by surprise and by the time i got my act together it had vanished. Also since it was in a private garden i was unable to investigate furtherRoger Gibbons wrote:The description seems to match that for Poplar Admiral (Limenitis populi), but according to Lafranchis’ book, it does not occur anywhere in south-western France and is (in my limited experience) not a butterfly likely to be seen in a garden. In addition, its flight is very powerful, sometimes soaring very rapidly.
There are populi photos on sites such as Guy’s and Matt’s and mine that you can have a look at to see if it matches what you saw. It is a species that is so different and so magnificent, it leaves no doubt.
Of course, one can never say it isn’t populi, just that the geographic factors make it very unlikely.