Cevennes (France) butterflies

[dragnil]

Hello,
Just back from the Cevennes NP in southern France and have some images which I'd be grateful if anyone could help with identification. I have had a go at some so I'll stick my head above the parapet with a beginner's attempt at ID - if I'm wrong please tell me why.

1. Great Banded Grayling.
2. Don't know, others were saying Adonis Blue but my guide doesn't have the orange/brown spots on upper wing.
3. Don't know.
4. Obviously a blue but I've no idea which.
5. Is this the same as No 2?
6. Are these Scotch Argus with a Zygaena fausta Burnet Moth?
7. I thought a late Brimstone in the field but I don't think that's right...
8. No idea at all, the butterfly equivalent of an sbb (small brown bird).

Thanks, as always, for the help, just because birds are my first love doesn't mean I can't see the beauty of butterflies.

David

PS Final question. I've just discovered the Collins Guide. Their similar guide to birds is probably the best around - is their butterfly guide the one to buy?

[David M]

Hi Dragnil.

You're making me jealous now as I spent a wonderful week in July 2011 in the Cevennes.

1. Great Banded Grayling - these were stupidly widespread when I visited the region in 2011 (and well done for getting an open wing shot - looks like she's trying to reject a suitor).

2. Maybe Adonis, possibly Common. Guy Padfield or Roger Gibbons will confirm this.

3. Speckled Wood (French version tircis)

4. I'd go for Common Blue here

5. Looks like a female Adonis to me.

6. Piedmont Ringlet? These are often common at lower altitudes.

7. There's a hint of orange visible which would suggest Cleopatra. This species was very common when I was there.

8. Possibly another Piedmont Ringlet.

[Roger Gibbons]

1 is a Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi) or Rock Grayling (H. alcyone) or H. genava or whatever the current taxonomy of this species is. I don’t have Tolman here for the uppersides, but Guy will know.

2 is Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

3 is Speckled Wood but the nominate form, the northern Europe/UK form is tircis

6 is Autumn Ringlet (Erebia neoridas). 8 probably is as well.

7 the wing shape (less “pointy”) also suggests Cleopatra

[David M]

1 is a Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi) or Rock Grayling (H. alcyone) or H. genava or whatever the current taxonomy of this species is. I don’t have Tolman here for the uppersides, but Guy will know.

2 is Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

3 is Speckled Wood but the nominate form, the northern Europe/UK form is tircis

6 is Autumn Ringlet (Erebia neoridas). 8 probably is as well.

7 the wing shape (less “pointy”) also suggests Cleopatra

Shows how much I know!

Roger, I'd always thought our Speckled Wood was aegeria and the French form was tircis. I think this is because the French name for Speckled Wood is 'Le Tircis'. Thanks for pointing out that it is the southern European form that is the nominate one. Hopefully that will stick in my mind now.

[dragnil]

Thank you both for the help. It's a beautiful place and we're already booking to return next May when the flowers and birds will be superb. I seem to have some way to go before putting head above parapet again! More questions, if I may?

A wildlife guide who was leading the party was offering ID on lots of things and said that this one was a Grizzled Skipper. To me that does look OK but when I was researching it there was a statement that it is a very early flier - any thoughts?

Roger, where you offer no comment, does that mean that you agree with David?

Again the thanks of a humble amateur.

David

[Roger Gibbons]

It was getting late here in Var (one hour ahead) when I posted last night, so it was just a quick response. Yes, I agreed with David M where I didn’t comment to the contrary.

Some further thoughts:
The grayling could well be (female) genava as I tend to have the feeling that the fagi and alcyone uppersides are rather more yellowish, but uppersides are so rarely seen in the wild that I have no great experience. I don’t have Tolman here but I am not sure it includes genava anyway (Guy? Anyone?). In any event, it was a superb shot to catch it as clearly as this. If it is genava, this may be one of the few upperside shots ever recorded. The rejected suitor can be seen in the top of the shot I think.

The blue is I am fairly sure Common although blue female Adonis (Lysandra bellargus) are common, ranging from a few blue scales (you have one here) to almost completely blue (like this) – the form ceronus – and most shades in between.

Speckled Wood occurs in the form tircis in the north and central France, with the nominate form in the south, so the French name Le Tircis is accurate for much of the country.

Autumn Ringlet is very common in the Cevennes and the southern pre-Alps in August and September. In northern Var at around 900m altitude it can be counted in hundreds at the moment.

The Pyrgus grizzled skipper is, I am reasonably sure from what I can see, is Cinquefoil Skipper (P. cirsii), reasonably common in the Cevennes and like the Autumn Ringlet it is a late season butterfly. The upf (upperside forewing) cell spot is very large and rectangular and the post-discal marks in s1/s2 are large and joined in a typical way for cirsii. Sorry to use these obscure descriptions (diagrams in Tolman etc) but for species such as Pyrgus you need a method of defining which marks occur where.

Grizzled Skipper (P. malvae/malvoides) flies throughout the year in southern France, probably most common in April/May.

The Cevennes in August/September are satyrid heaven. David, you may well find that you have shots of Grayling, Woodland Grayling, Tree Grayling, False Grayling, Striped Grayling, Hermit and many others. I spent a few days there in August in 2008 and 2009 and it is the only place I have seen Purple Emperor, Camberwell Beauty, Large Tortoiseshell, and Two-Tailed Pasha in one spot.

[dragnil]

Roger, many thanks for all the help. I seem to come here after holidays and the helpful attitude is a real credit to this forum. I'm really a bird person and can remember the early days and the difficulty of separating Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff if they wouldn't sing - I'm still at that stage with butterflies, so thanks again for the help. It was our first visit to the Cevennes, we usually spend the first two weeks of September in the Pyrenees, we found the bird photography quite challenging (not the best time of the year here) but we were surrounded by bewildering quantities of butterflies and fields full of grasshoppers and other insects (why no predating birds?) a wonderful, quiet unspoiled place where we might see 3 cars in an hour.

Eulogy over, another question (I think this is the last), I've named the last one the "Silver-headed lady butterfly" as it just wanted to sit on my wife's shirt or hair. I was going to call it Autumn Ringlet after your comments above but the spot on the underside of the forewing doesn't seem right, any thoughts?

Thanks again,

David

[Roger Gibbons]

That is a False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa).

[dragnil]

Many thanks for all your help. Going back to the grayling it was photographed through a wire fence unfortunately and this can be seen clipping the right wing tip. If, indeed, the picture is "rare" I'd be happy to offer it for any non-commercial use as a way of repaying the help I've always enjoyed in this forum.

[David M]

I don’t have Tolman here but I am not sure it includes genava anyway (Guy? Anyone?). In any event, it was a superb shot to catch it as clearly as this. If it is genava, this may be one of the few upperside shots ever recorded. The rejected suitor can be seen in the top of the shot I think.

There's no genava in Tolman, but it IS present in Lafranchis, although the latter uses images rather than illustrations. Oddly enough, Lafranchis's photograph of Woodland Grayling is of a part-open wing female with her abdomen raised, but nowhere near as good as David's image. His genava image is also an open wing shot, albeit not a terribly sharp one.

PS: Did you see any Citril Finches in the region, David?

[dragnil]

Hi David, No Citril Finch but we had Firecrests and Crested Tits dripping out of some of the pines. We were staying near Nant and the site suggested in the Crossbill guide seemed to be two and a half hours away which is a whole day on a far from certainty. In the spring it will be a priority. I don't want to hijack a butterfly forum but you can see the above birds which I've just added to the France gallery at www.dragnil.co.uk - hope this plug doesn't get me drummed out of the Brownies!

[Steve Babbs]

Hi David

I totally sympathise with the difficulties of identifying butterflies. I've had to ask for help several times, on this forum, I genuinely think it's considerably harder than South America flycatchers. I was in the Cevennes this summer, as part of a five week trip to France. A lovely place. Very showy beavers, at our campsite, near Florac, were our highlight.

At the risk of seeming to hijack on thread, I hope it's OK to post a fritillary which I'm struggling with from the Cevennes. If anyone can help I'd be grateful, sorry about the poor photos - I generally had my birding lens on.

[Roger Gibbons]

This has the distinct feel of a male Provencal Fritillary (was Mellicta dejone - now Melitaea deione), although this is a tricky species mainly because of the variability of Heath Fritillary (was Mellicta athalia - now Melitaea athalia), and the fact that the latter is considerably more common. If Guy agrees, I think you can be almost 100% certain on this one.

If it is any consolation, my bird ID skills are abysmal - and I have tried. It took a visit from Roger H to point out that the whopping great bird circling overhead was a Short-toed Eagle.

[David M]

Hi David, No Citril Finch but we had Firecrests and Crested Tits dripping out of some of the pines. We were staying near Nant and the site suggested in the Crossbill guide seemed to be two and a half hours away which is a whole day on a far from certainty. In the spring it will be a priority. I don't want to hijack a butterfly forum but you can see the above birds which I've just added to the France gallery at http://www.dragnil.co.uk - hope this plug doesn't get me drummed out of the Brownies!

Not at all. Your images are stunning.

I think butterfly enthusiasts are generally interested in most other aspects of wildlife. In fact, I've occasionally posted pictures of birds on here myself - a dipper in the Pyrenees and gannets on the Isle of Man coast being the most recent.

[Padfield]

I am struggling to find time to pop into UK Butterflies these days, with a full timetable and several classes I've never taught - but I have enjoyed browsing these pictures.

I agree with Roger in all his judgments. The grayling is most likely a female woodland grayling (fagi), from the chalky whiteness of the upperside markings and the shape of the bands. That's not something one can call with any certainty but it ticks all the boxes. As it happens, I do have a female upperside of genava (now hermione):



Back to the grindstone ...

Guy

[David M]

I do have a female upperside of genava (now hermione):

OMG, not another new classification....Hogwarts has nothing on this!