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Nymphalids - erebia...

Most of this group emerge in July, so it wasn't surprising that only two species were seen.

Almond Eyed Ringlet was extremely common and widespread:
Just two Piedmont Ringlets were sighted:

Nymphalidae - Satyrids...

Small and Pearly Heaths were ubiquitous; Meadow Browns less so.

Marbled Whites were steadily emerging and became common by the end of the trip whilst we even got to see a couple of Ringlets (a scarce creature round these parts)!

A handful of Wall Browns were about, but Large Walls were very common. However, in certain places Northern Wall Browns were present, and many were fresh, giving me the opportunity to study them and compare them with maera:
The transverse line through the hindwing is the most obvious factor to separate the two species. Male Large Walls do not have this:
Female Large Walls are very different:

Hi David,

Excellent report so far and I look forward to some more pictures. Likewise I saw many Dukes of burgundy in the Savoie (on the other side of the border) 3 weeks ago. I am not sure at which altitudes you were at the Piedmont but it looks a lot more advance there than it was in the Savoie. In the first week we were there (last week in May), it was snowing heavily at 1500m and all the mountains around us were white. When we left second week of June, the snow had not melted much...
Sylvie

We didn't bother venturing above 1,700m, Sylvie, as in mid-June there's not a great deal flying above that altitude.

I am informed that the Piedmont Alps is a few days in advance of the French Maritime Alps, probably owing to the fact that once you drive 30 miles east of where we stayed you're onto the lowland plain.

We passed over Col de la Lombarde on both Saturdays. There were plenty of pockets of snow and ice on the first Saturday although more than half of it had melted by the time we returned.

With temperatures expected to be 25c+ even at 2,000m, I expect most if not all of it will be gone when I return there next week!

Pierids...

Green Veined Whites aside, this group was in short supply.

A solitary Cleopatra was sighted on the drive to the first hotel, whilst Brimstone numbers were no more than a couple of dozen.

Large Whites were in the low dozens, whereas Small Whites were surprisingly hard to find.

At altitude, Clouded and Berger's Clouded Yellow were around in low numbers, and Mountain Clouded Yellow was clearly just emerging, as only a few males were seen.

Black Veined Whites picked up as the week went on, and two Southern Small Whites were identified.

Undoubtedly, the finest specimen was this beautifully fresh female Mountain Green Veined White, found at around 1,600m in damp woodland:

Papilionidae...

There were surprisingly few Scarce Swallowtails about. I suspect we must have hit the period in between broods:
Gorganus Swallowtails, by contrast, were fairly numerous:
The commonest of all though, were Clouded Apollos. I've never seen so many. They were practically everywhere ranging from mint fresh to battered old geriatrics.

Pleasingly, Apollos were also about in decent numbers. I reckon I set a new personal best for an hour's count with over 30!!

Hi David
Looks like you have had a splendid trip

John Vergo wrote:Hi David
Looks like you have had a splendid trip

Yes, John. It was quite an eye-opener.

Lycaenids - Coppers....

We had the full range, albeit in small numbers.

Sooty and Small Copper cropped up here and there, and several Purple Edged Coppers were seen at higher altitudes:
....and even a mating pair:
In the second half of the trip, Purple Shot Coppers became more common. Here's a beautiful, fresh male:
What the female lacks in purple colouring, she more than makes up for with sheer copper gorgeousness:
...and then, my personal favourite from this group - Scarce Copper.

We only saw one, but what a beauty:

Lycaenidae - Hairstreaks...

Conspicuous by their absence. Apart from the occasional, usually worn, Green Hairstreak, this group were absent until near the end of the trip when a couple of Sloe Hairstreaks turned up in a meadow.

Then, after having scratched my head as to why they weren't about, two Blue Spot Hairstreaks were recorded on the final day.

62. Green Hairstreak
63. Sloe Hairstreak
64. Blue Spot Hairstreak

Lycaenidae - Blues...

Undoubtedly, the highlight was finding Alcon Blue. We had it down as a possible, rather than an expected, species round here. They seemed to undergo an overnight emergence, as the two we had seen on the Thursday suddenly morphed into double figures by the following day, in spite of the weather being worse.

Here's a male with wings open:
This female was very dark in flight, in contrast with the 40-50% blue on the upperwings of female Mountain Alcon Blues, which I see every year in the French Alps.

Try as I might though, I couldn't coax her into an open wing shot, so had to remain content with the underside:

My other lifer was Reverdin's Blue. Again, I was indebted to Simon who mentioned it before I casually dismissed it as Silver Studded:

Lycaenids - Blues...

There were plenty of other Blues to keep us amused. A handful of Large Blues were recorded:
A few Baton Blues were about:
Amanda's Blue turned up in small numbers:
Beautiful Green Underside Blues were rather commoner:
You could get more for your money if you found any damp spots. This line up includes two Mountain (Northern Brown) Argus, an Adonis, three Mazarines and a Small Blue:

Wow! David, what a fantastic holiday, I'd love to see a Camberwell Beauty they always seem to be a rarity, love your shot's Goldie