Winter Blues :)

[Reverdin]

Hi...

2 is melanops, a bit worn, so the back lit orange of the road shows through.... the date was the only (not great) clue really...

4 IS osiris... not sure why it came out this colour... fringing would have been the only ( not great) clue.

13 is orbitulus... again in truth does not show that stunning colour as well as I would like.

15 is argyrognomon, the only one I saw, taken ages ago with my old coolpix

17 is dorylas

18 is my thersites... taken at your aurelia site, has been agreed in past, but now both you and Roger go for escheri so

19 is trappi - taken on the way up to Simplon with Guy on my iolana trip

20 is escheri, no doubt about that one
( when you see the whole pic)


so

[Reverdin]

sorry JKT... my post crossed with yours... will have another look...

yep alcetas for number 6... just leaves 12 then... which can only be.....


if anyone wants to take a look at any full shot, or other associated ones such as uns.... just say

otherwise, sort of game over really - and thanks for responding

Happy new year to everyone, here's hoping there will be a 2013 (Mayan joke)

[Padfield]

Interesting! No, I didn't notice a list of remaining species... I didn't notice the dates either!!

I had considered melanops for the second, but only on account of the arid habitat suggested by the background. The border is so much narrower than that of any of the melanops I saw in Málaga this spring I ruled it out. Interestingly, though most of my melanops have clear white fringes one does have a deeply obscured fringe, like yours.

Who could think your picture no. 2 is the same species as this?



15 for your namesake - yes, that makes sense, apart from the colour. I was thinking idas but that had already been taken.

For 18 I'd like to see the whole picture, and the underside if possible. The androconial patch is certainly good for thersites, and the antlers not really prominent enough for escheri, but the dark lines running in from the margin are interesting. I can believe thersites, but find that last feature interesting. Here is a more typical thersites (from Switzerland, this year):



Maybe Roger can put together a similar Pyrgus test for us now!!

Guy

[Reverdin]

Hi... beautiful shots Guy... the melanops we saw were more worn and definitely less cheery than that spectacular beast...
pyrgus would be good...I can feel the dunce's cap already

Here are my full eschesites pics -

eschesites 1

eschesites 2

remember the "cell spot" issue

[JKT]

I had considered melanops for the second, but only on account of the arid habitat suggested by the background. The border is so much narrower than that of any of the melanops I saw in Málaga this spring I ruled it out. Interestingly, though most of my melanops have clear white fringes one does have a deeply obscured fringe, like yours.

I had the same problem initially, but on the next iteration today noticed Roger Gibbons' picture on my pages.



Edit: Reading back at the beginning ... A. nicias is easy to arrange. Just takes a trip to Finland. Incidentally, I put a couple of nice pictures up a few days ago...

[Padfield]

Yes - that melanops from Roger just goes to show, JKT...!

I'm still very interested in that thersites/escheri, Rev! If you say 'we' agreed it earlier, does that mean I agreed it too? Can you point us at the thread, or does that involve blowing your (rather threadbare) cover? The upperside is at least anomalous for thersites, though I agree the underside looks more like that than anything else.

Guy

[Reverdin]

Finland would be a dream trip!... could seriously consider... but it's a huge country... where would you suggest a base?? - I would like to look at your nicias shots, just remind me where they will be ? - (edit)... ah... I've found your site... spectacular... and nicias is just exquisite
Here is another melanops from April in the Var..

melanops

I truly can't remember where to find our discussion, so long ago now... I think the decision was with suitable reservations, and I would be happy to change ID, since the three of you master ID sources have veered towards esheri.
I don't consider I have a disguise anymore... t'was always a bit Clouseau'esque anyway.

[Padfield]

Whatever I might have said before, I find that upperside very difficult to reconcile with thersites - apart from the furriness, that is. Furriness is associated with the subgenera Agrodiaetus and Lysandra (which this obviously isn't) but I'd never consciously noticed it so strongly in escheri.

In the end, I'd call it escheri.

Guy

[Reverdin]

escheri it is then!

[JKT]

Finland would be a dream trip!... could seriously consider... but it's a huge country... where would you suggest a base??

Let's see...
- P. centaurae (N & NW - early July)
- C. silvicola (S - early)
- C. tyche (NW - early July)
- C. hecla (N & NW - early July)
- L. helle (C - early June)
- E. embla (C - mid June / N - early July)
- E. disa (N - early July)
- E. polaris (N - early July)
- O. jutta ("any" moorland - June to early July depending...)
- O. bore (N - early July)
[- O. norna ( NW - early July)] with luck...
- B. chariclea (N - early July)
[- B. polaris (N - June/July)] with luck
- B. freija (S - May / C - early June / N & NW - June/July) South a bit tricky...
- B. frigga (C - June / N & NW - early July)
- B. thore (NW - early July)
[- B. improba (NW - mid July)] A bit tricky and the location takes one day of walking to get ther- e
L. populi (S - July)

For something like two weeks I'd suggest
- flight to Oulu at the end of June
- drive to Utsjoki (1 day - a couple of stops on the way)
- 2 days at Utsjoki (N)
- drive to Kilpisjärvi (1-2 days depending...)(NW)
- as many days as you can spare at Kilpisjärvi (Finland & Norway)
- drive to Oulu (1 day)
- a day trip to Kiiminki (C) for the A. nicias
- flight back from Oulu

That sounds easy, but the weather can make the trip completely worthless. It can also move the flight times by two weeks or so. There are no guarantees in the Northern Finland.

[David M]

There are no guarantees in the Northern Finland.

You can say the same about Scotland and much of northern England unfortunately.

[Reverdin]

still thinking... thanks for such a detailed reply JKT... that will help no-end.
David, I'm in the north and I totally agree . I guess a trip would have to be 1st 2 weeks in July with fingers and everything else crossed... I had looked at Alta, but maybe not 2012. Will now investigate Oulu... by the way... I love the idea of improba, but guess I'd probably die somewhere along the way Bear Gryllis I am not... but then, maybe nor is he Kiiminki sounds worth the whole trip even if the weather matched our Yorkshire climate

[NickB]

That is the problem with Finland - big place. Local knowledge up there does mean a lot too, to know where to look. Left to one's own devices it is difficult to explore and find likely sites yourself; then you spend a lot of time looking and driving. The terrain and habitats can change very quickly and a knowledge of where trees have recently been felled can also help locate likely sites. Google earth can show rocky and forested and recently felled areas.....
I have spent a few days exploring places and found a few species when I have visited central Finland - but I was not focussed on butterflies all the time. A properly-planned trip would be great - timing, as JKT says, is everything, as the climate, especially in the North, is unpredictable...
Back to winter Blues - cast your mind back, Paul, to the sand-pit in April (24th) where you first saw Black-eyed Blue last year; I took this pair - most likely icarus - only other possible, thersites ? What do you think...?
N

[Padfield]

The black marginal spots rubbing against the orange say icarus, Nick. In thersites these are neatly embedded in clean white and generally don't touch the orange spots.

Guy

[NickB]

That's what I thought...Thanks, Guy.