www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

A little belatedly, back with my books and onto those Cuban beauties!

I suspect Nick is right about Junonia genoveva but without an underside I'm not sure. Both fly in Cuba.

I'm sure the first Eurema is Eurema lisa and I also came independently to nicippe for the second.

There seems to be a bit of vacillation in the literature about the taxa Strymon istapa and S. columella but the more recent authors give istapa for Cuba (as well as for Florida &c., where the older authors give columella).

I also agree with Choranthus radians and Calisto herophile.

Now back to the remarkable UK spring of 2014!!

Guy

a busy weekend for me in Wales, ive seen about 4 different holly blues but not a chance of a photo from any of them
i HAD to take my niece up Snowdon the hard way and at 8.30 in the morning at -2c not even he holly blues where going to turn up
Had a good day on the Sunday chasing holly blues at Cemlyn bird reserve but no joy again, although did get to see loads of birds
including my first mediterranean gull , along with ring plovers ,golden plovers, sandpipers dunlin,little egret,sandwich turns and lapwings

[quote="Padfield"]A little belatedly, back with my books and onto those Cuban beauties!

I suspect Nick is right about Junonia genoveva but without an underside I'm not sure. Both fly in Cuba.

I'm sure the first Eurema is Eurema lisa and I also came independently to nicippe for the second.

There seems to be a bit of vacillation in the literature about the taxa Strymon istapa and S. columella but the more recent authors give istapa for Cuba (as well as for Florida &c., where the older authors give columella).

I also agree with Choranthus radians and Calisto herophile.

Now back to the remarkable UK spring of 2014!!

Guy[/quote
thanks for the feedback
thinking about it i was a bit like a kid in a sweet shop and with the blues there where more than likely a few different species and also with the yellows but its not until i had the photos back and uploaded in the UK that it dawned on me

there back , does this mean its summer now ?

maverick wrote:there back , does this mean its summer now

Absolutely, yes!!

What a wonderful sight in mid to late April.

well thats it , ive finally got a shot of the holly blue, ive been to Abergele,Anglesey and the Great orm and seen them on the wing ,but couldnt get nere one .
today at the back of my house one flew right in front of me and landed, i nearly fell over
ive also managed some reasonable pictures of the orange tips that are finally every where in the Sankey Valley

Ive also came along this couple of mating green veined whites and after disturbing then i was surprised to see them fly off together, the males are really strong to be able fly with twice his weight !

I find it interesting how the female is so much more suffused with pale yellow on the underside hindwings. What is the purpose of this?

Its looking good for the GV whites in my patch,
Today I've been on a bike ride along the trans pennine track to Runcorn

Six years ago i spent three weeks in Goa India getting married, i was at the hotel Donna Syliva in the south of Goa
While i was at the hotel we had a visit from a local man who was well traveled and educated , he wrote wild life books and was a bit of a Steve Austin as he liked snakes (a lot ) What he used to do was get calls from the local villages to rescue snakes from the locals as they would normally kill them. he would then set them free in a safe place
Some of the snakes he would bring into the hotels to show to the tourists , this is when i meet up with him and his corn snake that he had captured that morning ( not for the faint hearted )
if any body on this site is interested he has his own facebook and web page , worth a look if you have the time. i just get regular up dates from his email every now and then
rahulalvares@gmail.com

Its Thursday and I've got the day off before a busy weekend in work. I've been looking at the weather forecast and its going to be great all weekend but today was not looking good at all. I would have liked to go to Gate barrows but my weather apps where all saying 13 c and cloudy, i went anyway.
Arriving just after 1.30 pm after an hours drive my worst fears were confirmed cloudy and not so warm but looking on the bright side the notice on the gate said that the slipper orchids where out in flower flowerI r

Just after i had seen the slipper orchids the sun started to come out and that meant only one thing and the dukes would be out and not only the dukes , 4 different brimstone x1 peacock,x1speckled wood, small whites,orange tips and green veined whites
all in all a good day

A few moths from today, I D of the common names if possible[
attachment=2]DSCF2291.JPG[/attachment]

I've finally caught up with the holly blue that i've seen about a dozen times at the back of my house it was a bit overcast this morning and as normal i was chassing another butterfly when i disturbed it

Hi maverick,
That's a male Common Blue. Holly Blues are quite rare this year, as they are currently at a low point in their relationship with the parasitoid wasp Listrodomus nycthemerus . The males of the two species are quite similar, but the Holly Blue male has slightly thickened black margins around the tips of its forewings. Your image also shows the typical Common Blue underside spotting pattern showing through the wings.
BWs, Neil

Thanks for that
I was thinking it was a bit too big for a common blue
Thanks for putting me straight

brimstone today from the Sankey Valley Warrington just a short walk at the back of my house and the birmstone just could'nt be bothered about me snapping away

I D please
have i got another comon blue, not the best of snaps
this butterfly was closing its wings when landing and the undersides were a silvery blue
sorry again about the quality of the photo

Hi Maverick,

I'd say you have a Holly Blue.

Best wishes,

Lee