www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

For those in the know - perhaps you can help confirm/ID some of the shots I obtained in Bulgaria. Photos (some of which are record shots only and not very good!) can be found at:

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/bulgaria/

The specific questions I have are:

1. Are any of the Brown Argus actually Northern (Mountain) Brown Argus?
2. Are the Heath Frits what they say, or something more exotic?
3. Are any of the the Sloe Hairstreaks actually Ilex Hairstreak?
4. As for the skippers ...

"Unknown - imago - Slavianca, Bulgaria - 05-Jul-07 (3).jpg" is believed to be Amanda's Blue.

Thanks in advance for any help ...

Cheers,

- Pete

Can I have a go at the skippers, Pete?

Bryan

I'd venture to quess that the topside of Heath is more like M. diamina or some other darker one.

The first Brown Argus is IMHO likely to be P. artaxerxes. Of the others I have no opinion.

I would tend to agree with the S. acaciae, except for the last one. I have no opinion for that.

FaunaEur does not list P. warrenensis from Bulgaria, so you'd have to be very careful there...

JKT wrote:FaunaEur does not list P. warrenensis from Bulgaria, so you'd have to be very careful there...

Thanks JKT. Absolutely right. The website:

http://www.butterfliesofbulgaria.com/lumperslist.html

doesn't list it either.

Cheers,

- Pete

Hi Pete - I missed this post somehow!

I agree the first brown argus looks like artaxerxes. Certainly it would be if I saw it in the Alpine regions, where both fly, though variation could mean the criteria are different in the Balkans. The wing shape is excellent for artaxerxes, as well as the weakly marked forewing. The third one looks quite good for this too, though I am not sure.

When I saw your tessellated skippers, my immediate thought was 'red underwing'. The thing is, tesellated is huge and red underwing is tiny, so I guess you must be right because you must have noticed the size... But if there's any chance these were small butterflies, did you consider red underwing?

Sandy looks good!

That last skipper is not ilex - I would plump for an anomalous sloe hairstreak for the moment.

I would seriously consider eroides for the unknown female blue. The lack of cell spot rules out common blue, and the very weak white wedge on the underside hindwing is also notable. The texture is wrong for things like Chapman's and Escher's. Is Slavianca in the Pirin Mts? Do you have any pictures of the ups? Eroides is said to lack any blue basal colouration.

[Edit: I've only just seen your suggestion that blue is Amanda's. I think you are absolutely right - it didn't even occur to me, probably because I hardly ever see female Amanda's. Forget the eroides!!]

As for the Mellicta, enough said elsewhere!! I see nothing to say these are not all heath fritillaries, but that silence is not particularly convincing...

Time for doggie walk,

Later,

Guy

Oh - and that last Pyrgus is a bit of a mystery. The ups cry out serratulae but the uns don't - the clear oval spot is wrong. How big is it? I would consider some form of alveus, of which the female can be very unmarked like this, though normally much less dark in the Alps. Alveus is very variable and has many different forms, many of which have very weakly marked uph. In any case, a process of elimination leads me to think this is the most likely candidate, with very low certainty indeed!

Guy