www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Well, only managed 4 x 3 hour hunting trips but I managed to bag 29 species, 2 of which were firsts (Cleopatra and Ilex Hairstreak)

A few of my favourite photos...

Spanish Swallowtail


Spanish Festoon


Mediterranean Skippers


Lulworth Skipper


Cleopatra


There are many more here... http://www.martins-photos.com/gallery/t ... p?album=18

Martin.

Looks like you had a great holiday Martin

Just had a quick look at your snaps, they are fantastic!

What camera /lens do you use?

Angie

I envy you, Martin!!

I've got a plus and a minus for your gallery. For the plus, do you have a higher resolution of small white 1? It looks tantalisingly like southern small white and I'd like to be able to study the scaling on the hindwing underside and the venation on the forewing underside. I think this species is local in your region of Spain - have you found it there before? Small white 2 also looks like southern - notice the shape of the costal shadow on the hindwing... (but the mating pair are definitely small whites).

For the minus, your southern marbled skipper is a mallow skipper!! The white marks on the forewing are far too linear for anything else. Sorry! I remember trying to string you a southern marbled from some uns pictures last year (and Matt agreed they were possibles, but inconclusive).

It's not just because I've yet to find southern marbled skipper...

Guy

In fact, a higher res version of small white 2 would be excellent too, because I think the venation would be very clear on that.

G

Thank for this Guy ...I've sent the 2 files to guypadfield.com.

Re the alceae/boeticus thing...it was just so different from the many (at least 50) others I saw...much more sandy coloured, and seemed much more aggresive. On reflection the one I have down as boeticus does look like alceae...the one marked Mallow Skipper 4 looks more like boeticus [bangsheadonwall]

So you are saying these are the same species? All alceae?






The only other one I had doubts about was Ilex Hairstreak, but after looking at it a million times I'm happy it is Ilex...the white line extending much further up the hind wing margin and black on both sides of the white marks. Do you agree?

Once again, thank you for taking the time to look.

Martin.

Hi Martin,

I didn't look at the 'mallow skipper' pictures because this is a common butterfly and usually not very exciting. I should have looked though, because I think 3 and 4 are genuinely southern marbled, not mallow!! 'Mallow skipper 3' shows enough of the reticulation on the underside for me to feel quite confident (and jealous). However, the one you call southern marbled is clearly mallow!!

The pictures above (in this post) would then show first southern marbled then mallow.

I didn't receive the southern small white pictures. If this is because the files are too big, try sending them to guypadfield at gmail dot com, which can accept bigger files.

Guy

PS - for some reason I've only just noticed the underside, above. I checked from school and only saw the two uppersides, then wrote the reply without checking from home. Anyway, that looks like a sage skipper to me, and not a Carcharodus at all.

Guy

Re sent

padfield wrote:PS - for some reason I've only just noticed the underside, above. I checked from school and only saw the two uppersides, then wrote the reply without checking from home. Anyway, that looks like a sage skipper to me, and not a Carcharodus at all.

Guy

I added that one later

Received the pictures now - thanks!

Small white 1 is conclusively small white, not southern - sorry for that bit of dashed hope. The forked vein 7 is decisive:




I'm afraid the black scaling on the other one suggests that is small white too (southern small white has denser, more even scaling).

Oh well - the southern marbled skipper is still exciting!!

Guy

Many thanks guy...you are a star

I asked my friend Tim Cowles if he agreed with me the butterflies you have now labelled boeticus were really that and I hope he doesn't mind my quoting his reply:

"Yes definitely, until proven otherwise with good arguments. And in any case not alceae. Colour schemes are wrong."

Well done!

Guy

Then it seems both Tolman and Lafranchis need modifying slightly...Tolman says 500-1600M when these are at about 100-200, and Lafranchis needs to extend his distribution map a little further south in the Malaga bay area

Martin.