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Just back from Croatia. Having a few probs with un familiar species!
Does anyone recognise these photo's?
Any help would be gratefully received!

I'll pass on the first one for the moment and come back to it later. I think Reverdin's is a strong possibility but have some caveats.

My instant reaction to the first fritillary (fritillaries) was Assmann's, Melitaea britomartis. One of the members from Eastern Europe with experience of this species (I've only seen the closely related Nickerl's fritillary, Melitaea aurelia) will be able to comment further on this.

Amanda's, yes, then lesser marbled fritillary and then grizzled skipper (Pyrgus malvae).

Guy

EDIT : I've since found some very similar ups of twin spot fritillary on the web (similar to the frit I casually called lesser marbled) so I'm not sure about that one now. Do you have any undersides?

It is Twin-spot. The first blue looks good for Reverdin's (unless some Plebejus species that doesn't occur in France).

Thanks for your help with these,folks-plenty more to come!
Guy, i don't have an underwing shot of this one,unforunately,but Twin-spot is likely,as it is said to be present here.
Cheers!

Twin-spot (Brenthis hecate) and Lesser Marbled (B. ino) uppersides are very similar and easy to confuse, although surprisingly the books seem to focus on the differences between Marbled (B. daphne) and Lesser Marbled which are rather easier to tell apart.

From the upperside alone they can be differentiated by the (near) absence or presence of one of the forewing spots – the link illustrates this:
http://www.butterfliesoffrance.com/html ... hecate.htm
I believe this holds true 100% of the time.

I would be prepared to bet that where you saw it, the larval hostplant, Filipendula vulgaris, was not far away.

Couple more from Croatia,one of our friends with more experiance of central Europe than me may be able to help. The first was a bit larger than our Grizzlie,i thought.The last two are the same adult,upper and under. Thanks for any help!

For the first one, I'd suggest large grizzled skipper (Pyrgus alveus). I don't feel I can exclude Oberthür's (P. armoricanus), especially as I've never been to that region myself, but the ground colour would be surprising on a male of that species (and it is a male).

For the second, orbed red underwing skipper, Spialia orbifer seems most probable to me. S. sertorius and S. orbifer both fly in Croatia, with orbifer being the commoner in the south and east of the country. The ground colour and general disposition of the spots look right for orbifer but this is (yet) another species I've not seen.

Guy

Blimey Guy,you're up late,being an hour ahead of us in CH! Orbed Red was my guess as well for that one,but thanks very much for the confirmation!

Hi folks,a few more from Croatia. I think one of the small whites is Mountain Small White. The heath looks like Small Heath,but was the size of a Large Heath,and was at the bottom of a mountain with several others,if that helps.
Thanks for any help. Cheers!

The whites all look like southern small white to me. I don't see a heath, but the first blue is common blue and the second I'm not sure. It lacks a cell spot and on the whole looks like Chapman's, so that is the safest bet, but I can't rule out icarinus. An upperside shot would be definitive. The androconial patch on Chapman's is unmistakeable if you can see it clearly.

Guy

Thanks Guy,you really have been most helpfull with these. I forgot to load the heath! Coming right up.
I thought Chapmans,but i know in Europe,Common Blue sometimes lacks the cell spot as well. No other pictures of this individual,unfortunately.

Isn’t the absence of a unf discal spot an indicator of Mountain Small White (Pieris ergane)? The upf apical mark looks quite square from what can be seen from the underside (which may of course be completely misleading). I ask this from the perspective of never having seen ergane (and having the feeling it might prove very elusive in France). Does ergane occur in the region/altitude where this was seen?

I think the blue in question is Chapman’s based on the shape of the orange lunules but more so because the black spots are centrally placed within the white area, whereas for Common Blue the black spots are usually touching the orange.

Again, I think I was too hasty when I commented on the whites! What made me pass the last one over for ergane was the apparently rather dense scaling on the hindwing. Most pictures of ergane show much weaker scaling in the summer brood. BUT I think the lack of a discal mark trumps the scaling and it does seem, on close examination, that the black apical mark on the upperside doesn't extend down the outer margin as far as v.4. On Matt's page for the species I note that his summer individuals from Greece show much more scaling than those from elsewhere. Apologies.

I agree with Roger about the Chapman's, though both Chapman's and common show huge variation on the underside. As Roger says, most of the black spots are clear-set in white on this butterfly, though some touch the orange. I didn't have much doubt about the ID but always do try to get a look at the uppersides of males as these are constant. Chapman's has furry androconial scales in the cell base while common has a characteristically naked cell.

Guy

Hi Roger,thanks for your comments.
I too thought the lack of spot indicated Mountain Small White,but i have never seen this species,being a relative novice as far as European butterflies are concerned-you and Guy know much more than me,and the knowledge between you is priceless.
Butterfly fauna in Croatia is not that well known,but Small,Mountain Small and Southern Small are thought to occur in these mountains,which were in the Paklanica National Park, next to the Adriatic sea.
Edit; thanks Guy,to you both in fact,i'm really grateful.

Don't want to push my luck,but how about these three. The heath is definately in there this time!

The last Blue looks just like the Chapman's I saw in Greece recently. And here's a shot of the topside that Guy was talking about: very different from Common Blue.

Your three look like a female Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate), Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha glycerion) and a male Tufted Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus flocciferus). There are some eastern heaths which I am not familiar with, so it may be worth checking for these.

The heaths are so variable across their range I find it very difficult to place this one definitively without more information. I agree with Roger that glycerion is the most likely, though normally the forms of this with no (or weak) spotting on the hindwings also have no spot on the underside forewings - it is a feature of this species that this apical spot is weak or more usually absent. Glycerion also usually, but not always, lacks the white postdiscal band under the forewing. There are similar forms of both tullia and rhodopensis but again, there are lots of particular quibbles with these two and I think habitat/altitude considerations probably rule them out.

So, I'd go for glycerion, which was also what first sprang to mind when I looked at the picture (for what it's worth). But it would be very helpful (and interesting) to see any other pictures you had, of different individuals, however bad they might be, from the same location.

The Satyrinae part III volume of Bozano's Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region covers Coenonympha and has fascinating series of these heaths, showing the incredible variation within each species.

Guy