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A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 5:48 pm
by JohnR
Can anyone name this very poor snap that I took in the Garden of Gethsemane a couple of weeks ago?
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 7:23 pm
by MikeOxon
I'd suggest the Common Zephyr Blue (
Leptotes pirithous), which occurs all around the Med and Eastwards to the Himalaya. Have a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptotes_pirithous for more info and photos.
Mike
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 12:41 pm
by JohnR
Thanks. I had got as far as a blue but since my 1970 edition of Higgin's and Riley's Field Guide appears not to list that species I came to a grinding halt.
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:28 pm
by CFB
Hello John,
In my Higgins and Riley Field Guide (1977) it is listed as
Syntarucus pirithous or Lang's Short-tailed Blue. Currently near to me in the Alpes-Maritimes there are dozens of them wherever there are Rosemary (
Rosmarinus officinalis) plants. Well probably not today as it is cloudy, and much, much colder than previous days
--
Colin
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 3:18 pm
by David M
CFB wrote:
In my Higgins and Riley Field Guide (1977) it is listed as Syntarucus pirithous or Lang's Short-tailed Blue.
Must admit, I thought it was LSTB when I first saw it.
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:15 pm
by Padfield
All spot on! I think Mike meant 'zebra' rather than 'Zephyr'. Certainly, the closely related Leptotes plinius, which I have been seeing in India over the last few days, is commonly called a zebra blue, and it's not difficult to see why:
This genus of migratory butterflies flies from the Mediterranean to the Antipodes.
Guy
Re: A foreign butterfly
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:48 pm
by MikeOxon
padfield wrote:I think Mike meant 'zebra' rather than 'Zephyr'.
Yes - a slip of the tongue - or typing finger.
Mike