Sightings Marseilles end 2013

[Chris Jackson]

Hi folks,
We're having bit of a reprieve down here in Marseilles, with temperatures near the coast these last few days down to +4°C at night and reaching +14°C early afternoon. Today is sunny with blue skies and albeit a cool wind. This afternoon I spotted a couple of Red Admirals battling in a nearby garden, they both settled to warm up, then starting battling again. It was very easy to photograph both of them - see below. They seem to cohabitate in the same garden between battles - can somebody identify whether they are male and female or of the same sex ?
Thanks
Chris

atalanta Marseilles December 14 (2)

atalanta Marseilles December 14 (1)

context

[David M]

It's always tricky distinguishing between the sexes of UK vanessids from appearance alone, Chris. The size of the abdomen is the only thing that gives one confidence; aside from that, it's just a question of watching their behavioural traits.

Nice you can talk of 14c temperatures in spite of a cool wind in December!!

[Chris Jackson]

Hi David,
The wind is cool when you're exposed, but in the sheltered sun traps that butterflies tend to find, I bet I could rebuild my tan !!
I'll be getting out again this afternoon.
Chris

[CFB]

Hello Chris (and others),

Have you seen any Lang's Short-tailed Blues in your area? Last year I saw them regularly up to December 28, but this year I haven't seen any since this slightly damaged one on December 3:

I generally see them on south-facing slopes where there are plenty of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) bushes, one of the very few plants still being in flower at this time of the year. Even though we've had a lot of sun recently, there have been several nights which were cold enough to leave a lot of frost around in the morning, so perhaps the cold took its toll .

This morning I saw this solitary Speckled Wood taking advantage of the sun, as I was :

--
Colin

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Colin,
I also saw this past week (week 50), along with Red Admirals, a couple of Lang's Short-tailed Blues in the garrigue scrubland on the plateau de Vitrolles (where I work near Marseilles), sustained also by the Rosemary in flower. On that day it was sunny and the temperature was up to +15°C with no Mistral wind. One of the STBs was pristeen as well. In fact I will start taking my camera back to work with me on the coming days that have a good forecast.
I have not seen a Speckled Wood for at least 2 weeks.
Let's hope that the winter will be short and sweet down here so that we can kick off with an early season next year.
Chris

[Chris Jackson]

Today 17th December at lunchtime I saw at least 3 Red Admirals and as many Short-tailed Blues in the scrub in Vitrolles (near Marseilles).
The temperature must be around 15°C today and there is very little wind.
A colleague lent me his Panasonic FZ200 and I managed to get these 2 proof shots.
Cheers
Chris

[Padfield]

I'm very interested you're still seeing LSTB at this time of year.

What about Queen of Spain fritillaries? Do they join the winter butterflies in Marseilles or are they well-behaved and wait until spring to fly?

Guy

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Guy,
Concerning these last 2 butterfly species we have down here this year, atalanta and pirithous, I would even state that if it is sunny and 15°C around midday they will be flying around energetically, if it is not sunny or below 12 or 13°C they will not be seen.
I will be out most lunchtimes keeping an eye on their presence and will keep reporting in.
As for Queen of Spain Fritillaries, I think that the only one I saw down here this year was a vagrant - otherwise, if they breed around Marseilles or in this part of the Bouches du Rhone, I think I would have seen many more.
Cheers, Chris.

[Chris Jackson]

Today, 21st of December, it was overcast in Marseilles with a low of 10°C and high of 15°C (exceptionally mild even for here). I saw 1 Red Admiral fly by me in our local scrubland park, the "Parc des Bruyères" (Heather park).
I recorded the sequence of appearance of the butterflies in this park in 2013 (about 44 species over the season just in this park, 500 meters from my front door), and will be doing so again in 2014. I will probably create a personal page for this purpose for anyone who would like to follow it with me in 2014.
Otherwise, today, I checked out my jasius caterpillars - in particular I have identified 2 Strawberry Trees each with 4 jasius caterpillars. Apparently jasius goes through the winter in caterpillar form.
See below a context photo of part of the Parc des Bruyères with one of the Stawberry Trees in the foreground, and 3 of the jasius caterpillars on this tree today.
Chris

[Charles Nicol]

thanks for this interesting thread cj !!

i especially liked the 2TP caterpillars

i would be interested in following your page about the Heather Park if you go ahead with it.

Merry Noël

Charles

[Chris Jackson]

Today, December 27th, 14°C early afternoon. Clear skies after a few overcast days, so I headed out for some sunshine.
I spotted two Red Admirals in urbain Marseilles on my way to the local scrubland park. Here is a proof shot of one of them although the photo was taken into the sun

atalanta December 27

In the scrub I then spotted a Lycaenid passing by and the odds are 10:1 that it was a Short-tail Blue, but no proof I'm afraid.
Then I was pleasantly surprised to see a female Wall Brown in the scrub, feeding on Rosemary, as I havn't seen one since the second week of November.

megera Parc des Bruyères December 27

Here is the context for the megera - the Parc des Bruyères, looking north-west out over Marseilles, with the cathedral Notre Dame de la Garde on the hill in the distance.

context Parc des Bruyères - Marseilles

If this weather can hold out for 1 more week and if these butterflies can stay around, I may find myself starting my 2014 checklist well in advance.
Cheers, Chris.