A few Maniola ladies from Lesvos

[JKT]

I wonder whether it is possible to name these. I suppose most of the ones I saw were M. telmessia, but some just might have been M. megala. Two of these are the best candidates based on what little I know of the differencies. Any ideas?

Is there any point in even asking about the males?

[Chris Jackson]

Hi JKT,
There are certainly some subtle variations there. I hope you find a specialist in that domain.
Chris

[Padfield]

None of them seem to show the pronounced hindwing scalloping you would expect of megala - and given that telmessia has weak scalloping these all seem consistent with that.

Do you have photos of males? From what I can see, they are a little more distinctive than the females, particularly in the number and size of the hindwing ocelli.

guy

[JKT]

Thanks! I'll edit the males next, but I'm afraid the megalas may have already been in aestivation.

After that I have a few Hipparchias...

[JKT]

Oh well. These are not ladies, but I'll add them to this thread anyway. The underside looks quite similar to my eyes in every case, but I don't know what the difference is...