www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

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?

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

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

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...

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...