www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I follow up on my first thread and would appreciate any comments from experts on the following species.

Anomalous blue? Small Heath Female?
The butterfly was not small but rather big in size.... maybe there are some variations in the Balkans. Pearly Heath?
The number of occellis on the unh is reduced.... Knapweed Fritillary? This caterpillar is I think one of the swallowtails but anyone knows which one? Idas Blue or Silver St. Blue?
Thanks for your help,
Sylvie

HI Sylvie. I agree with your IDs. The first butterfly is P. admetus - without much doubt, I would say. The second is form amaryllus of C. pamphilus, with white-pupilled black spots on the hindwing. Your pearly heath, C. arcania, is well within the normal variation for this species, I think. The spots are all present, even though some are small. I don't think it is possible to tell M. phoebe (knapweed fritillary) from M. telona from the upperside alone. M. telona flies in south Bulgaria but phoebe is the default species for the region, I think. The last one looks like idas to me - subject to all the usual Plebejus caveats!! The plant looks like sea buckthorn, which is the foodplant of the idas blue in lowland Switzerland (ssp. calliopis - which doesn't fly in the Balkans, but that doesn't mean the species doesn't use the same foodplant there). Of course, argus uses a whole range of foodplants, but my books don't list sea buckthorn.

Guy

I agree with Guy that the blue is idas, because it is apparently laying on a Chamaecytisus shrub, which is the sole larval foodplant of the loca sub-species baldur.

M.

I'll leave the butterfly ID's alone (for the experts) but your caterpillar is some sort of Hawkmoth cat.

bugboy wrote:I'll leave the butterfly ID's alone (for the experts) but your caterpillar is some sort of Hawkmoth cat.

Spurge hawk.

Thanks for the plant ID, Misha. I'm glad that helps confirm idas.

Guy

Thank you all for your replies and explanation and more of all your expertise ! This is useful information, I have already said so in the past, this website can be very educational thanks to people like you.
Sylvie