Butterflies of Var, Southern France

[petesmith]

That's a great shot of the Gavarnie Ringlet Roger! I am very jealous - not a species I have seen before. Think a trip to the Pyrenees might be called for next year...

[Padfield]

I agree - great photo of gorgone. I know good sites for both gorgone and lefebvrei in the Val d'Aran. Very striking is that lefebvrei never, ever, strays even a couple of metres from its scree slope (where it is extremely difficult to photograph because of the scree!). If this is generally true of the species, it explains why it is so easy to miss. Everywhere that is comfortably walkable, you are guaranteed not to see one.

Interesting photo of female eros. It is completely different from the only female eros I have managed to photograph. I hope you don't mind my posting this in your diary, Roger, just for comparison:





What struck me at the time was the silvery sprinkling of blue scales, recalling the silvery colour of the male. Yours is not recognisably the same species. Very interesting.

Guy

[Roger Gibbons]

Fell free to post on this thread, Guy (or anyone else). I don't consider it my personal diary.

More from my travels:

This is an underside of a very fresh male Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron). It didn’t really open its wings, but no matter, the underside is almost as appealing.

This is a typical male Meadow Fritillary (Melitaea parthenoides), deep orange colour, uph “gappy”, oblique black mark in upf discal s1.

Back in the Mercantour, Meleager’s Blue (Polyommatus daphnis) is one species I usually miss as I am the region too early, sometimes a male is on the wing but rarely a female, so this year I went in the third week in July and was not disappointed. The male is first, lovely ghosted marginal markings, and the uniquely scalloped hindwing makes the female unmistakeable. The female is of the brown form steeveni.

This Niobe Fritillary (Argynnis niobe) had two rather strange white patches on the underside and these were replicated on the upperside, too. Very strange.

I’ve managed to go a little while without a Pyrgus underside, so here is a male Carline Skipper (Pyrgus carlinae), very neat markings and a very rich red-brown ground colour.

Grayling (Hipparchia semele) is sometimes encountered in small numbers in the Mercantour, although in much of the département of Gard it can sometimes be very common, and in one place I counted over a hundred.

I have some history with Sooty Ringlet (Erebia pluto), having seen it at two locations in the past two years when it never settled to allow a photo. This year I got lucky with this heavily gravid female at 2600m. There were males but they flew almost incessantly as they are wont to do, stopping only briefly to nectar from Dandelions half-way up the rocky scree, enabling some very fuzzy distance shots. The males are jet black on both surfaces while the female has the usual Erebia red bands on the upf.

It’s not all exotic species, and a familiar Silver Washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) can be just as appealing, as evidenced by this very fresh male. I think the photo almost catches the silvery streaks.

Dusky Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lycaon) is a species that is found at medium to high altitudes. It is smaller than its common cousin and the unh is rather “rougher” and greyer. It is mostly males that are seen, but this is actually a rarely-seen female.

Dusky Large Blue (Phengaris nausithous) is a very localised and threatened species of the wetlands. In France, it only occurs in very small colonies in the east of the country. It usually flies in company with Scarce Large Blue (P. teleius) and at this location, there were very healthy numbers of both flying. This is a mating pair, probably the female uppermost. Not a common sight.

The journey ends near Lyon where the Dryad (Minois dryas) is quite numerous in its localities. I find the female, as below, to be a fascinating species – why should a Satyrid have such large blue centres to its ocelli?

[David M]

I keep searching for female Dusky Meadow Browns, Roger, but I have yet to find one! I'll keep persevering.

Your Carline Skipper is to die for. Are they always that dark on the undersides?

[Sylvie_h]

Hi Roger,

Nice pictures! and well done on the Scarce Fritillary (that is beautiful specimen you've found). I believe that this butterfly was more widespread in France but has now the status of threatened (espece menacée)...
Sylvie

[Matsukaze]

Not quite Var, but there are a series of articles in this link about butterflies high in the Basses-Alpes in 1932 that I imagine would be of interest to the regulars here.

https://archive.org/details/entomologistsrec451933tutt

[David M]

I've briefly skimmed through the information on that link, Matsukaze, and it is a treasure trove of time gone by. How I wish I had it in bound hard copy form by my bedside!

A glimpse into a world long gone.

[Roger Gibbons]

I was sent this link to a trailer for a film, due to be released in April, “Papillons de France en liberté”, by Thierry Carabin. Here is the link:

http://www.creativeforceinternational.c ... France.htm

I have no idea what form the eventual film will take, e.g. free on YouTube of some other platform, or for sale as a DVD.

I thought the quality was exceptional, so I thought I would share it on UKB.

Roger

[David M]

Looks superb doesn't it, Roger?

The habitat images make my mouth water and anyone who can film a Camberwell Beauty emerging from a chrysalis must have an innate gift!

[petesmith]

Thanks for sharing that Roger. Fantastic quality footage, and a great selection of French butterfly species. I think I recognised at least one of the habitat locations...

[Charles Nicol]

Merci pour le petit film Roger !

It reminded my of happy times chasing papillons across the South of France

[Chris Jackson]

A very nice trailer, Roger.
I would certainly like to view the full film.
Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

Just to create a little respite from the cold, wet, grey weather, here is a just-released video of the life of the Southern Festoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5MDUfCgpfY

Roger

[David M]

Absolutely intoxicating, Roger. Thanks for sharing.

When I close my eyes and listen to the spring birdsong in the background, I yearn to be in the midst of this terrain myself. Who needs Prozac?

[Chris Jackson]

A great video, Roger.
And even more exciting when I think that in less than 36 days I should be living some of that myself.
But as I look out the office window in Vitrolles, Bouches du Rhône, it is currently snowing (9.30 am local time)
Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

Not really Var, well not exclusively, but I thought I'd post this here in case it was of interest.

I have puzzled over this question of the adaptability of gorganus to such a wide variety of terrain, especially at altitudes of 2500m. It also has the odd habit of "hilltopping" but, given the UK distribution, is perhaps not something likely to be experienced in the Norfolk Broads....

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british ... =AppleNews

Roger

[David M]

Yes, it's quite something how britannicus and gorganus can exhibit such different inclinations in behaviour. I also note that the foodplant in Norfolk is exclusively milk parsley. Would the larvae reject wild carrot, I wonder?

[Roger Gibbons]

I mentioned on 12 January a trailer for a film by Thierry Carabin. On Saturday we went to a showing of the full one hour film at the cinema in Roquefort-les-Pins (06) as guests of Thierry.

The film was absolutely spell-binding, not only of the butterflies, but also of the scenery (filmed using drones in some cases). Many rare species - populi, ballus, maturna, oedippus, alexanor, helle, etc.

I asked Thierry about the film being made available in the UK or on the internet and he said it was on his agenda. If and when I hear anything, I'll post it on UKB.

In association with the showing of the film there was an "exhibition" in the civic hall, which turned out to be set specimens, some of which were marked up for sale. If ever I was searching for a definition of "incongruous" I need look no further.

I stress that Thierry was anti-collectors as much as the rest of us, even though he is the stepson of Eugene Le Moult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Le_Moult.

Roger

[Mark Tutton]

Thanks for posting that Roger that was a mouthwatering clip and I would love to see the whole film. The Link to ELM was very interesting too - I had never heard of him previously but obviously a significant figure in entomology last century
Kind Regards
Mark

[David M]

I wonder what impact this would have if it were broadcast at 8.20pm on a Saturday on BBC2 with Sir David Attenborough as narrator?

Stunning footage and worthy of a much bigger audience.