Blog on western palearctic butterflies

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Hi all,

nice weather in Belgium from yesterday inspired me to start a blog on western palearctic butterflies from a Belgian perspective:

http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/

hopefully I find the time to keep it updated regularly...

hope you enjoy

[David M]

I shall watch developments with interest, Pieter.

[Chris Jackson]

Greetings from Marseilles, Pieter,
It will be interesting to see what is happening in Belgium. Looking forward to your reports.
Chris

[Tony Moore]

From me too

Tony M.

[Charles Nicol]

Very interesting website Pieter.

[NickMorgan]

Looks like this should be an interesting blog. I will add it to my watched list!

[Pieter Vantieghem]

I have started to put some information on my recent trip to Armenia on my blog. More to follow.

http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... eface.html

[Padfield]

Fascinating reading. It's great to see these butterflies in the flesh (through your pictures, that is).

Guy

[Pieter Vantieghem]

For those who want to travel to southeastern Europe next year and are planning to search for purple emperors Apatura species, I have posted a blogpost that can be interesting:

http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... peror.html

[Pieter Vantieghem]

I have published some posts of my February visit to Tenerife and La Gomera.
Best to start at the first post as this contains some background information on the Canary islands:
http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... chive.html

[JKT]

Very nice text and gorgeus pictures from Canaries!


Three comments:
- I have seen couple fresh E. eversi flying near Masca December 28th. I would say that means it can start surprisingly early if weather is right.
- There are a surprising number of sightings of C. marshalli at Barrancos. It may have found a local foodplant.
- The T. christi was great find at that time!

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Thanks for your comments.

- About Euchloe eversi: indeed it seems like - although the best known flight locations at the Canadas clearly have a later flight period - the less known locations at Masca more follow the flight period of the related taxa on Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, see for example also a picture of the taxon on lepiforum: http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Euchloe_Eversi. I've been near Masca on 2 occasions, one time in the afternoon of 22/02 when we visited the Barranco below Masca. However the afternoon is not the ideal moment to look for Euchloe species and I believe that the best location for E. eversi is above Masca? This was in fact not a planned visit, we planned to visit Teide that day but because of the snow of previous days all roads from the north to Teide were closed so after a few stops along the road we only reached Masca around 14h. On a second visit to Masca we got there from the north to visit the pass between Masca and Las Portelas but unfortunately that day was very windy at the pass (I guess something around 6-7Bf) so the only butterflies on the wing were some reckless painted ladies.
- About C. marshalli: In fact the caterpillar I found was not really in an urban environment but at a terrace at the Mirador de Chirche. Even at some of the most remote houses one can notice Pelargoniums in the Canaries and some of them seem to grow in semi-wild state around houses but indeed, several other Geraniaceae are known from the islands (for example this list) and some of them seem to have rather big flowers and seed buds so these could be a possible food plant. I am however not a plant specialist and am happy already if I can track a plant down to genus...
- T. christi: indeed a great surprise especially as I had been searching - without success - for caterpillars a few hours earlier. The search for larval stages always seems easy if you read reports about it from specialists (like this one) but I guess that is exactly what makes the difference between a specialist and a beginner... long way to go but I keep on trying

[JKT]

I have no idea what is the best place for E. eversi near Masca , but I can heartily recommend the walk towards sea along the ridge south of Masca. It is rather easy up to the stone circle. I have seen the species there on two occasions and both can be considered "early". I've also seen it a bit further inland between Erjos and Las Portelas. That was February IIRC.

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Last night I made a new post on one of the few remaining populations of Sooty copper in Flanders with some small thoughts on personal lifestyle and the influence on butterfly populations.
Hope you enjoy the pics:
http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... nders.html

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Just before leaving for my next trip, I was able to finish my small report of my june trip to France. 4 episodes on my blog:
http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... chive.html

[Pieter Vantieghem]

A new blogpost on orange skippers in NW Europe. Hope you enjoy:
http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2 ... urope.html

[Pieter Vantieghem]

Late July - early August I spent three weeks in Romania. I have put a summary of our sightings in four episodes on my blog. Check it out here: http://westpalbutterflies.blogspot.be/2017/08/

[David M]

Thanks for posting that, Pieter. It was a real joy trawling through it, especially your images of myrmidone, which is a very infrequent subject on these forums!

[Mark Tutton]

What a great series of blogs - inspiration for my bucket list indeed. The Polyommatus daphnis is one of the most spectacular blues I have seen.
Thanks for sharing
kind regards
Mark

[Pete Eeles]

The Polyommatus daphnis is one of the most spectacular blues I have seen.

The female Meleager's Blue is always a delight to behold! My first encounter was in Switzerland, when I visited Guy, seeing the "steeveni" form in which the female is largely brown. I followed that up with a trip to Farm Lator in Hungary the following year, and was stunned by the "normal" female - which no photo could do justice to!

Cheers,

- Pete