Tony Moore

[David M]

What a find that Allard's Silverline was, Tony. Exotic is an insufficient adjective.

You won't find that one in Europe!!

[Chris Jackson]

Hear, hear, for the Allard's Silverline. I'd like to add that one to my album.
Chris

[Kip]

Fantastic to see a shot of Allard's.. well done you.

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, Guys, for your kind comments. Hope to have some serious exotica to post in a couple of weeks ...

Tony M.

[trevor]

Stunning stuff, Tony. and every one ' foreign ' to me. It is amazing what's out there, beyond our shores.

Best wishes,
Trevor.

[Padfield]

Hi Tony. What they said! Really special butterflies, and all things I've yet to see too.

With regard to the Melitaea, this is a difficult group and subject to almost continual revision, but according to Oorschot and Coutsis, 2014, following Tshikolovets, 2011, Melitaea phoebe gaisericus is properly nominate Melitaea punica, a species probably restricted to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. No other member of the phoebe complex flies there (Oorschot and Coutsis refer all the specimens of M. phoebe illustrated in Tennent's Butterflies of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to punica). Leraut (2016) follows the same nomenclature, distinguishing f. gaisericus from high altitude in the Middle-Atlas, notable for its larger size. For what it's worth, he calls Melitaea punica 'Oberthür's fritillary.'

It will probably all be different tomorrow, but for today you can call your butterfly Oberthür's fritillary, Melitaea punica, and feel like someone who's just bought the latest iPhone.

Guy

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, Guy,

What's an iPhone?

Tony.

[David M]

What's an iPhone?

Aaah! A man cut from the same cloth as me!

[Tony Moore]

Just returned from a trip to Lama Camp, 2400mts up in the north-east Indian Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, on a failed attempt to see Bhutan Glory. They can apparently be found in May, but are much commoner in Sept/Oct. However, as this would be the monsoon season, the prospect of a week in a tent staring out at the rain, did not appeal, and I mistakenly chose the earlier time.
My trip started well when I was bumped up to Business Class for the flight to Delhi, and instead of languishing, cramped in 'cattle class' for nine hours, hoping that the world might end prematurely, I was seated in luxury, being plied with Champagne by elegant Indian stewardii, prior to an excellent dinner and seven hours sleep in a proper bed. Pretty damn good! I flew straight on to Guwahati, where I stayed the night before the 10 hour, 380 km trip up to Lama (not for the faint-hearted!). My driver arrived at 7 a.m. the next morning and off we went. Once in the mountains, the road became very hairy indeed, especially the last 20 km of rocky track up to Lama. We were regularly no more than a tyre's width from a near vertical, unprotected drop of several hundred metres. Acrophobics and those of a nervous disposition should probably give it a miss...
The camp proved to be just that - a motley collection of fixed tents and shacks – with a phenomenal view 10 km down the valley to Tenga:

It was, actually, a bit Spartan for my old bones. No electricity (except for battery charge), no running water or showers, hole-in-the-ground bog, no beer and veg curry three times a day!
After a couple of days, it did assume a quaint charm. The main problem was that it was very early season and there weren't many butterflies, although most of those I did see were in pristine condition. Despite that, I probably would have done better to forget BG and go a month later. However, I did find some interesting stuff, although most of it was on the sandy track with little opportunity for creative photography. My first butts were on the way up, when we stopped for a bite at a wayside caff. (Dahl curry and the most delicious puris I'd ever eaten - 85 pence!).
There were several Indian Tortoiseshells ( Aglais cashminensis ) nectaring outside. These are very like our ST, but more 'contrasty', especially the females:

At the camp, it was cloudy and rainy the first day and I didn't see a butterfly. The next morning was bright and clear and I set off down the track. This proved to be a 'Puncharium', with four species seen: Lesser, Tailed, Orange and Mixed. Sadly, no Plum Judy to keep them company. The first few that I saw all had closed wings and it was a surprise to find that they were Riodininae, rather than Lycaenids. As soon as there were open winged ones, they looked very 'Dukey':
Lesser Punch (Dodona dipoea)

Mixed Punch (Dodona ouida

Tailed Punch (Dodona eugenes)

There was also a Plain Sulphur (Dercas lycorias)

There were a few tiny, rather hairy 'Blues', which proved to be Darjeeling Straightwing Blues (Orthomiella pontis)

A few 'Helens' and 'Windmills were floating around the treetops, but there they stayed. Still pretty good for a first proper day.

[David M]

Good Lord, Tony, is there nowhere off limits to you!!

Sounds like one hell of a journey so fair play, you deserve all the butterflies you can get.

I will very much look forward to seeing further instalments.

[Padfield]

Keep them coming, Tony! As always, it is a great pleasure to follow your butterfly travels.

Guy

[Tony Moore]

Many thanks, David and Guy. Hope the rest doesn't disappoint
Lama is mainly known as a mecca for 'birders', being second only to the Andes in species diversity according to a local researcher. Certainly, the place rang with birdsong, day and night. I did manage a pic of a Scarlet Minivet, which was just about in range of my 105mm:

This was our cook in his kitchen:

After a first breakfast of warmed western style sliced bread, sprinkled with sugar, I managed to convince him that I would prefer Indian food. Thereafter, I had the most delicious parothas, chapatis and puris. Only vegetarian food was allowed on the campsite, but although I often had no idea what I was eating, it was universally very good. However, after four days of veggie food, I jokingly suggested that I would be happy with a live chicken for dinner. I was the only visitor at the time and Ami reappeared ten minutes later. ''Are you liking mutton, Sir?''. ''Can a duck swim?'' said I. An hour later, I was tucking into excellent lamb and mushroom curry.
Most of the butterflying consisted of slowly walking up and down the mountain tracks, trying to find stuff before it saw me. Punches were quite common, including this Orange Punch (Dodona egeon ):

Quite a rare little butterfly, the Powdery Green Sapphire (Heliophoros tamu ), showed both upper and lower surfaces:

An underside shot of another Sapphire, which looks very similar, but which had shining blue uppers, has to be a different species:

This is Eastern Veined Labyrinth (Neope pulaha) I think. There are several Neopes, but most are very characteristically marked:

Although the viz was often poorish, I awoke on day 5 with a distant view of the real Himalayas:

Life is good

[bugboy]

Powdery Green Sapphire

[Chris Jackson]

What a report, Tony.
Great account and great images, I'm breathless (and hungry for a curry and a beer).
Chris

[Padfield]

Brilliant butterflies!

Heliophorus androcles has more extensive and brighter blue in the male than tamu and flies in the region. I suspect your second Heliophorus is that. There is another species, saphir, that is even more brilliant on the upperside but I don't know if it flies there. Its type locality is Tibet.

Guy

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, Guys, for your kind comments.

Guy, the Butterflies of India site does not list H.saphir or, surprisingly, androcles, but Adrian Hoskins suggests India to .... for both?? Yer pays yer money...

Tony.

[Tony Moore]

Just checked some shots of Heliophorus androcles and it looks spot on with the slightly longer tails.
Tony.

[Padfield]

Yes, I think androcles is the one. D'Abrera says of saphir (or rather, of moorei, of which saphir is often said to be a subspecies) that it is essentially a Chinese species, sometimes taken in the north-west of India and often found in Sikkim, Assam and northern Burma. He illustrates it with saphir, and the tails do look shorter, though it is difficult to say with old, set specimens, whether they have simply got worn.

Butterflies of India does have moorei.

Guy

[David M]

Tony, that Powdery Green Sapphire was worth the trip all on its own. An absolutely stunning insect and one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Moore]

Thanks, David,

I was pretty pleased myself , especially when it ran along the sand a bit and opened its wings for a few seconds. There were a few Sapphires during the week, but that was the only open wing chance I saw.

Tony.