It has been cold here in Wiltshire the last two day's with snow showers and two nights of low temps with frosts. How will this affect the adults of the early emerging Duke's, skippers etc, that have been shown here

Ford's 'Butterflies and Moths' volumes in the New Naturalist series changed the way that many perceive lepidoptera, they were seminal works unlike their predecessors whose volumes were collector's identification and locality guides. This story of the population of P. icarus on Tean and that of other...

Last paragraph edited and corrected.

Notes on an Extinct female form of Polyommatus icarus. The uninhabited Isle of Tean in the Isles of Scilly archipelago which lies close to the larger Island of St Martin's, had a unique form of the Common Blue Polyommatus icarus where the females in the Summer brood at least, comprised of examples s...

Brian. Thank you for your update. I guess in the end three emerging Maps were not going to sustain a colony. It is interesting that the habitat was not preserved, especially after all that fuss made about not wanting the nettles to be trampled by too many photographers.

All seems quiet on the southern front, did the Maps turn up in 2015. You know,those that were released at Swanage or is this the end of the great 2014 Map sitcom

Two Men went to Mow a Meadow = Fen. I must state here that the following are my observations during the Adults flight period during July 2015 and report it here because it was remarked upon by other Dutch naturalists who I have the great pleasure of meeting in the field. Excuse, the above humour of ...

Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia form immaculata Bellier. Here is the special form of this denzien of the woodlands immaculata that is found in Corsica and Sardinia . In this form the butterflies Silver-wash on the verso is replaced by extensive silvery-gold suffusion ( Tolman). To my eyes t...

Idas Blue Plebejus argus bellieri Oberthur 1910. I was keen to phtograph this subspecies which is endemic to Corsica and Sardinia, because as in P. argus corsicus the females are a lovely blue. Those notable entomologist's R.F.Bretherton and the Baron C.G. De Worms had encountered this species at Ta...

Tony. Some lovely species with some super images. As you mentioned it was getting late in the season for the endemics.

Corsican Heath Coenonympha corinna Hubner 1804. Coenonympha are an intresting group of Satyridae. This pretty little butterfly was frequent in the mountains . This species is endemic to Corsica and Sardinia. Photos taken on the Col de Vizzavona. 4796.JPG 004.JPG 1de1df3c-5f85-451f-965d-78213c62ae1c_...

Thank you David. I am pleased that you are enjoying this thread and I hope others are. It is nice to generate some interest.

Brown Hairstreak females Hants. Peter.

Thanks David. I am very pleased that I went, those moments with L. dispar in Holland, will never be forgotten.

Corsican Grayling Hipparchia neomiris. Godart 1824. Endemic to Corsica and Sardinia and Elba. A local species in the mountains where it flies in open rocky and bushy places often in clearings among the higher pine woods. Common above the Col de Vizzavona. 4797 (2).JPG 003.JPG Figure 1 & 2. H. ne...

Memorable days searching for L. dispar batavus in Holland. When looking for L. dispar batavus in the field I made good use of any avaliable local knowledge. The entomologist that I met at the Woldlakebos was most helpful. In the fens, I also wanted to see the butterfly the Dutch call the Zilveren Ma...

Gosh, is that 28 extinctions of butterfly species in Holland or does that include moths, that seems a lot.

Thank you for the nice comments. I believe Holland, which is mainly a very agricultural country, has around the same number of butterfly species as Britain. That's not bad considering they have no mountains. I believe they have had a few extinctions but not as many as the U.K and they have retained ...

Corsican Fritillary Argynnis elisa. Godart 1823. I had read that Argynnis elisa was a common butterfly in the mountains of Corsica . However, in the Haute Corse region, we found it to be a very local butterfly and we only saw it on the steep slopes of the Col de Sorba at around 1200 meters. It has b...

Thanks Chris. I am pleased that you are enjoying the field reports.