Yes, I wasn't sure about those two - no labels.

This box of cased butterflies turned up at the local recycling centre and was passed on to me. They are a mixture of British, French, Swiss and Egyptian specimens from the early part of the last century some of which are completely moth eaten while others are in quite good condition. Most have label...

Nor me David. In fact its the first aberrant one I've seen in many hundreds - they seem to be very homogenous - if that's the right word. Pearl borders on the other hand are much more varied in their markings - at least in this area - and I've seen several similar to this one. This is one from Mabie...

Spotted this very pretty aberrant small pearl bordered fritillary today at Screel, Dumfries and Galloway. Owen

Interesting reading Pieter. The habitat and altitude was similar to the colonies studied in the paper - It seems likely that the food plant will be the same too.

Thanks David for the ID. I looked it up and the leaves certainly look similar - we even get this species in Scotland.

Thanks for the confirmation Roger. It was great to see some true alpine species on this trip - I've always been too early in the past.

I've found a better image of the mystery gentian. There must be someone on here who can name the species.

There were a few of these at about 2000m in the Vanoise.

The plant was quite small and difficult to find. The butterflies had no trouble locating it though and I found several plants within a radius of about 30m by following the females. Each one had a few eggs attached.

I've recently returned from a very rewarding trip to France. Due to the timing of my previous visits I had not seen mountain alcon blue (or found it's food plant the cross leaved gentian), and this was near the top of my must see butterflies list. I had spent several days in the Vanoise area and had...

Thanks Guy and Roger. It looks like I'm going to have to try harder and get some good uns shots.

Cheers, Owen

Hi Guy,

Many thanks for your id's. Do you know of a reference book for skippers as I have loads of images from previous trips which are still unidentified.

Cheers, Owen

Thanks for the tip Guy, I may well try again next year around the middle of July. Here's a few others I saw on my trip. Throughout the week I came across a lot of brown arguses but this one at 1400m struck me as being a little different. Unfortunately I only got the one shot but there were prominent...

Many thanks for confirming most of my id's Guy. I would have liked to have seen Gavarnie's and Lefebvre's but perhaps I was just a little too late in the season.

Owen

Some more Erebia. The first two images are of Autumn Ringlet I think. P1060200 resize.jpg P1060203 resize.jpg I'm certain this is a Large Ringlet with its chequered fringes. P1060215 resize.jpg Common Brassy? P1060234 resize.jpg This one is very similar to the Pyrenean form of the Yellow Spotted Rin...

Here are some more images of the same species. Cheers, Owen

I'm certain they are not Bright-eyed. I saw lots of these in the spring and while the uppersides look similar the undersides were quite different. I will try and find an image to compare and post it tomorrow. It was very busy with mostly French holidaymakers and it was hard to find space to park aft...

Here's a few photos I took of butterflies in the Neouvielle and Gavarnie areas. I saw several species of ringlet that I had not seen before, never having been in France in the late summer. The first two images are I'm pretty sure are Spanish Brassy Ringlets, female and male at around 1500m. P1050906...

Spotted this unusual female common blue today on my transect at Mabie Forest, Galloway. Taken on my mobile phone so please excuse the quality. Owen