Marseilles checklist 2014

[Charles Nicol]

Very interesting caterpillars !! Have you considered naming the three survivors ?

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Charles, and everyone back in the UK. I hope you're all coping with that bad weather and that it'll soon be over for you.

SPECIES No. 5: Cleopatra.
SPECIES No. 6: Holly Bue.
February 15, a blustery but mild day with a southerly wind, scattered cloud and a temperature of around 15 or 16°C.
No photo today of these two species as they blew through the garden early afternoon. Its not quite Spring yet but its looking like we could be 2 weeks ahead of schedule compared with last year.
These sightings motivated a walk to my home scrubland (Marseilles) where I only saw Humming-bird Hawkmoths, but in some number (15 or so in the space of 2 hours).

Humming-bird Hawkmoth near Rosemary - Panasonic FZ150 - 1/2000 sec.

Here is some Valerian in flower in a sunny spot.

Valerian 1

Valerian 2

I don't know when my Two-tailed Pasha caterpillars will pupate so I check up on them at least once every week end.
Two of them were moving about in their Strawberry Tree which is the most lively I've ever seen them.

jasius on walkabout

This one is returning to its silk pad where it usually spends most of its time.

jasius returning to its silk pad

I've marked the branch corresponding to each Caterpillar with a plastic tie so that if they pupate during the week when I'm at work I'll have a better chance of localising them later.

marking of branch

Cheers, Chris.

[Chris Jackson]

Monday, February 17th
SPECIES No. 7: Clouded Yellow
SPECIES No. 8: Western Dappled White
SPECIES No. 9: Green Hairstreak
I don't want to tempt the devil by screaming ITS SPRING down here, but I'm having a job holding back. Today at work, at midday there were blue skies and it was 14 to 15°C with little wind. My lunchtime stroll in the scrub produced these 3 species, which were definitely not there before the weekend, plus some familiar ones, all in the space of 45 minutes.

Clouded Yellow proof shot (1 individual) (which I will not be framing)

crocea

Western Dappled White (1 individual)

crameri

Green Hairstreak (two individuals)

rubi 1

rubi 2

Context for the Green Hairstreak

context rubi

I then saw a Lang's Short-tailed Blue which I have not seen for the past 3 weeks. It flew down into some Kermes Oak, then back up into its pine tree.

pirithous 1

pirithous 2

Context for LSTB

context pirithous

There were at least 4 Red Admirals flying around but these are no longer attracting my attention much - eyes peeled now for the season's newcomers.

atalanta

Chris

[Padfield]

Hi Chris. Your 'proof' shot proves crameri, not daplidice!

It seems to be a lot warmer chez toi que chez moi!

Guy

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Guy, I was in some doubt because I couldn't get a clear top shot or underside shot. It was very mobile and had me running through the scrub. I ended up breathless and smelling of wild thym.
Who runs around in the midday sun ..... ?
Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

It's actually clear even from this photo that it is crameri. There's no magic skill, it's just a case of having seen a few.

The possible confusion might be with Portuguese Dappled White (E. tagis) and there are reasons why I don't think yours is, although an underside shot would be very helpful for ID. It is really scarce but does occur around Marseille, so it is worth looking at each crameri. I have only seen one tagis against probably a thousand crameri, and I only saw the one courtesy of someone who knew where to look (Matt Rowlings).

Roger

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Roger,
I have just received the PACA Butterfly Atlas (Papillons de jour, Atlas de Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur) I ordered a week ago and I see that E. tagis features quite prominently, so I will pay attention in the future. This Atlas should help me eliminate any doubtful candidates for identification in my region.
PS
I will have to get it autographed by Messrs. Gibbons and Rowlings as I see they are contributors to this piece of research !!
Thanks, Chris

[LancsRover]

Hi Chris, good shot of the Humming-bird hawk-moth, I've seen a few here in Spain but as yet no pic. same with clouded yellow, I'll keep at it!

Russ

[Lee Hurrell]

I have to agree on the HBHM, lovely picture.

Good to see your species creeping up, yet to see one in Surrey!

Best wishes,

Lee

[Chris Jackson]

Wednesday February 19th. Thanks Russ and Lee,
Now, I owe Roger G. these 2 photos. At lunch-time today I returned to the spot where I found the crameri (Western Dappled White) on Monday, and the same individual was still there (there are no others about this week). With some perseverence it offered me 2 'ideal' shots (2 out of the 70 photos I took). There was nothing else flying - a bit too windy I think.
Western Dappled White - 2 photos of the same individual:

crameri, Vitrolles, Feb 19, Panasonic FZ150

crameri, Vitrolles, Feb 19, Panasonic FZ150

Cheers, Chris

[Lee Hurrell]

Love the second shot, Chris.

That's quite an indent on the forewing edge that crameri has. I would imagine that's for camouflage perhaps. Not a species I've seen, yet.

Best wishes,

Lee

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Lee, thanks for pointing out the indent in the costa, I hadn't noticed.
Here is an Iris (Iris lutescens) which is in flower right now down here in the scrub and which is quite remarkable when surrounded by its rather less lush environment.
Chris

Iris

Iris

[Chris Jackson]

Thursday February 20th
SPECIES No. 10: Wall Brown
Here's my first one of the year:

megera, Feb 20

Cheers, Chris

[Roger Gibbons]

Hi Colin,

From the underside view, you can tell it is crameri from the sharply-angled hindwing costa. In tagis, this is a smooth curve.

However, there is some variation in the sharpness of this angle and I have seen some that I knew to be crameri that you had to look at closely because the angle was quite obtuse (in every sense).

Roger

[Chris Jackson]

Thank you Roger, the sharply-angled hindwing costa is effectively distinctive.
Cheers, Chris.

[CFB]

Chris,

You are well ahead of me in numbers , but after lunch I went for a short stroll and encountered a Large Tortoiseshell, which I don't think is yet in your list . I was surprised to see it as, although it was quite warm (about 14 degrees), it was cloudy. This is a heavily cropped photo, as it was quite far away in a thicket of brambles. Later on we met again, and it actually touched the back of my hand, but no more photos.

--
Colin

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Colin,
That Large Tort is cool. My first and about only Large Tort last year was on March 5th. Generally it seems we're off to an early start - we'll see what the consequences are later. I'm lucky enough to be able to get out into the nature every weekend PLUS every lunchtime, which helps in racking up the sightings.
I would like to follow your annual checklist if you do one on line !
Chris

[Chris Jackson]

Sunday February 23rd
SPECIES No. 11: Large Tortoiseshell
SPECIES No. 12: Nettle Tree Butterfly
Gorgeous weather for an end of February, little wind, blue skies and at least 16°C in the shade. Photos below taken with a Sony compact (often at full zoom) with the resulting quality. I left my FZ150 at work unfortunately, its swivelling screen makes life so much easier.
Late morning I went expectantly looking for a Large Tort in the same place where I saw one last year, and found one, 1 week ahead of schedule. It chose to land on a stick and some orange peel for some reason. LTs are uncommon here and I only see one a year. (Colin pipped me to the post on LTs this year ).

Early afternoon, in St Marcel on the outskirts of Marseilles, I saw my first 2 Nettle Tree Butterflies, 1 week ahead of schedule. I believe that at this stage of the season, these have come out of hibernation and they don't seem to stay around for long. Two photos of the 1st individual:

I saw several male and female Cleopatras and so here are the photos I owe you from my 1st sighting 2 weeks back.
Male Cleopatra (flash of orange in flight):

Female Cleopatra (very pale in flight):

Context photo for celtis and cleopatra

Context photo for St. Marcel, Marseilles

A Speckled Wood trying to hide

Cheers, Chris

[Charles Nicol]

lovely to catch up on a whole bunch of your posts !!

all i have seen so far is a Small Tortoiseshell on our Sitting Room carpet

[Chris Jackson]

Thanks Charles,
Now that February is nearly out, I hope that back in the UK you'll get your first sightings soon. This week it has dropped down to around 12°C down here which seems to be the no-flying threshold for the local species. I hope it picks up a bit for this weekend.
Cheers, Chris