Spain: 18th July - 4th August : Lycaenids

The Iberian peninsula is a Lycaenid paradise
Enjoy.

Satyrium esculi
A SW European endemic that can be found from S France all over the Iberian peninsula

Tarucus theophrastus

In some southern coastal and desert like regions of Andalucia, like Cabo de Gata, this North-African species has some colonies. Butterflies are most easily found in the immediate vicinity of the larval foodplant Zizphus lotus.

Second picture shows the treacherous spines on the larval foodplant

Zizeeria knysna
A species with mainly an African distribution reaching Europe in the lower coastal zones of the Iberian peninsula. A species that can easily be found in S Spain in the vicinity of human settlements in grass lawns that are kept humid throughout summer. A very active and very small species so I was still happy to be able to make the picture here under.

Aricia (artaxerxes) montensis

This taxon was long time considered as a subspecies of Aricia artaxerxes, with some uncertainties on the exact distribution, some authors even placing populations of Greece under this taxon. Out of genetic research however it seems that the populations of the Iberian peninsula and N-Africa form a different genetic clade and the name montensis should belong to this clade. More information can be found in this article of Claudia P. Sañudo-Restrepo et al. Following map comes out of that article

(c) Claudia P. Sañudo-Restrepo et al.

The taxon is found in lots of mountainous areas in Spain, here in the Sierra Tejeda

Aricia morronensis ramburi

This is a local mountain species restricted to the Iberian peninsula, several subspecies have been described and precise relations between these subspecies is not yet fully understood. In the Sierra Nevada the subspecies ramburi can be found on barren, rocky screes where the larval foodplant of the genus Erodium is found in high numbers.

freshly emerging foodplants, probably Erodium cheilantifolium, can be seen on the left of the picture

Plebejus zullichi
This species is an endemic of the high zones of the Sierra Nevada. We searched for it on one of the smallest populations on the Veleta and could find one female in difficult circumstances with lots of wind. Unfortunately just when I wanted to start taking pictures the female flew off and got lost out of sight in the wind... So I can not present you any pics, I will certainly be back one day to search for it on the bigger populations of f.e the San Juan or the Mulhacen.

Polyommatus (Polyommatus) escheri
A widely spread species in mountainous areas of Spain. Larval foodplants are Astragalus species. There is some confusion to the subgeneric status of this taxon. Some authors put it in Agrodiaetus or Neolysandra, the most safe option however will probably be to put it in Polyommatus s.s.

First two pictures show a male and female from the Sierra de la Sagra, last pictures shows a male from the Sierra de Albarracin. I had some difficulties with the determination of the female as it has a very Aricia-like pattern on the underside. With the help of the opinions of some other people I found however some pictures of females with similar, albeit not this extreme, pattern on underside hindwing. Apart from the Aricia-like pattern near the upper edge of the hindwing the rest of the pattern looks typical for P. escheri female. 

Polyommatus (Plebicula) golgus
Two subspecies are known of this local species. The nominate out of the Sierra Nevada and the subspecies sagratrox out of the Sierra de la Sagra. We saw both subspecies:

Male (upper) and female (lower) of the nominate subspecies, easily found on the Veleta, above 2500m in the Sierra Nevada

Two males of the brighter colored subspecies sagratrox, clearly already abraded half of july, above 2000m in the Sierra de la Sagra

Polyommatus (Plebicula) nivescens

And yet another Iberian endemic, to be found in mountain ranges all over the country from the southern slopes of the Pyrenees to the Sierra Nevada, local and never really common. Picture below shows an individual of Sierra de Albarracin.

Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) fabressei

The subgenus Agrodiaetus consist of a series of very similar species, the most representatives of this subgenus can be found in W and C Asia, several species however can be found in the western mediterranean as well.  Several of the species show some phenotypical regional variability. Out of recent genetic studies it seems that some taxa described in the past should be synonimized and geographic distribution of some species is different than previously thought. An article on this matter by Vila et al. can be found by clicking here. Out of this research it seems that Agrodiaetus fabressei is limited to central Spain. The species is not uncommon at higher levels in Sierra de Albarracin.

Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) violetae

This species was initially considered monotypic being endemic to the Sierra de Almijara and Sierra Tejeda. The taxon subbaeticus from the sierras in the  NE of Andalucia, that was initially described as a subspecies of previous species, is nowadays however placed under this species (see article in previous species account).

Nominate in the Sierra Tejeda at 1500m

subspecies subbaeticus, all pics from Sierra de la Sagra. First picture shows why these blues are called 'furry blues', the males having a broad hairy scent mark on the front wing. Both pictures of the underside show the variation in the presence of a white stripe on the underside hindwing. We have seen this species in the Sierra de Cazorla at 670m and Sierra de la Sagra between 1300 to 2000m.

Polyommatus (Lysandra) albicans

The Lysandra subgenus is one of the several difficult to determine groups within the Lycaenids, especially in parts of the Iberian peninsula where the distribution of several species comes together. This seems to be a group of species that only relatively recently evolved and due to this and regular hybridization between the taxa it seems very difficult to find genetic lineages as well in this group. Luckily in the very south of Spain only one of the paler species is present. This is the palest and biggest of 3 pale Lysandra species, in flight at first sight it even remembers sometimes of a Pierid. The other pale Lysandra species being Polyommatus coridon with a wide distribution over a large part of Europe and the bivoltine Polyommatus hispanus that is present from NE quarter of Spain along the French Mediterranean area just into Italy. 

Male Polyommatus albicans in the Sierra de la Sagra

Polyommatus (Lysandra) (coridon) caelestissima

The taxonomic status of this taxon is still unclear. It is sometimes considered as a species on its own, but even so considered as a subspecies of Polyommatus coridon. The upperside is a clearer blue than that of P. coridon. It is restrictedto the eastern part of the central Iberian mountain system. In Sierra de Albarracin it is common between 1400-1700m.

This picture shows at least two other species, Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damon (forth from the left) and Polyommatus (Polyommatus) icarus s.l. (in the center under the flying individual).

More on nymphalids in the next episode...

Spain: 18th July - 4th August : Introduction + Papilionids & Pierids

Introduction

From about 18th of july until 4th of august I spent time in Spain with my partner and a befriended couple, mainly in Andalucia but on the way home also 2 days in central Spain. On this trip attention was mainly paid to butterflies but also dragonflies, birds and even cetaceans got our attention.
Roughly we visited following locations, in chronological order. The letters between brackets show the main interest of the visit; butterflies (B), dragonflies (D), birds (V) or cetaceans (C):

1- Sierra de Cazorla (D)

2- Sierra de la Sagra (B)

3- Sierra Nevada (western and eastern side) (B)

4- Cabo de Gata (B, D, V)

5- Motril surroundings (D, B, V)

6- Las Alpujarras (B)

7- Sierra Tejeda (B)

8- Jimena de la Frontera surroundings (D)

9- Tarifa surroundings (B, V, D, C)

10- Cordoba (D)

11- Serrania de Cuenca (B)

12- Sierra de Albarracin (B)

In the next few days a few blogposts will follow giving a quick overview of the butterfly species seen on this trip. Hope you all enjoy.

Papilionids:

Parnassius apollo

A widespread species in Europe but in a lot of regions the species is local and declining. More than 100 subspecies have been described. Lots of these subspecies have only low taxonomic value and one can even suspect that description of some of them was made out of commercial than out of scientific interest as the species is popular with commercial collectors. There are some populations in the south of Spain, f.e. this one from the Sierra Nevada where the species is common. At this location the subspecies nevadensis was described. The reddish spots are more orange than in most other European populations

Pierids

Pieris mannii (?)

These maps were published in a German monograph on the species by Heiner Ziegler and Ulf Eitschberger (1999; click here for the monograph):

(c) Ziegler & Eitschberger

The subspecies reskovitsi (border Hungary/Slovakia) and the subspecies haroldi are considered extinct, the same was long thought for the subspecies andegava. Recently however unknown populations were discovered in France and Luxemburg. The subspecies alpigena has recently made a major increase and now can be found in large parts of S Germany. In Spain populations have recently been found in the NW as well but in large parts the subspecies roberti is local and sightings are few.

(c) Ziegler & Eitschberger

This picture I made in Torcal de Antequera, NW of Malaga. Although the discal spot seems rather small (unlike the description of the subspecies), the large amount of dusting on the underside hindwing made it really stand out and should be enough to exclude Pieris rapae, a species commonly present on this location. Any comments on the determination are welcome.

EDIT: Apparently the individual pictured below should best be considered to be a Pieris rapae. I still find the underside hindwing dusting very aberrant for the Pieris rapae but Pieris mannii should indeed have a much bigger discal spot.

Colotis evagore

This is a species with mainly an African distribution. It is since long present in S Spain and has been expanding northwards and can nowadays been found into Catalunya. It has a phenology typical for some species with several generations at the northern edge of their distribution. Numbers collapse during and after winter and build up during the several generations with biggest numbers in later generations, for this species in autumn until early winter. In Spain the species is typical for dry agricultural areas in hilly landscape where the larval foodplant Capparis spinosa is common, from sea level until 1000m. In the eastern part of Las Alpujarras we found already nice numbers end of july.

There is some variation in the amount of black on the upperside, mostly there is more black in later generations. The second picture shows the typical flowers and spined branches of the larval foodplant. The edible flower buds are the well known capers. Third picture shows an egg, just left of the center on the underside of the new branch.

More on Spanish Lycaenids in a next post...

La Douce France - June 2016 - part IV

In the start of my trip, before I got to the Vaucluse, I passed at a low valley at the northern side of the Alps where Coenonympha oedippus still has some populations. This is a species of wet hay fields and marshes and because of agricultural intensification since WWII it has lost lots of its former distribution. In France it has still some populations in the west near the Atlantic coast but also in some valleys at the N edge of the Alps. When I was there butterflies were already a bit abraded with a lot of females on the wing so over the peak of the flight period. The location was very wet (two of the paths I selected beforehand on google earth had some 30cm of water on them...) and I had to search for a way to get in the right habitat but after some time I was able to get to a nice location where I easily found some 20 butterflies. This species is considered as endangered (EN) on the IUCN red list and is listed on the Habitats Directive Annexes 2 and 4 and Bern Convention Annex 2.

Coenonympha oedippus, female

From the Alpine butterflies a few I still hadn't seen after several trips to the Alps. Two of them especially attracted my interest. Two species that fly a bit lower and/or have the peak in their flight period a bit earlier. So when returning from Corsica I wanted to focus on those two species.
First I went to the region of Col d'Allos to search for Euchloe simplonia. I easily found several individuals and could get nice pics of one of them.

Euchloe simplonia

At the same location I saw some other nice species:

Lycaena tityrus, male of the alpine form subalpinus lacking orange tones on the upperside, compare with the Belgian lowland males on one of my previous blogposts

Aricia eumedon playing hide-and-seek on a flower of its larval foodplant, Geranium species

Coenonympha (gardetta) darwiniana, nowadays mostly considered as a subspecies of Coenonympha gardetta replacing it at the more southern slopes but in the past sometimes considered as a species on its own or as a stable hybrid population between Coenonympha gardetta and Coenonympha arcania.

Erebia triaria, the first time I saw this species was at the Col d'Allos as well but then it was an abraded individual early august and at 2400m and this for an early species mostly to be found between 400-2200m! When I saw it early august it was however in 2013, a year with spring everywhere in Europe starting very late what probably caused that individual to be still on the wing that late. So I was happy to see the species again, a bit fresher and more in its normal flight period.

Phengaris arion

The second species I wanted to see was Euphydryas intermedia. Although I had some exact GPS-locations from the data portal observation.org I decided to search in another valley, mentioned in the earlier mentioned ecological guide of Lafranchis, the Névache valley. And with succes! I found several individuals, some already abraded so probably already on the wing for some time.

 

Euphydryas intermedia

Habitat of Euphydryas intermedia

Other species I got on picture at this location:

In Névache it was the nominate of Coenonympha gardetta flying around

Lasiommata petropolitana, male

La Douce France - June 2016 - part III

This part is all about Corsican endemics. I was on Corsica once before second half of July to see the endemic birds, my interest in butterflies however was then still limited to Belgian butterflies. I had however seen some of the endemic butterflies; Hipparchia neomiris, Hipparchia aristaeus and Coenonympha corinna.
So lots of endemics were still left for me!
An overview of endemic species on Corsica & Sardinia:

Endemic species	Corsica	Sardinia	Elba
Papilio hospiton	x	x
Euchloe insularis	x	x
Pseudophilotes barbagiae		x
Plebejus argus corsicus	x
Plebejus bellieri	x	x
Plebejus bellieri villai			x
Polyommatus (coridon) nufrellensis	x
Polyommatus (coridon) gennargenti		x
Aglais (urticae) ichnusa	x	x
Argynnis elisa	x	x
Hipparchia aristaeus	x	x	x
Hipparchia neomiris	x	x	x
Maniola nurag		x
Coenonympha corinna	x	x
Coenonympha (corinna) elbana			x
Lasiommata paramegera	x	x
Spialia therapne	x	x

As being there still at the end of June for some species I was fairly late (Euchloe insularis for example, I saw one probable flying but could not get a closer look...) or I was too early (Polyommatus (coridon) nufrellensis only starts flying from second decade of July; Hipparchia neomiris I missed on this trip although some were already flying around during my stay, when you visit Corsica later in July this species is difficult to miss). About all other species flying on Corsica I could get a glimpse off.

Papilio hospiton

Late june is still a good period to see this species when you visit the higher stations. I saw the species at Haut Asco (1-3 individuals) and at Col de Sorba (10-15 individuals). I kept an eye open to see if I could find individuals with intermediate characters with Papilio machaon as hybridisation often occurs but I only saw specimens that phenotypically were typical P. hospiton. This species is most easily found by its hilltopping behaviour where males hold territorium on high points in the landscape, so just get to a high mountain top (for example east of Col de Sorba) and you shouldn't miss it.

 

Papilio hospiton

Plebejus (argus) corsicus

According to genetic research this taxon is now mostly considered as a subspecies of Plebejus argus although they look very specific with the black spots on underside of the wings with a greyish hue. I saw this species at Haut-Asco in great number

Plebejus (argus) corsicus, copula, female on the left

Plebejus (argus) corsicus, 2 males

Plebejus (argus) corsicus, male

Plebejus bellieri

This species was long considered as a subspecies of Plebejus idas but nowadays is mostly considered as a species on its own. I saw them in good numbers (less common than Plebejus (argus) corsicus) at Haut-Asco. For both species flight period had just begun at this height, almost all of the specimens I saw were fresh. Easily recognised by the black dots at the hindwing margin.

 

Plebejus bellieri, male upper and underside

Underside picture on the presumed larval foodplant Genista species

Aglais (urticae) ichnusa

Although still recognised as a species on fauna europaea recent genetic research indicates that it should probably be regarded as a subspecies of Aglais urticae. Second half of June is a good period to find this sometimes elusive taxon. It is the period when the flight period of the offspring of the wintering generation starts. Species of the genera Aglais, Vanessa and Nymphalis are well known to swarm out directly after emergence. A good tactic to find Aglais (urticae) ichnusa is to post at high location above tree line and wandering specimens will use these locations to get a rest before moving further on. I saw the taxon at Haut-Asco and at Col de Sorba.

Aglais (urticae) ichnusa

Argynnis elisa

This species is most related to Argynnis aglaja. It starts its flight period end of June so I was lucky to find some specimens at Haut-Asco.

Argynnis elisa

Hipparchia aristaeus

One of the several cryptic Hipparchia species in the Mediterranean area, no look-a-likes are present on the island. North of Corte the species was already on the wing in small numbers.

Hipparchia aristaeus

Coenonympha corinna

A fairly common species at lots of natural locations, less in cultivated areas.

Coenonympha corinna, showing some variation in spots on underside hindwing

Lasiommata paramegera

Although very common a difficult species to get on picture as they are very active. It is unclear to me what the status is of the Balearic Lasiommata species, in some literature it is stated that Lasiommata paramegera is present on the Balearics as well, other literature place the brightly patterned Balearic butterflies in Lasiommata megaera. If someone can inform me with the present status of the Balearic Lasiommata butterflies I would be very interested.

Lasiommata paramegera, female

Lasiommata paramegera, male

Lasiommata paramegera, underside

Spialia therapne

I was a bit afraid to be in between generations for this species, fortunately I found the species at 2 locations, for the second location I was tipped and I could get nice pics on that location.

Spialia therapne