Pyrenees July 2015 - Part I

Summer is to busy for butterfly enthusiasts to maintain a blog... hence the long time since the last post.
In the second half of July I visited the Pyrenees and a part of central Spain with two friends. In this part some pictures of the Pyrenees and the southern foothills of the Pyrenees.

First we headed to the French side and visited some locations near Gavarnie and Tourmalet to search for some Erebia's

Erebia gorgone, female

Erebia gorgone, male

Erebia lefebvrei, male

Erebia lefebvrei female

Erebia lefebvrei, same female

Erebia rondoui, male

Alpine accentor, pic made with my 100mm macro lens

Plebejus glandon

Plebejus pyrenaicus

Habitat at Gavarnie, Erebia lefebvrei was found at the more rocky outcrops with lots of loose laying stones. Erebia gorgone used the more grassy parts at the rocky edges.

Snowfinch, again with macro lens

After a few days in the high peaks we moved down south to some lower laying habitats near Ainsa:

Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) fulgens ainsae

Taxonomy of Agrodiaetus blues has always been very challenging. In most literature the taxon ainsae is seen as a subspecies of Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) dolus. Recent genetic studies show it is in fact closest related to Polyommatus fulgens. See http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/pierce/publications/pdfs/2010_Vila_et_al_Agrodiaetus.pdf

Melitaea (trivia) ignasiti

According to the recent work on Melitaea butterflies by Coutsis & Van Oorschot the Iberian taxon ignasiti should be considered a species based on differences in genital organs. The recent genetic study on Iberian butterflies by Dinca et al seems to support that view. So very happy to have found this nice individual.