Sierra Nevada Butterflies - June 2024 Part 1

On 17^th June I went on my traditional butterfly pilgrimage to the Sierra Nevada. It is a 200 kilometre drive in both directions from the villa we were staying in, but well worth the effort. There are four places I always visit there, which I know offer a great variety of butterflies. Initially I drive right up to the main ski resort at Hoya de la Mora and leave the car in the car park before the road barrier. From here I take the path down to the San Juan stream.

This is mostly quite rocky and barren, but there are a lot of little Alpine-type plants between the rocks.

Down by the stream there are a few areas of damp grassland, where amazing Gentian grow along with Tirana, which has sticky leaves for catching insects.

Almost as soon as I started walking I saw a Painted Lady drinking from a damp area below a patch of snow. I saw a few more of them on my walk down the hill.

A little further on and a blue butterfly landed ahead of me, which turned out to be a male Escher’s Blue. And further down the slope I saw a couple more, but those were the only Escher’s Blue I saw. Quite different from my visits in early July when they are quite common.

Small Tortoiseshells were dotted along the route and I saw about ten of them.

More numerous were Wall Browns which flew rapidly among the rocks and seemed to disappear when they landed!

As with everywhere else on my trip Small Whites were very numerous. It is always worth checking each white butterfly, as two of them turned out to be Bath Whites!

I saw this one, beautifully marked, Safflower Skipper.

As the ground became a little damper and more vegetated there were a few Nevada Blues about. I was very pleased to see these as I didn’t expect that they would be flying until July.

There were about five Clouded Yellows on this walk. Most of those I saw were the pale form, helice.

I returned to the car park and continued up the closed road beyond the barrier. My intention was to see if any Zullich’s Blues were flying yet. I met a group of about ten butterfly enthusiasts with big lenses who were patrolling the area. They told me that there had been a Zullich’s Blue photographed there the day before. Sadly, none of us saw one that day. However, I did see a Spanish Argus.

There were also a few Nevada Blues flying there and Queen of Spain Fritillaries.

I could have spent so much longer walking these areas, but I had quite a tight itinerary and two more exciting locations to visit.

Back to Sierra Nevada

When I visited the Sierra Nevada on 4th July I had been disappointed to see so few butterflies in the mountains because of the high winds. I was delighted to see so many species in a lower meadow, but it seemed a shame to be in Spain and miss the opportunity to see some very special butterflies that live high in the Sierra Nevada.

So, on 10th July I drove back to take another look. I was very relieved when I arrived that it was a lovely sunny, still day, so I set of up the mountain from the Hoya de la Mora car park.

Initially, I didn’t see many butterflies, but suddenly I found myself in the middle of a colony of Nevada Blues, Polyommatus golgus. There were at least 20 of these beautiful butterflies catching the morning sun in a sheltered area.

A little further up the mountain I noticed a subtle change in the shade of blue and realised that I was now walking amongst Escher’s Blues, Polyommatus escheri. I was interested to notice that they were in discrete colonies, whereas on previous occasions I have seen these two species sharing the same space.

I continued up the mountain to an area where I had seen Zullich’s Blues, Agriades zullichi, in the past. I spent some time searching the area, with little luck. The ground seemed quite churned up, as if cattle had been grazing there on the very sparse vegetation. Certainly when I look back at pictures taken in the same area two years ago, it was a lot greener then.

I found some Spanish Argus, Aricia morronensis, which look quite similar.

And two or three Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardui.

There were also a few Spanish Brassy Ringlets, Erebia hispania, but as usual they were really difficult to approach without disturbing them.

Finally, I saw a Zullich’s Blue. They are very difficult to follow, as they fly low and blend into the background. Those that I saw looked very worn, but just as I was about to leave I saw a fresher-looking female. I was delighted to see this lovely butterfly again, but it is a little concerning that I only saw five individuals. Two years ago I estimate seeing more than 15 in this same location.

I then headed back down the mountain towards a stream that I have visited a few times in the past. It was interesting to see the difference in the butterflies I saw this time. The numbers were certainly lower than I had previously seen. There were the occasional Nevada Blue and Escher’s Blue, but the Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, was more numerous.

There were very few Silver-studded Blues, Plebejus argus, in amongst the low-growing junipers. On previous visits there were a lot more numerous.

Occasionally I would see a Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae, or Wall Brown on the more rocky slopes.

Down at the stream and along the wet grassy areas, where last year I had seen several Meadow Fritillaries, there were surprisingly few butterflies this year. I crossed the stream and searched a scrubby area, which had looked good from a distance, but amazingly there were no butterflies there, other than a couple of Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas.

The highlight for me was a beautiful Cardinal Fritillary, Argynnis pandora, that was sun bathing on a rock in the stream.

On my way back to the car I saw a couple of Small Whites and a long chase eventually allowed me to identify a Bath White. These white butterflies reminded me that I hadn’t seen any Apollos this trip. Just as I thought that, one flew past me and glided down the hill side. What a difference from two years ago when I saw so many.

Towards the end of my walk, I was surprised to find a snow bank blocking my route. I diverted around it and rejoined the path on the other side, which was wet with snowmelt. I was delighted to see some butterflies puddling on the path.

There were two Cardinals, two Small Tortoise shells and three blues.

The blues turned out to be a Common Blue, a Nevada Blue and an Escher’s Blue, demonstrating nicely the subtle differences between the species.

Had this been my first visit to the Sierra Nevada I would have thought that there were a lot of butterflies, but having visited previously I noticed that numbers were a lot lower than on previous visits. It is interesting to speculate why this would be.

Certainly, there was a lot more snow around, so possibly it had been cooler than in previous years. I also noticed that there were more cattle and goats than I had seen in previous years. Possibly they had grazed more of the wild flowers.

It is good to know that there are a lot of researchers working in the Sierra Nevada monitoring grazing and climate change and their impacts on invertebrates. It would be very interesting to talk to them and find out more about the long-term trends.

Sierra Nevada, Spain - Butterflies - July 2014

When looking through my butterfly books before we went on holiday to Spain, I kept noticing a little blob on the distribution maps to the east of Malaga. After further investigation I discovered this was the Sierra Nevada, a relatively isolated area of mountains and apparently the second highest range in Europe after the Alps. The highest peak is 3482 metres and due to its isolation many butterflies occur there that are not found in much of the rest of Spain.
120 species of butterflies have been recorded there and I am really grateful to Merche from http://waste.ideal.es/primeramariposas.htm who told me that July was a great time to look for butterflies there and she suggested a walk I should go on.
So on 4th July I got up early and drove for three hours from Alora to Hoya de la Mora. In winter this is a ski resort 2,550 metres up in the mountains. The road is blocked there, but if you want you can continue further up the mountains in a mini bus to over 3,100 metres.

The walk that had been suggested to me left the road at the barrier at Albergue Universitario and ran across the eastern slopes of the mountain to a stream called Borreguil de San Juan. The walk was only a couple of miles, but it took me three hours there and back because I spent most of my time watching butterflies!
Much of the landscape was very rocky with scree slopes and occasional green, damp areas. It was almost like walking through a giant rockery with the Alpine plants such as Sempervivum, Dianthus, Saxifrage and Gentian carpeting the ground.
Almost as soon as I set off an Apollo, Parnassius apollo nevadensis, landed on the slope above me. The subspecies occurring in the Sierra Nevada has orange markings within the ocelli, rather than the usual red. As the day warmed up I saw several of these big butterflies gliding up and down the hillsides, constantly on the move, and hardly ever landing.

I wasn’t able to identify most of the blues that I saw, until I looked at my pictures afterwards. Even then, I find it very difficult to differentiate between some species. I bought a great book about the butterflies of the Sierra Nevada “Las Mariposas Diurnas de Sierra Nevada”, which has detailed information about each species that lives there and a section on differentiating similar species. Unfortunately some of the characteristics mentioned in the book are not very apparent and the advice conflicts with information from other sources.
Both the Idas Blue, Plebejus idas, and the Silver-studded Blue, Plebejus argus, occur in the Sierra Nevada. The book says that for the Idas Blue the orange markings on the underside wings are more extensive and that the black spots have white rings round them. The fantastic Butterflies of Europe app says that the blue scales are more extensive on the hind wing of the Silver-studded Blue, but I have been told that this may not be the case in the Sierra Nevada! I have come to the conclusion, though, that those that I saw in this area were all Silver-studded Blues, but I would be happy to hear from anyone who thinks otherwise!

It was interesting that I could walk for 50 metres and see no butterflies and then come to an area where there were several flying around. It seemed that a subtle difference in habitat made a big difference in the number of butterflies.
This was the only Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, I saw that day.

I am pretty sure that the following pictures are all Escher’s Blue, Agrodiaetus escheri. These were the most common butterflies I saw high up in the mountains and they were mostly in areas around the prostrate Juniper scrub. They seem to have quite bold markings on the underside of the wings.

This Large Wall Brown, Lasiommata maera, flew across the path in front of me and kindly stopped for a picture. The form found in Sierra Nevada and much of the Iberian Peninsula is adrasta, which is lighter in colour with more extensive orange markings.

I descended a small path to a damp area with water running through it. Here I noticed the blues seemed a little smaller and lighter in colour. They turned out to be Nevada Blues, Polyommatus golgus.

This area also had quite a number of Common Blues flying in it. They were noticeably darker blue than the Nevada Blue. Recent genetic studies have revealed that in Europe the Common Blue is actually at least two different species, which look almost identical. Polyommatus icarus covers the majority of Europe, but Polyommatus celina occurs in the Iberian Peninsula and south east Europe. It is thought that one common ancestor split into the two species with celina occurring in north Africa and southern Europe and icarus inhabiting the colder north. As the climate varied over thousands of years the divide between the two species moved north or south. As if this isn't complicated enough the high, isolated Sierra Nevada, which is in the middle of the celina population has been found to also to be home to Polyommatus icarus. To make life even more confusing a third species, Polyommatus abdon, has been described from the mountains in south east Spain!

I have no idea which species of Common Blue I saw that day! They had much bolder markings than others I have seen, but the Common Blue is a very variable butterfly.

As I continued down to the Rio de San Juan I was excited to see some orange butterflies. They were very flighty and difficult to approach and they turned out to be Small Tortoiseshells, Aglais urticae. They seemed more orange than those in Scotland.

It was here that I briefly saw my first Purple-shot Copper, Lycaena alciphron. Later I was to see more of them near the Albergue Universitario where I got into trouble for taking pictures close to their military building. After I showed the soldier the pictures of butterflies I had been taking we parted on good terms!

On my return to the car I saw some Clouded Yellows. Most of them didn't stop, but I managed a distant picture of this one. Looking at the picture I thought that it was a Berger's Clouded Yellow, Coleas alfacariensis, given the lack of a dark border showing through on the hind wing. However, I have been told that it is standard Clouded Yellow, Coleas crocea.

After that, there was a bit of a Fritillary-fest. First a Heath Fritillary, Melitaea athalia. It took me a while to positively identify it, but it is the sub-species celadussa and form nevadensis!!

Then a Niobe Fritillary, Argynnis niobe. The subspecies occurring in Sierra Nevada is altonevadensis, which is said to be smaller and more brightly coloured than the nominate form.

A Queen of Spain Fritillary, Issoria lathonia.

And finally a Cardinal Fritillary, Argynnis pandora seitzi, just as I was getting into the car.

Frustrating moment of the morning was having a Spanish Brassy Ringlet, Erebia Hispania, in the view finder only for it to be chased away by a blue just before I managed to take a picture!
Other butterflies seen that morning were a Bath White and Wall Brown.
After that I drove down the mountain and stopped a couple of times to check what was flying in different areas. I'll put those butterflies on a separate post.