Sierra Nevada Butterflies - June 2024 Part 3

A bit further down the mountain is my favourite butterfly spot. Somewhere where I could spend days just watching all of the different species. There were maybe not quite as many species there as during my July visits, but I still saw more than 22 species in the hour, or so, that I was there.

There were butterflies everywhere I looked. First off was a Silver-studded Blue. At least I think it was, as I am still a little uncertain about the difference between Silver-studded and Idas Blues in the Sierra Nevada.

There were some Small Skippers flying there.

Also some beautiful Marsh Fritillaries each with their favourite perch that they would return to when disturbed.

Obviously Small Whites were the most numerous butterfly there, too, but close behind were Common Blues. I must have seen more than 15 of them.

Other common butterflies were Meadow Browns and Wall Browns.

I was also really pleased to see Mother-of-Pearl Blues. These are really beautiful butterflies and there were several of them flying there this year.

Again, there were plenty of Wall Browns, Bath Whites and Clouded Yellows.

Quite a number of butterflies flew past, which I could identify, but they didn't land. These included Black-veined Whites, Large Whites and Cleopatras. There were also a few that I couldn't identify, that looked as though they were Graylings of some kind.

I took a picture of this skipper and later identified it as a Large Grizzled Skipper.

There were a few Knapweed Fritillaries, which had taken up territory on prominent branches, seeing off any other butterflies that flew anywhere near.

I also saw lots of little Southern Brown Argus flying...

...and after I returned home and looked at my pictures, I noticed that some of them were Mountain Argus.

I also saw a few Speckled Woods, which I haven't seen in the Sierra Nevada before.

I saw some Iberian Marbled Whites and a Red Underwing Skipper, but wasn't quick enough to photograph them.

Eventually, I had to drag myself away, knowing that I had a three hour drive to get back to the villa. It had been a fantastic day, though and in total I managed to identify 36 species. Not as many as I would have seen in July, but still a fantastic number in one day.

Sierra Nevada Butterflies - July 2018

We have visited the same holiday villa north west of Malaga every second year since 2012 and more by chance than design I have driven the three hour trip to the Sierra Nevada on the 4th of July each time. It has been interesting to see the differences in butterflies each time.

This year I drove straight up to the Hoya de la Mora ski resort, arriving just before 9 o'clock, with the intention of heading straight up to look for Zullich's Blues, Agriades zullichii. However, as soon as I stepped out of the car I discovered that it was really windy up there.

Having driven so far, I thought that I may as well walk up the mountain to have a look anyway, hoping that the wind may die down. However, I didn't see any butterflies at all.

I then decided to walk down to the stream that I have visited in the past thinking that it would be more sheltered there. However, the wind seemed to be blowing straight down the valley, so all I saw all morning were two Common Blues, a Painted Lady, two Clouded Yellows and a Small Tortoiseshell, all sheltering from the wind.

Rather disheartened, I gave up and headed back to the car. I drove back down the mountain and thought that I may as well have a look in a little meadow where I have seen a lot of butterflies in the past. Normally, I only spend a few minutes here having spent most of my time in the high mountains, but this year I had about two and a half hours wondering around an area no bigger than a football pitch. Luckily this area was completely sheltered and I was able to see hundreds of butterflies.

The grassy area of the meadow had all sorts of small butterflies, such as Common Blues. Both Polyommatus icarus and Polyommatus celina occur in Sierra Nevada...

Silver-studded Blues, Plebejus argus hypochionus...

Idas Blues, Plebejus idas nevadensis...

Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera...

and Small Skippers, Thymelicus sylvestris.

On previous visits I have seen the almost identical Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola hemmingi. I think this is one that I saw this year.

In amongst the shrubs were various white butterflies, most of which wouldn't stop for a picture this year. There were Large Whites, Pieris brassicae, Iberian Marbled Whites, Melanargia lachesis, Black-veined Whites, Aporia crataegi, Cleopatras, Gonepteryx cleopatra mauretanica, and Small Whites, Pieris rapae.

I spotted one rather faded Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus...

And only one Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas lusitanicus. I am always surprised that they aren't seen in greater numbers in the Sierra Nevada.

There were also Oriental Meadow Browns, Hyponephele lupinnus, Wall Browns, Lasiommata megera, and Rock Graylings, Hipparchia alcyone enjoying a bit of shade. I was delighted to see a Spanish Gatekeeper, Pyronia bathseba. It was very difficult to approach, but I did manage a couple of distant pictures.

While I was stalking it, I saw a Nettle Tree Butterfly, Libythea celtis, the first time I have managed to see this species. Sadly it flew off before I could take its picture.

But I did manage to get a picture of this Bath White, Pontia daplidice.

There were a few Dusky Heaths, Coenonympha dorus.

In the more open spaces Clouded Yellows, Colias crocea, regularly flew past. Most were the regular yellow colour, but there were one or two of the pale helice form.

There were a few damp areas in an otherwise dry stream bed, which were attracting butterflies. Here are three Silver-studded Blues and an Idas Blue.

There were also some Small Tortoiseshells, Aglais urticae, enjoying the minerals.

I started to follow the stream bed down the hill and I was thrilled to see a Mother-of-pearl Blue, Plebicula nivescens. This was the first time I have seen this beautiful butterfly.

Further down the stream I noticed some fritillaries flying around. I think I had better talk about them in my next post.

Sierra Nevada Butterflies - July 2016 (1)

Two years ago I visited the Sierra Nevada for a day and saw a fantastic variety and number of butterflies. So, this year when we were on holiday near Malaga I took the opportunity for a return visit. There were three different locations that I had visited last year that I wanted to return to, but I had also been recommended another couple of spots to check out by Mike Prentice of Butterfly Conservation's European Interest Group.

It was a three hour drive from our rented villa to the first stop, which was on the road up to the ski resort at Hoya de la Mora at about 2,000 metres. This location had been recommended by Mike, who said I may find Spanish Chalkhill Blues, Polyommatus albicans, there. Unfortunately, I didn't see any, but I wasn't to be disappointed with the other butterflies I saw.

Initially I didn't see a lot there, but it was still before 9 in the morning, so a little early for butterflies There were a few Silver-studded Blues, Plebejus argus, flying amongst the scrub, though.

Other butterflies were less numerous there. There were a couple of Clouded Yellows, Colias crocea.

And a Wall Brown, Lasiommata megera, with a damaged wing.

I was really thrilled to see two Spotted Fritillaries, Melitaea didyma. They were very easily disturbed and quickly disappeared. Luckily I later saw another one that allowed me to get close enough to take a picture. This was one of the butterflies that I really wanted to see with its unusual markings.

I think this is a Thread-winged Lacewing of some kind. I had to follow it for ages before it stopped and I was able to get a better look at it. What an amazing creature!

On my way back to the car I saw another little blue butterfly that turned out to be a Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous. It somehow seemed out of place up in the mountains.

Not far away was this beautiful Blue-spot Hairstreak, Satyrium spini.

I had so many places I wanted to visit and so little time that I had to drag myself away to continue further up the mountain ...

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.