Sierra Nevada Fritillaries

I walked a little further down the dry stream bed to where it opened out into a rocky area. There were several fritillaries flying around fighting over this prized territory. It was so nice having time to observe them and take pictures of the upper and underside of the wings. I realised that they usually returned to the same spot after a bout of aerial combat, so I was able to wait for them to return for a photograph!

There were at least two Knapweed Fritillaries, Melitaea phoebe.

They seemed to be continually chasing off some Niobe Fritillaries, Argynnis niobe altonevadensis.

A Spotted Fritillary, Melitaea didyma, seemed to be at the bottom of the pecking order and was quickly seen off.

But a Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia beckeri, was more persistent, constantly returning to its favourite rose bush.

Occasionally a larger Fritillary would fly past, but it would soon be chased off before it had even landed. I suspect they were High Brown Fritillaries, Argynnis adippe, as that is the largest fritillary occurring in the Sierra Nevada.

There were also a few Queen of Spain Fritillaries, Issoria lathonia. They seemed to be the top dogs in the area.

I returned to the car to have a drink of water and while I was there I noticed two fritillaries on a yellow flower below me. I cautiously approached them and saw that they were Cardinal Fritillaries, Argynnis pandora.

Despite a disappointing start to my day, I ended up seeing 33 species. It was so nice being able to spend some time watching the butterflies in this little meadow.

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.

Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, aberration schmidtii

Our beautiful hot, dry summer came to an end a couple of weeks ago, but I have still been lucky enough to have been able to walk my weekly transect in reasonable weather. Last Wednesday was sunny, but very windy and cool. Despite that I still saw a reasonable number of butterflies including 36 Small Whites, 18 Green-veined Whites, 7 Large Whites, 4 Small Coppers, some Peacocks, Commas and Speckled Woods.

On my way back I took a different route and thought I would check out a sheltered corner where some mint grows in an old ditch. At first I didn't think there was much there, but I spotted a Peacock, which lead to me seeing a Small Copper, Lycaena Phlaeas. I then spotted a rather dull butterfly and thought it may have been a moth. But on closer inspection it turned out to also be a Small Copper. Instead of having lovely orange/copper markings, it was a cream colour. I believe this is an aberration known as schmidtii.

This is the second time this year that I have seen a special butterfly, when I didn't have my camera with me. Luckily I had my phone, but I wasn't able to get very close to the butterfly, so could only manage a distant shot.

As I followed this butterfly around the small patch of mint, trying to get a better picture, I spotted quite a few other butterflies. There turned out to be 7 Small Coppers there along with 2 Wall Browns, a Painted Lady, 2 Commas, 2 Peacocks and several whites. Here is a picture of a more conventional Small Copper.

I have returned to that spot a couple of times since, but the weather has been so poor there were no butterflies around. I will take my camera to work with me this week and if there is any good weather I will go and see if this special little butterfly is still there.

Nine days later and after three return visits I managed to see this butterfly again today. The weather was very dull and overcast and only 15 degrees. Despite that I saw five or six Small Coppers and then I noticed two squabbling in the air. One of them landed and I was delighted to see it was the schmidtii butterfly. I managed a couple of pictures and then it flew up and away, shortly before a very heavy shower.

Malaga, Spain - Butterflies July 2018

We are just back from two weeks' holiday in the south of Spain, at a villa where we have had three previous holidays. We had a great time, but there is not a lot new to report as far as butterflies are concerned.

This year the south of Spain had experienced a relatively cool spring and start to the summer, so I imagined that the butterflies may have benefited from more flowers and greenery. Some butterflies were seen in greater numbers than I have seen before, but others were noticeably less common.

Small Whites, Pieris rapae, are usually fairly common there and this year I saw more than usual. Quite often there would be three or four of them on the Lantana plants in the garden.

The other regular garden visitor is the Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus. This year I saw more than I remember seeing in previous years. They regularly flew through the garden and showed a lot of interest in a Polygala shrub in the garden, where I have previously found their eggs.

The first time we visited this area in 2012, I remember seeing hundreds of Southern Gatekeepers, Pyronia cecilia, in shady spots. That must have been a bumper year, as I have never seen them in such numbers since. This year I would see the odd one when I was out walking, but there were very few.

Probably the most common butterfly this year was the Southern Blue, Polyommatus celina. It used to be thought that this was the same species as the identical-looking Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, but recent genetic studies have shown it to be a separate species. They seemed particularly small this year. I wonder if this is to do with the availability of the food plant earlier in the year?

The Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera, also seemed to be more numerous than I have seen before.

There were one or two Wall Browns, Lasiommata megera, on the path up into the hills, but nowhere near as many as I have seen in previous years.

I was thrilled to see a Spanish Gatekeeper, Pyronia bathseba, very briefly. It is a butterfly that I have not seen previously and I couldn't understand why.  Sadly it was only a fleeting glimpse, but I saw it for long enough to be positive about its ID.

There were one or two Dusky Heaths, Coenonympha dorus, flying in the hills around the villa. In the past I saw them regularly on the tracks into the hills behind the villa. This year I only saw about six in total.

I regularly saw Geranium Bronzes, Cacyreus marshalli, flying among the Geraniums in the garden. I don't think I have seen so many of them in the past. I remember watching four of them squabbling over one particular plant and on a couple of occasions I saw them on Thyme and Lavender up in the hills. I don't think I have ever seen them outside formal gardens before.

On previous visits I saw lots of Sage Skippers, Syrinthus proto, on the wild time in the hills above the villa. This year they were notably absent, other than one sighting on the track outside the villa.

As in previous years I only saw one or two Clouded Yellows, Colias crocea.

The Small Heath, Coenonympha pamphilus, is a very common butterfly here in Scotland. In Southern Europe there is a different form that has less distinct markings. Previously, I have only seen two Small Heaths, but this year I regularly saw them.

Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas, were regularly seen feeding on Thyme in shadier areas.

I saw several Meadow Browns, Maniola jurtina, this year. In previous years I have only seen one or two.

Other butterflies that I saw, but didn't photograph were a Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui, Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus, and Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous. Previously there had been a little colony of Lang's Short-tailed Blues on a Plumbego bush in the garden, but sadly they didn't seem to be there any longer.

I visited an area next to the River Guadalhorce specifically to look for African Grass Blues, Zizeeria knysna. When I arrived there was a goat herder with his goats at the area I normally visit, so I walked upstream instead. This turned out to be a good move as there was a large area with Mint growing in it, which was covered in butterflies. I quickly managed to find some African Grass Blues.

The Southern Blues were the same size as the African Grass Blues. They would fight over choice flower heads and it was difficult to tell them apart when they were flying.

In the shade of some trees there were a few Speckled Woods, Pararge aegeria aegeria, and there were a lot of Small Whites, Small Coppers and Small Heaths in the area.

I saw a Mallow Skipper, Carcharodus alceae, there. A butterfly that I have seen quite regularly in previous years, but this was the only one I saw this year.

On our last day of the holiday I saw a Red-underwing Skipper, Spialia sertorius. Another butterfly that I had seen fairly regularly on previous visits.

It is interesting to speculate what causes some species to do better than others in a given year. We are hoping to return to this area next spring, which will be really interesting for me to see what butterflies are about then.

During the holiday I visited the Sierra Nevada mountains twice and saw an amazing number of butterflies.