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Matt Rowlings

 

Field Notes

NW Greece, August 2008

Middle Atlas, Morocco, June 2005

Alpes de Haute Provence, France, August 2005

Macedonia, Greece, July 2004

Courtship - many minutes are spent chasing and posing on rocks.

Macedonia, Greece, July 2000

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

Macedonia, Greece, July 2000

Middle Atlas, Morocco, September 2001

This is a hot dry habitat specialist. It spends much of its time hiding from the sun amongst the branches of trees and shrubs in the heat of the day so it is best photographed in the morning before conditions get too hot. It likes the flowers of Thistles and this may often yield the best views. When on the move during the day it will often land on rocks where its cryptic colouration immediately hides its large form. Shadows, and overheating, are avoided by angling the wings directly into the sun.

It flies across southern Europe and north Africa. It is in serious decline in its northern range for reasons unknown. In Switzerland it is now a great rarity and my be extinct. In the Czech Republic we found a nature reserve that boasted about having this butterfly, the impression being that this was a great rarity here. Further south though it is widespread and sometimes common.

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