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Field Notes

Valais, Switzerland, June 2006

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, June 2006

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, June 2006

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, June 2006

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, June 2006

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, June 2005

ssp. berisalii

Valais, Switzerland, June 2005

ssp. berisalii

THANKS to Guy Padfield for this photo. It is the underside of the butterfly I photographed above - a process of co-operative lepidoptery photography. Visit his webpage for deione.

Valais, Switzerland, June 2005

If you look carefully there is the lepidopterist on the photo - Guy
took the underside of our butterfly above.

Valais, Switzerland, June 2005

ssp. berisalii

Very prominent bulges on the submarginal line of this specimen.

Var, France, May 2005

The bulging submarginal line is present in this butterfly too.

Var, France, May 2005

Same butterfly as above.

Pyrenees, N Spain, August 2003

Pyrenees, N Spain, August 2003

As above but more upperside showing

Pyrenees, N Spain, August 2003

My only view of the upperside.

This is one of the Mellicta which are notoriously difficult to tell apart. It is found in southern France and eastwards into Spain and also in parts of north Africa. It is absent from large areas within this range. As is usual for the Mellicta it is very variable and has several named subspecies across its range.

In Switzerland, the subspecies berisalii is rather more distinctive than its relatives from further south and east. It is confined to the Valais in Switzerland. This subspecies is a little smaller and has distinct bulges in the submarginal black line of the underside hindwing. This feature also appears in the photo from S France but this may not be such a reliable feature outside Switzerland. An interesting story surrounds the name of this subspecies. Berisal is a very small village on the Simplon Pass. It is very unlikely that this species flies (or flew) here. The collectors of the 19th centuary would pass by the populations of deione on their return from the famous collection area of Simplon pass just to the east. It seems likely that there was a mix up and Berisal was recorded as the collecting site.

At the moment I think the distinctive feature is the regularity and fineness of the upperside black lines. This gives the impression of a fine network of black lines on an orange background. Additionally, the bands between the black lines may alternate orange-red. There are some other features that might be of use but I'm currently debating this with several correspondents so won't compromise results but posting ideas here. One thing that seams universally unhelpful is the reference to dumb-bell shapes in the forewings. This feature is extremely variable in all 6 Mellictas that might just share ranges and may be present or absent in all of them.

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