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Field Notes

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Valais, Switzerland, July 2006

Identification of the difficult Mellicta group by genitalia.

Click on link to review the Mellicta.

Piedmont, Italy, July 2004

Vaud, Switzerland, July 2004

Cote d'Or, France, June 2005

Cote d'Or, France, June 2005

Valais, Switzerland, July 2004

Vaud, Switzerland, June 2004

Piedmont, Italy, July 2004

Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

In Bulgaria his butterfly seems to have a less heavily marked hindwing.

Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004

Underside of the butterfly above.

Valais, Switzerland, June 2003

Abruzzo Mts, Italy, May 2003

Abruzzo Mts, Italy, May 2003

Dijon, France, June 2002

This is one of the more distinctive of the smaller Fritillaries. Its upperside hindwing is extremely heavily marked, only a few small spots of orange ground colour remain forming ghostly rows. The underside post discal spots is distinctive too, small black spots being present inside the arched black lunules. It flies from low levels to high mountain meadows where it is usually common when encountered. In flight it usually looks dark which will alert the lepster to its presence.

The butterflies from central Italy are interesting. This species is not normally recognised as flying here, but the above photos provide undeniable proof of its presence. We found this one specimen flying at about 800m in lovely flowery meadows amongst scrub forest.

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