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| Photos: explicit permission must be obtained from Matt Rowlings for any use of any images from eurobutterflies.com. |
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Scarce Heath
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2005 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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Jura, France, June 2004 |
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| I was tipped off about this
confidential colony in the Jura of France. It lies in a hidden valley at
roughly 600m altitude. The flat grass lands are clearly very wet for most
of the year as there is evidence all around of standing water that,
fortunately in June, appears to be regularly dried out. The meadows are
surrounded by mixed forests. It is a highly threatened species in Europe. It only lives in isolated colonies spotted about in central Europe and Scandinavia. The famous areas I am aware of are in central Sweden and eastern Poland. The chief threat appears to be habitat loss. The place I found it in France is heavily managed. I think if left alone the meadows would disappear under a canopy of forest. I don't know if it is managed specifically for this butterfly but I did find evidence of some natural management. This Heath is very dark in flight and lacks the bright orange of most other heaths. As such it is completely unmistakable with the other Heaths, only the False Ringlet, C. oedippus, being similar. It flies low amongst the tussocks of grass resting only briefly on twigs or grass low down. It is generally wary and difficult to approach. Later in the early afternoon they appeared to show interest in roosting in trees, either low down amongst the twiggy growth or higher up on leaves or pine needles. |