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This appears to be a fairly uncommon butterfly of
the High Atlas mountains in Morocco. It flies at high altitudes,
reaching staggering levels of 3500m or more. The markings are rich and
bold and the eyespots are spectacular. It flies over barren slopes but
is attracted to the occasional thistle that grows at this altitude. The
one photographed above was found at 3000m at the end of the day when the
sun was rapidly loosing strength and a chill was already becoming
apparent. Thus I could approach and photograph an otherwise powerful and
shy butterfly. Is it a just Large Wall? Some authorities believe it is
a high altitude version of the Large Wall, arguing that its different
markings are a regional variation (found only in the High Atlas
mountains of Morocco, the nominal form maera found in the
neighbouring Middle Atlas mountains) and that its extra large size is a
result of its single brood (maera has 2 broods except in northern
Europe where there is a single brood), necessitated by its very high
altitude habitats. The latter argument stems from the fact that if there
is only a single brood per year, the larvae have longer to feed,
producing plump pupae and large butterflies. I am inclined to think
this is actually a separate species because of the same arguments above
- geographical isolation, single brood, relatively very high altitude
habitats compared to other populations and its larger size. |
