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Chazara prieuri

Southern Hermit

Middle Atlas, Morocco, June 2005

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

(c) Peter Rowlings

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

A typical resting position in the dappled shade of a low shrub.

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

More unusual position in a tree. in the shade as usual.

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

Female of brown form uhagonis.

She was temporarily stunned during capture (a very rare event), hence able to be photographed in the open and with forewing exposed.

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

Montes Universales, Spain, August 2003

Again in the shade

This is a very local species only found in parts of Spain and Morocco. A well known location for it is the Montes Universales in Spain near Alberaccin. I was rather late for it in early August but hopeful. Unfortunately it was not to be found at its roadside haunts. So on our second day in the region we penetrated deep into these remote and wild hills. We found about 10 insects in total flying over the extremely hot and dry rocky habitat. They were localised to one SE facing hill, spending most of their time just at the northern edge where the scrub oak bushes were slightly more concentrated than elsewhere.

The butterflies spend nearly all their time in the behind the scrub oak bushes resting in the shade on the ground amongst old leaves and twigs. Here they are exquisitely camouflaged and for a large butterfly were very difficult to find even if you saw where they landed. They were most easily found here by flushing them out. They flew quickly revealing the classic "Hermit" pale V shape on the upperside before diving behind another nearby bush. This V was less distinct than the C. briseis with which it was flying and could normally be distinguished in flight. It is odd that so much of my footage is of this species in trees - that wasn't the normal behaviour. One explanation is that they were very much easier to approach in the trees than on the ground.

I found just a single brown form female uhagonis pictured above. The others were an even mix of males and females. As can be seen they were in good condition so it was surprising to think that about 1km away at the roadside they were already finished.