NE Tunisia,
April 1999
The female is the larger insect
This is a rather distinctive species. It is only
found in Tunisia and Algeria. It flies throughout the summer, starting
in March and extending into October in a number of generations. We found
it in NE Tunisia at the very edge of a town. Unfortunately building work
was ongoing along the edge of the patch of ground they were flying over.
Almost certainly this has extended now but with tens of miles of similar
habitat nearby I hope they have managed to survive elsewhere. It is of
course possible that they were only congregating here for communal
purposes and that the breeding ground was actually much more extensive
than the area we found the adults in. If so their survival is almost
guaranteed. Note: 2005 - a revisit in January 2005 revealed this habitat
to be in clear and present danger - a dam has been built across the
small valley and will be flooded shortly with the loss of some excellent
habitat.
They flew fast and below the level of the Cistus plants, the
larval food plants, that dominated the area. These grew about 2 feed
high with about 2 feet of completely parched dry earth around each
plant. Consequently the butterflies could immediately disappear from
view as they zipped around this mini forest.
