Butterflies from my garden here in France

It's now December 2018 and I am sitting in my warm home, on a dull day, with the rain pouring down outside and a strong wind blowing. It therefore seemed a good idea to review some of the shots of butterflies, that I took during the summer.

Although the following shots only show a fraction of the wide range of butterflies that exist here in the Dordogne, looking back through them, certainly brightened my day and hopefully yours!

All photographs taken with my Nikon D500 and a range of Nikon lenses.

Gatekeeper Butterfly (Pyronia tithonus)

The Gatekeeper, also known as the Hedge Brown, is a golden butterfly that provides a welcome sight in the middle of summer, when the fresh adults start to emerge. This butterfly spends much of its time basking with wings open. The habitat this butterfly requires is found over most of France. Colonies vary greatly in size, depending on the available habitat, ranging from a few dozen individuals to several thousand. Often mistaken for the more prevelant 'Common Brown', it is in fact a completely different species.

The gatekeeper butterfly tends to rest on vegetation during overcast or hazy sunshine conditions. During sunny weather, it flies from flower to flower gathering nectar. The gatekeeper is a relatively active butterfly, but not very mobile. Mobility in butterflies refers to the distance covered from flying, while activity refers to how often they are in flight. Their low mobility may also explain why they can be very abundant at one site, but not at a similar habitat only a few kilometres away.

Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio Machaon)

The Swallowtail is widespread and common throughout France. Individuals originating from France occasionally migrate across the English Channel and have been periodically recorded in Hampshire, Dorset, Sussex and the Isle of Wight, but such sightings are very rare - perhaps one or two sightings per year! 

The butterfly has a characteristic powerful gliding flight, and is capable of covering large distances. On warm sunny days, male Swallowtails patrol back and forth along a regular route in search of females. Often both sexes home in on a particular clump of bushes where courtship takes place. The pair often remain joined for 2 or 3 hours before the female departs. In the morning, and again in late afternoon both sexes can be seen flying freely about their habitat, pausing regularly to nectar, particularly on buddleia. When nectaring they keep their wings constantly fluttering to prevent the weight of their bodies from dragging down on the fragile flowers. 

The 'Scarce' Swallowtail Butterfly (Iphiclides Podalirius) 

Easily mistaken (especially in flight) to the Swallowtail, the 'Scarce Swallowtail' is a large butterfly; its wingspan ranges between 6.5 and 8.0 cm. Its black tiger stripes are on a wing background that varies from fairly bright yellow in the first brood to almost pure white in second brood butterflies. The undersides of the wings are coloured very similarly to the uppersides but with less black colouring near the wing margins. There is no distinctive difference in patterning between males and females.

Other than as a vagrant, flying across from central and southern Europe, this large and majestic butterfly is absent from Britain. Certainly in France and many other parts of mainland Europe it is a more common sight than the Swallowtail, which is sometimes referred to as the Common Swallowtail.

Silver Washed Fritillary Butterfly (Argynnis Paphia)

The Silver-washed Fritillary is one of Europe's largest and most magnificent butterflies. Its name refers to the suffused silvery markings on the underside hindwings. The first males emerge in late June, appearing about a week before the first females. Individuals can live for up to a month, with worn specimens seen as late as early September. 

Overnight, and during dull weather, the butterflies roost amongst oak leaves high in the tree tops. In the early morning they bask high up until the rays of the sun reach the forest floor, and then drift down to continue basking on bracken, hazel leaves, and other low vegetation. As the day warms up they become more active, nectaring avidly at thistles, bramble blossom and of course, buddleia. Both sexes also drink honey-dew from the surface of leaves, and males often settle on stony tracks to drink mineral-rich moisture.

The courtship ritual of the Silver-washed Fritillary is one of the most endearing and familiar sights of the summer. The female flies in a straight line along woodland tracks at a height of about 2 metres, and as she does so she emits an aphrodisiac scent from the tip of her abdomen. The male responds by following her closely, repeatedly looping under and over her, and showering her with pheromones released from the 4 black bars of androconial scales which run along the veins of his forewings.

Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa Atalanta)

A fairly large black, white and red butterfly, the red admiral is an impressive visitor to our gardens where it can be spotted feeding on buddleia and other flowers. It will also frequent all kinds of other habitats, from seashores to mountains! Adults sometimes hibernate, and may be seen flying on warm days throughout the year, although they are most common in the summer and early autumn. 

When another male encroaches on a red admiral's territory, the resident chases away the intruder, often in a vertical, helical path to disorient or tire out the intruder while minimizing the horizontal distance it travels from its perch. The red admiral immediately returns to its territory after chasing off encroaching males. Time spent patrolling increases as number of the intruder interactions increases. 

Map Butterfly (Araschnia Prorsa)

Unusual (and probably unique among French butterflies) in that the two broods of 'Arachnia' are completely different. The first brood in spring is coloured bright orange (Arachnia Lavana) whilst the second brood in summer is coloured black (Arachnia Prorsa) and looks like a smaller version of a White Admiral. 

The butterfly gets its name from the underside, which was thought to be like a map. In fact, the French name is 'La Carte'. It must have been quite amazing to the early entomologists to discover that the "two" species were in fact one and the same! It is widespread across France, reasonably common in the north and in the Pyrénées, but unusually it does not occur in the south-east corner of France. Even more confusing with this 'Map Butterfly', is that its Latin name (Arachnia) was based on the fact that its underwings resembled a spiders web!

Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)

The Common Blue is rather less common in France than it used to be, but it is certainly one of the most widespread of all the 'blues. You can expect to see these pretty little insects on wasteland and roadsides as well as in flowery grassland and gardens from April through until at least early September. The upper wings of the male common blue are violet blue with narrow black margins and white fringes unlike the female’s which are brown, tinted with blue scales with orange crescents on the outer margins of the fore-wings and orange crescents with black spots with on the margins of the hind-wings. The under wings of both the male and females are brownish grey with black and orange spots.

Peacock Butterfly (Aglais io)

The Peacock butterfly is a familiar sight in gardens across the British Isles and is unmistakable, with quite spectacular eyes on the upperside of the hindwings that give this butterfly its name. These eyes must appear very threatening to predators. The underside is a different matter altogether, being almost black, providing perfect camouflage when the butterfly is at rest on a tree trunk, or when hibernating. In addition to camouflage and large eyes, the butterfly is able to make a hissing sound by rubbing its wings together that is audible to human ears. All in all, this butterfly must appear very threatening to any predator that might come across it. This is a highly mobile butterfly that occurs throughout France.

This butterfly can turn up almost anywhere, given its broad distribution. This butterfly is often encountered while hibernating in outbuildings, such as a garage, shed or barn, where they are often in the company of other individuals. Other hibernation sites include hollow trees and wood piles, where their dark undersides provide excellent camouflage.

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