Beaune, France 5/25

[Mark Walker]

Well, at long last I was able to make a trip overseas.  Six days in France -
two in Paris, four in Lyon - and a company car to drive in between.  The
weather was miserable (at least for butterflying), with mostly cloudy skies
and plenty of rain.  I managed to outrun clouds, searching for patches of
sunlight, and was able to at least spend a few hours looking at Leps.
Meanwhile, the work was long - and my days in Lyon were spent wholly between
work, Bryan's Cafe, and the hotel Arianne.

Still, driving on small roads between Paris and Lyon is an experience well
worth the effort.  Chateau's and small villages nestled in and among wooded
hillsides - something to behold, for sure.

The spot is in the hillside areas just north and west of Beaune, France.
Good habitat here - on a sunny day I'll bet things would have been even
better.  Still, the butterflies were plentiful.  Lots of day flying moths,
also - which I haven't even attempted to identify.  And what's that strange
looking Odonata-like thing - yellow and black with two incredibly long
antennae?  It almost looks as if it's got scales - very colorful and similar
to a butterfly - but the wing texture and shape is definitely
dragonfly-like.  Strange.  At least for a California boy.

Lots of blues - what I thought were mostly a single species, but turned out
to be several species (based on the dorsal coloration and the presence or
lack of whitish cell spots on the hindwing below).  I'm still far from being
an expert on these - and I'm seriously lacking in field guide support (I
know - I should buy the European Leps CD).  I'm a little blown away that
these span more than one genus.

Several of the blues are different from the Common Blue, but very similar to
our Silvery Blue - with large black spots and lacking any orange lanules on
the ventral hindwing.  Another has similar markings on the ventral side, but
appears to be much smaller with less detail (and dimorphic).  Another has a
pronounced greenish-blue scaling over 2/3 of the underside of the hindwing.
Any suggestions would be welcome.

Here's my best attempt at identifying what I saw (sorry, the common names
are in English):

Coenonympha arcania (Pearly Heath)
Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath)
Pararge aegeria (Speckled Wood)
Erebia alberganus (Almond-eyed Ringlet)

Artogeia rapae (Small White)
Artogeia napi meridionalis? (Green-veined White)
Gonepteryx rhamni (Brimstone)

Melitaea phoebe phoebe (Knapweed Fritillary)
Melitaea cinxia cinxia (Glanville Fritillary)
Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral)
Aglais urticae (Small Tortoiseshell)

Lycaena sp?  (looking most similar to our L. gorgon)
Iolana iolas (Iolas Blue)
Agrodiaetus sp?
Polyommatus icarus (Common Blue)
Lysandra bellargus (Adonis Blue)
Celastrina argiolus (Holly Blue)
Hamearis lucina (Duke of Burgundy Fritillary)
Callophrys rubi (Green Hairstreak)

Erynnis sp? (small with row of white dots on ventral hindwing margin)
Carcharodus alceae (Mallow Skipper)
Carterocephalus palaemon (Checkered Skipper)
Ochlodes venatus (Large Skipper)

Mark Walker
Back in the U.S.A.