Finally, spring

[Guy Van de Poel & A. Kalus]

Over the weekend, I was in Valais, Switzerland.
Spring definitely got there, and so did Vanessa cardui. On the south-facing
slopes of the Rhone-valley near Martigny (Fully) there were, on the mountain
road I followed in search for leps, at least a 100 of these critters.
Although on the lower altitudes (400-600 m asl) you could still see them go
uphill with high speed, once above 800 m they would be feeding on rosa
flowers, growing in patches of 20-30 cm diameter. Sometimes they would
exhibit pre-mating behaviour - chasing each other, but no copulae were seen.
They looked like (my impression) they were recovering from the jouney they
made (southern Italy, probably north Africa). When I came back to southern
Germany today, starting from Bern, Switzerland the weather got worse, so
probably the guys better amuse themselves in the Alps before coming to
northern Europe.
I found some thistles, still very small, and no larvae to be seen (to *some*
this butterfly may be a painted lady, to me it is a distelvlinder - a
thistle-'flutter'). There may have been eggs, but I did not really look for
them. I once - in the Belgian Ardennes - saw a female V. cardui oviposit on
thistles 1 1/2 cm high (1/2 inch), so they would have been high enough for
them now. As a soldier, you're sometimes with your nose down in the dirt,
sometimes on first row for nature's greatest events (always with the same
nose).

A lot of other leps were caught, though spring was later than I expected it
to be, and so I did not really get what I was looking for (Pieris mannii), a
lot of species were on the wing already. I'm setting them now, and since I'm
not really familiar with the Valais fauna, a list with names would have to
wait a little bit. Those who are interested can always email me.

Back in rainy and windy Germany (sigh),

Guy.


Guy Van de Poel
Guy_VdP at t-online.de

Royal Entomological Society of Antwerp
http://www.freeyellow.com/members/fransjanssens/index.html



 
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