Sinodon Natural Park (S France) 4/07/23

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A pleasant morning walking the forest trails, though it was hot and humid. The main objective was to look for butterflies.

One of the first butterflies that I found was the brimstone-like Cleopatra with bright yellow panels on the upperwing. They always rested with the wings closed, obscuring the yellow, though I did manage a fluke shot of one in flight revealing the colourful upperwing.

The highlight of the trip was finding Southern White Admiral nectaring from flowers, at times just a metre away. The butterfly was immaculate in appearance,  the bluish sheen on the upperwing confusing me into thinking Lesser Purple Emperor whilst at the reserve, though later reference to books revealed the true identity.

Nearby a Scarce Swallowtail competed for attention though this individual did not hang around for long.

Other butterflies included Marbled White, Wall, Small Copper, and a hairstreak sp.

Cleopatra

Cleopatra

Southern White Admiral 

As above 

As above



Scarce Swallowtail 

As above

Marbled White

Wall

Small Copper

Hairstreak sp.


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