I think it must be a characteristic of the Euphydryas group that lay eggs in very large batches. Prone to booms and busts as parasites take their toll when numbers are high. Not sure if anyone has studied Cynthia though
False Heath Fritillary Melitaea diamina prefers damper habitats than Heath Fritillary (athalia) even though it shares food plants (Plantago etc). It is widespread but local in the Alps. Hindwings are always darker than forewings @europebutterfly.bsky.social
Important new study showing the complexity of butterfly declines. Cold adapted and habitat specialists are doing worse due to climate change and agricultural intensification
An absolute explosion Cynthia Fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia) larvae on Italian side of the Col de Angel 2600m. A really funky caterpillar. Literally thousands everywhere, hard to avoid treading on them. Carnage as they crossed the road in search of Alpine Plantain. @europebutterfly.bsky.social
The French Alps are brilliant. Today I saw 36 sp butterfly up this valley in the Queyras, around 2100m. Some goodies were Almond-eyed Ringlet Erebia alberganus, Osiris Blue Cupido osiris, and Alpine Blue Agriades orbitulus. All recorded on ButterflyCount app @europebutterfly.bsky.social
Avui ha nascut la primera Papilio machaon. Fins que surt de la crisàlide és a temps real, un cop comença a estirar les ales està accelerat.
Papilio machaon 2601
#papiliomachaon #papallonareina #swallowtail
More highlights from our butterfly tour in northern Greece. It's one of our favourite, original tours, & we're already thinking about next year. So are others it seems & some have already booked - will you join us too?
Find out more here:
greenwings.co/our-holidays...
@europebutterfly.bsky.social
Vanessa cardui and Polyommatus icarus 🦋
Switzerland 🇨🇭,
June 2026
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
@europebutterfly.bsky.social
@butterflies-moths.bsky.social
#Lepidoptera
#butterflies
Another fantastic day on the @greenwingstours.bsky.social tour of Northern Greece, with some very special butterflies seen, including Lesser Fiery Copper, Map, Yellow-banded Skipper and Blue Argus; hard to choose a favourite given all we've seen. What a wonderful part of the world!
These days, you may have seen many Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) 👀🦋
But did you know they make an extraordinary journey of more than 10,000 km between Africa and Europe, across successive generations? 🌍
🔗 Download the poster here: catalanbms.org/en/recursos/
