French Butterflies

Rather “off-patch”, but here are some of many butterflies I saw during our August road-trip around France.

Fritillaries were very plentiful, especially Silver-washed Fritillaries, which were present in numbers right through the Auvergne. I took nice pictures of these Knapweed Fritillaries in the Gorges du Tarn in Southern France; also the Scotch Argus and Jersey Tiger Moths there in the riverside vegetation.

In the French Alps I was very happy to find this Apollo butterfly, seen above Courchevel in the Vanoise National Park. The flower-rich Alpine meadows were full of butterflies and moths, including also Mountain Fritillary.

Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe)

Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)

Mountain Fritillary (Boloria napaea)

Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo)

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)

Emerging Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae)

Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria)

Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)