Western Marbled White (Melanargia occitanica)
2022 photographs highlighted in blue. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
10721_male_Var_22May08 | 46021_male_Var_17May19 | 10993_female_Var_31May08 | 15343_male_Bouches-du-Rhône_22May09 |
25022_male_Var_21May11 | 15340_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_22May09 | 10716_female_Var_22May08 |
A very attractive butterfly that is principally found in Spain but its distribution extends eastwards across southern France but no further. The unh veins are beautifully highlighted in a rather pale chocolate colour and the unh ocelli have rather bluish centres, to a greater or lesser degree. It is single brooded and is on the wing in May to mid-June. |
Until 2011, I had only found it in the western and central part of Var where is has been locally common, although I find it very nervous and difficult to approach and photograph, often settling low and in undergrowth. However, in 2015 I saw it in two locations further east in Var than it had been seen before, so maybe its range is spreading. |
ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
10721 | M |
a male, based on body shape and heavier markings. |
340 |
46021 | M | a male, quite heavily marked, much more so than 10721. | 420 |
10993 | F |
a female, based on body shape and the lightness of the markings, very light even by the standards of female occitanica. The light and delicate markings make this species look more a white than a Satyridae species in flight. |
200 |
15343 | M |
a male, as indicated by the paleness of the brown colouring of the veins. |
35 |
25022 | M | a male, typically settling low into the undergrowth late in the afternoon. | 340 |
15340 | F |
a female, somewhat darker brown around the veins. |
35 |
10716 | F |
a female underside, showing the delicate pale chocolate brown markings and subtle blue centres in the ocelli. It has a frustrating habit of settling only on the ground and in light undergrowth, making it very difficult to get a good photograph. |
340 |
15343_male_Bouches-du-Rhône_22May09
15340_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_22May09