In many places, the UK in particular, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary (B. euphrosyne) is considerably less common than selene. However, in southern France the reverse seems to be true, and in Var and the Alpes-Maritimes selene does not occur so there is never an identification problem. In fact, having visited a variety of locations in southern France in the past fourteen years I have not seen a single selene, and euphrosyne was often common, sometimes very common. In 2011 and 2012 I encountered selene at a location in the Jura.

In 2017 I visited the département of Lozère in south central France, a rather wild and uncultivated region. At a lakeside location the weather was overcast and very little was flying except for a few Erebia ringlets, but the sun eventually came out and the whole area was suddenly filled with butterflies, including nine different species of Fritillary, including numerous selene.

Selene is superficially quite similar to euphrosyne. The principal differences are discussed on the euphrosyne page.

observations