Chestnut Heath (coenonympha glycerion)
2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 7261_sex?_Alpes Maritimes_24Jun07 | 7778_sex?_Alpes de Haute Provence_2Jul07 | 11981_sex?_Alpes de Haute Provence_5Jul08 |
There seems to me to be an amazing variation between individuals, even within the same locality, from strong unh ocelli to none at all, as well as variation in colouration - in fact there were very few that I would describe as chestnut. The male has a darker unf and smaller unh white markings. The books usually say that glycerion can be identified by the series of unh post-discal spots with brilliant white pupils. Obviously the specimens I have seen would have been hard to identify on this basis, and it is hard to believe that all three above are the same species. T&L says that the form bertolis with no ocelli occurs at higher altitudes.
7261: this rather strange specimen has a very strong chestnut colouring especially on the unf and the unh marginal band, with no white unh post-discal mark, and no ocellus at all in s1 or s5. I am rather surprised to find glycerion as strongly coloured as this (and 7261 is the most orange specimen I have seen) at such high altitude. Altitude 2100m.
7778: a rather more typical glycerion, if anything is typical with this species. Altitude 1470m.
11981: a typical example of the altitude form bertolis with no ocelli.
7261_sex?_Alpes Maritimes_24Jun07
7778_sex?_Alpes de Haute Provence_2Jul07
11981_sex?_Alpes de Haute Provence_5Jul08
