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2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 8065_male_Cote d'Or_8Jul07 | 3997_female_Haute-Marne_17Aug06 | 3990_female_Haute-Marne_17Aug06 |
The upf post-discal band is bright red, and the ground colour is dark brown to black with velvety appearance, especially in the male, more so when fresh. The post-discal band is often constricted at s3 with clear white-pupilled ocelli in s2, s4 and s5, most pronounced in the male. Lafranchis says the defining characteristic is the unh series of three to four small white spots, but 3990 clearly has only one, in s2. This subtitle of his ID book is "Identifying butterflies is easy", and whilst the book is excellent and a must for all butterfly enthusiasts, the variability of species often makes ID very very difficult, if not impossible. Aethiops is not uncommon in suitable mountainous regions, but also occurs at much lower altitudes than most other erebia (Lafranchis says 200m) in central and eastern France.
8065: a male, quite fresh with the characteristic very dark, almost black, ground colour. I suspect the darker patch is comprised of androconial (scent) scales, sometimes known as the sex-brand and only present in males. The red upf post-discal band is very different to the illustration shown in most text books, including T&L, where the band is rounded and "hugs" the three ocelli and doesn't extend far beyond them, especially below s2; in 8065 the band is more typical of other large erebia, wider, quite jagged and extending to s1. Also, the uph red post-discal series spots are wider and more flat-edged externally with the ocelli near the external edge, again very different from the text books. If you were trying to identify 8065 from T&L, you would conclude it wasn't aethiops. However, this may be more typical of lowland aethiops as compared to the more normal altitude specimens that do conform to the text books, but I'm just guessing here. Altitude 320m.
3997: the upf post-discal band and ocelli are much wider in 3997 than in the T&L illustration, and the ocellus in s2 is right at the external edge of the band. There is also a smudgy blind ocellus in s3. The uph ocelli are right at the bases of the post-discal red patches. However, there is no doubt that it is aethiops, and just another example of how variable some species can be. Altitude 365m.
3990: a typical female underside. The clearly defined light bands are quite characteristic of aethiops, although other erebia can be superficially quite similar. There is a very small white ocellus in s2. Altitude 365m.
3997_female_Haute-Marne_17Aug06
3990_female_Haute-Marne_17Aug06
