Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta)
2009 photos highlighted in yellow. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 14996_male_Var_07May09 | 18270_male_Isere_12Jul09 | 4882_male_Var_21Apr07 |
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| 05_09-12_male?_Var_Jul05 | 15606_female_Var_31May09 | 13871_female_Vaucluse_24Aug08 |
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| 9238_sex?_Var_27Aug07 | 10197_male_Var_3May08 | 16668_male?_Var_25Jun09 |
One of the most attractive butterflies, and a majestic glider with an unmistakeable flight, gliding for quite long distances interspersed only by a few rapid wingbeats. The upperside has a blue-violet tinge especially when fresh and the underside is a very crisply-patterned pure white on red. It has taken me several years of trying to capture the blue sheen and I still don't really feel that I'm getting close, so these shots really don't do it justice. The old photo 05_09-12 seems closest. The sheen is not unlike that of the Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) in that it is visible at certain angles, but not in the same dramatic way that iris goes from purple to brown. I have seen specimens in earlier years with marked but small red-orange markings on the upperside, especially at the anal angle. It is the same size and the markings are superficially similar to the White Admiral (L. camilla) but they are not difficult to tell apart. Camilla does not occur in Var and neighbouring départements, so any Admiral seen there is almost bound to be reducta.
I had seen them in a number of locations across southern France but never in great numbers until 2004 when they were actually very common. They seemed to be attracted to a very small patch of water (almost the only water) in an otherwise completely dry river bed. The photo 05_09-28 was taken at the same location the following year.
The males are very territorial and patrol up and down their stretch, perching on the outer edges of a bush at about 2m off the ground (just high enough to make it difficult to photograph) to warn off potential competitors. They are early emergers in Var and there is a second brood which in long hot dry summers (normal in southern Var) are often noticeably smaller than the spring generation.
14496: a male, nectaring. Altitude 220m.
18270: a male, taking salts. This behaviour is almost as unusual as nectaring. The blue is starting to show here, but somehow the camera just does not capture the vibrancy of the colour. Altitude 1120m.
4882: this early season male appeared almost black, with only a hint of blue in the marginal dashes. I recall that that is how it seemed at the time, so don't think it's a camera-angle effect. Early specimens did seem very dark, so 4882 wasn't that unusual. Altitude 220m.
05_09-12: a male, I think, taking salts from a sweaty wrist. This catches the delicate blue marginal markings rather well.
15606: a female, covered in pollen, which makes it look rather scruffy. Altitude 250m.
13871: another female, also quite worn. The red markings at the anal angle are just visible on the enlarged version below, as well as a slight reddening at the upf apex. Altitude 280m.
9238: this reducta was visiting an outside light at 11.15pm!!! It was acting entirely moth-like, battering itself against the light. The photo was taken with flash, hence the black background. Altitude 60m.
10197: a typical territorial pose of a male. Altitude 450m.
16668: a male, I suspect. This distance photo at least starts to show the vibrancy of the red of the underside. Altitude 60m.
