Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine)
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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| 15901_male_Cote d'Or_05Jun09 | 15945_male_Cote d'Or_05Jun09 |
I first saw achine at this one location near Dijon in late June 2007, a single tired and worn female, probably the last of the colony. I revisited the site again in early June 2008 and was rewarded with several fresh achine flying, not to mention a couple of Scarce Fritillaries (Euphydryas maturna). It is a very nervous butterfly, remarkably difficult to approach for a photograph, as these distance shots testify; any closer and it is off very quickly. The underside is magnificent, as can just about be seen from 15945 below.
15901: a rather worn male. Altitude 320m.
15945: I had this down as a male, possibly based on behaviour, although the extent of the unh white markings matches the illustration of the female in T&L rather better than the male. The sexes are so similar that maybe this is not a reliable pointer, though. Altitude 320m.
