Spanish Gatekeeper (pyronia bathseba)
2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 10986_male_Var_31May08 | 5969_male_Var_29May07 | 11097_female_Bouche du Rhone_4Jun08 |
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| 6021_female_Var_29May07 |
This is essentially an Iberian species extending its range eastwards across the far south of France but becoming less common as far east as Var, which is about the easterly limit of its distribution. I had only seen a few each year, and mostly females, but this may be because my visits to France prior to 2006 were in mid-July at the end of the flight period when it was mostly females that had survived that late. In 2006 I was in Var for from early May to mid-June, but still only saw bathseba at one locality. In 2007 it was slightly more common at several sites, but never into double figures, but in 2008 I visited one coastal locality where it was out in huge numbers. It is an extremely attractive butterfly for a satyrid (apologies for any slight to other satyrids), with extensive vibrant orange. In some textbooks (including T&L) it is referred to as bathsheba.
I believe that all of the specimens I have seen are of the subspecies pardilloi which occurs in its eastern distribution in the Pyrenees and southern France, which has a wider unh pale yellow discal band, with the band and the ocelli better defined (especially in the female) than the nominate form which occurs in Spain.
10986: a male, following the normal pattern for pyronia species that the male upf orange is mainly confined to the post-discal band whereas in female it extends into the basal areas.
5969: a male, as indicated by the generally darker brown ground colour and the thinner white post-discal band. The white band only slightly "leaks" through the ocelli at s4 where there is no ocellus to stop it - compare the female in 6021. Altitude 200m.
11097: a female, showing the extensive orange, which is quite evident even in flight.
6021: a female, as indicated by the white post-discal band "escaping" through the gap in the ocelli and heading toward the margin, as compared to the male in 5969. A beautifully marked butterfly. Altitude 200m.
11097_female_Bouche du Rhone_4Jun08
