New 2014 Southern Portugal travel logs (1 Viewer)

I have belatedly written up the six weeks that I spent in southern Portugal in January and May of this year. My first trip report on this forum in January 2013 had more than 1500 views, so I hope these new travel logs may also be of interest or instructive to foreign wildlife enthusiasts planning to visit the area in 2015.
My January 2014 visit was an out and out birding trip, but that made me want to experience the Algarve hills in spring when wild plants would be at their peak. The May visit was therefore concerned with seeing in an unresearched way what insects and other wildlife I would encounter whilst walking the countryside in manageable temperatures.
The reports are on my personal website at http://ramblingsnscribblings.wordpress.com/trip-reports/

Only had time for the January report, will read further when time permits.
Very well written and informative about a region with which I am familiar.

Hello Peter,

nice trip reports. Just a few comments on the butterflies shown in photographs ("Southern Portugal trip 3: 28 April – 19 May 2014"):
Panoptes Blue (lovely photo), given the boldness if the wing marks is likely to be a False Panoptes Blue (Pseudophilotes abencerragus) which has its Portuguese stronghold in the Algarve;
Meadow Fritillary is a Provençal Fritillary, the common species in this region. Meadow Fritillary is very rare, occurring only in Northern Portugal
Southern Marbled Skipper is a Sage Skipper (note the pattern of diffuse subterminal spots on the front wings); SMS is rare in Portugal.
The Mallow Skipper is most likely a False Mallow Skipper (due to the distribution of both taxa, despite this being not well known yet).
Finally, the lark shown as a Short-toed (http://ramblingsnscribblings.wordpress.com/trip-reports/short-toed-lark-1401-tavira/#main) is one of the Crested Larks.

Simon Wates, also a member of this forum, resident in the Algarve is likely to elaborate further on the butterflies' ID.

Never mind these minor comments, a very nice trip report on the whole. Nice photos!

Cheers,

Many thanks for this guidance on some of the trickier butterflies. Collins Butterfly Guide that I relied on in the field doesn't illustrate False Mallow Skipper and is vague as to the separation of the Panoptes / Baton Blue group. The Algarve Mallows I photographed do appear a little different to those captured previously in Cyprus.

I noted at the time that the skipper I took for SMS didn't really match anything in Collins. But I photographed this species in a number of locations and could send you all 8 pictures if you wish to see if you can separate any of them.

Best regards
Peter Law

No problem. Note I'm far from being a butterfly expert!
The Collins guide is no doubt the best guide for Europe, but sometimes at the regional level you need some further finer info (maps are necessarily relatively inaccurate, and on some cases are incomplete or wrong).
False Mallow Skipper is not illustrated because it is not possible to distinguish it from Mallow on external morphology (they look exactly the same); the only way is to perform a genitalia exam (which goes beyond the scope of that guide); the known distribution of the both species of the pair relies on such data but it is still not well known (but roughly is as shown on the guide maps).
For the Panoptes I'd get another opinion from a specialist in order to get your ID settled.
I'd have a look at your photos with pleasure, but as said above, I'm not a specialist (despite being a butterfly "aficionado").
Have also a look at this excellent German site ("Lepiforum"), always a great source of information:
1) http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Muschampia_Proto
2) http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Carcharodus_Baeticus

Cheers!

Thank you Rafael for this further guidance which is very instructive. Having re-checked my Sage Skipper photographs against both Collins and Lepiforum, I can see from the forewing pattern that they are all of that species as you state. Originally I was distracted by the redness in the hindwings that seemed to be more apparent in Collins' illustration of Southern Marbled Skipper.
I am likewise grateful for your advice on the status of Provencal and Meadow Fritillary in Portugal. As you say, local knowledge is highly desirable in addition to a published field guide when identifying very similar looking species.
I do not feel so concerned to separate Panoptes and False Baton Blue (to use the names in Collins) in my personal records since these appear to be such closely related species, or indeed Mallow and False Mallow Skipper for the reasons that you have outlined.

Once again, thanks and best regards
Peter Law