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Andalucía
This is a group of eight provinces in the South of Spain, see below for details. I have visited Andalucía a couple of times at Easter over the last few years, mainly in the provinces of Malaga, Granada and Almería. There is a large range of Butterfly species in this region of Spain due to the wide range of habitat and climatic conditions. There are mountainous areas across the region climbing to 3400m in the Sierra Nevada (Granada province). There are also areas which are practically desert which attract a range of chiefly North African species. Due to the similarity of species in southern Portugal (The Algarve) and southern Spain I've combined the two sections into one.
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The coastline of Malaga province is one of the most (over) developed places in Europe. However there are places to escape to, some of which are not far away. Inland from Estepona we found Manilva gorge with Chapman's green hairstreak, Callophrys avis, and Cleopatra, Gonepteryx cleopatra. Reasonably extensive nearby woodland was home to Provence hairstreak, Tomares ballus, Black-eyed blue, Glaucopsyche melanops and Morocco orange tip, Anthocharis belia. Several places, including Nerja and Rincon de la Victoria had Geranium bronze, Cacyreus marshalli flying near the Geraniums on the coastal. strip. (Species list) |
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| Species: | Scientific: | First sighting: | Last sighting: |
| Spanish festoon | Zerynthia rumina | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Large white | Pieris brassicae | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Small white | Artogeia rapae | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Moroccan orange tip | Anthocharis belia | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Clouded yellow | Colias crocea | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Cleopatra | Gonepteryx cleopatra | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Wood white | Leptidea sinapis | 11-Apr | 11-Apr |
| Green hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Chapman's green hairstreak | Callophrys avis | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Provence hairstreak | Tomares ballus | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Black-eyed blue | Glaucopsyche melanops | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Common blue | Polyommatus icarus | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Red admiral | Vanessa atalanta | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Painted lady | Vanessa cardui | 11-Apr | 11-Apr |
| Speckled wood | Pararge aegeria | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Wall | Lasiommata megera | 03-Apr | 03-Apr |
| Species: | Scientific: | First sighting: | Last sighting: |
| Swallowtail | Papilio machaon | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Southern scarce swallowtail | Iphiclides feisthamelii | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Spanish festoon | Zerynthia rumina | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Large white | Pieris brassicae | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Small white | Artogeia rapae | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Moroccan orange tip | Anthocharis belia | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Clouded yellow | Colias crocea | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Green hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Small copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Long-tailed blue | Lampides boeticus | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| African grass blue | Zizeeria knysna | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Holly blue | Celastrina argiolus | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Red admiral | Vanessa atalanta | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Painted lady | Vanessa cardui | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Spanish gatekeeper | Pyronia bathseba | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Speckled wood | Pararge aegeria | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Wall | Lasiommata megera | 05-Apr | 05-Apr |
| Species: | Scientific: | First sighting: | Last sighting: |
| Large white | Pieris brassicae | 01-Apr | 01-Apr |
| Small white | Artogeia rapae | 01-Apr | 01-Apr |
| Clouded yellow | Colias crocea | 13-Apr | 13-Apr |
| Small copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 13-Apr | 13-Apr |
| Species: | Scientific: | First sighting: | Last sighting: |
| Large white | Pieris brassicae | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Small white | Artogeia rapae | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Geranium bronze | Cacyreus marshalli | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
| Speckled wood | Pararge aegeria | 04-Apr | 04-Apr |
© All pictures in these pages copyright to Simon Coombes. Permission must be sought and obtained for any use. |