UV-LEDs outperform actinics for standalone moth monitoring. Open access at
link.springer.com/article/10.100…

A late Provence Hairstreak (Tomares ballus), last week in Spain.

Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus baeticus), last week in Spain, on Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), the larval foodplant.

The whites seem to have had no problems with the cold weather of the last 2 weeks, today Orangetip (A cardamines), Brimstone (G rhamni) plus 4 Pieris species, including this Southern Small White (P mannii). Males in spring are not so brightly colored as in summer.

Panoptes blue (Pseudophilotes panoptes), a very small Lycaenid ('Blues') which is widespread in Spain. We saw them at several spots last week.

After a good start of the butterfly season, the number of visits to butterfly transects in NL collapsed mid April with the drop in temperature. We hope for warmer weather next weekend.

Sooty Orange Tip (Zegris eupheme, zuidelijk oranjetipje) last week in Spain. A rapidly declining species living in extensively used agricultural land.

Callophrys avis now flying in Catalonia. Looks like a Green hairstreak (C rubi), but with orange eye-shadow.

Pieris ergane in the foothills of the Catalan Pyrenees today.

Erebia epistyge, a European endemic butterfly, today on the foot of the Pyrenees in Spain.

Morning at the foot of the Pyrenees

Wegberm tussen Mook en Plasmolen. Tot voor kort groeiden hier Voorjaarszegge, Moeslook en Stijf vergeet-mij-nietje (alle Rode Lijst!). Nu staat hier Inkarnaatklaver (uit Zuid-Europa) en Phacelia (Amerika).

Kunnen we iets zorgvuldiger omgaan met de laatste restanten wilde flora?

Today our first Green hairstreaks (groentje, Callophrys rubi) of this year. We saw at least 15 or so, the warm weekend brought them out very early.

It's important to save the grasslands where this rare butterfly occurs. Coenonympha oedippus is also listed on the Habitats Directive. EU Environment

Aantal vlinders neemt enorm af: 'Het hele systeem stort in elkaar' nu.nl/dieren/6307094…

I am looking for an enthusiastic student who wants to perform research on sound communication in butterflies, or on odor learning in butterfly larvae, at the organismal and/or molecular levels (e.g., brain circuitry and single-cell gene expression levels). Fellowship available!

The 2023 report on our Dutch monitoring schemes for butterflies, dragonflies, moths and bumblebees (in Dutch) is now available for download:
assets.vlinderstichting.nl/docs/b3ffb8ee-…

For each year the number of species having their highest and lowest index on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects.