EduardoMarabuto Photography
Melitaea aetherie
Although one of the rarest butterflies in Europe, what we know about the Aetherie's Fritillary is increasing year after year, especially in Portugal where we knew virtually nothing about its life-cycle until a couple of years ago, there being only a handful of records from the country.
In the last years not only we have made it to double its known distribution (i. e. we in fact doubled the number of 100km2 squares) but have unveiled some important aspects of its biology and got to know its quite an endangered but mobile species of traditionally managed large cereal meadows in the south of Portugal.
You can see other pictures and more information here:
www.flickr.com/photos/mothguy/699819470/
www.flickr.com/photos/mothguy/3361526236/
Imho, this picture represents an improvement in relation to the ones I had before of this species... this adult male coming from one of the northernmost populations of this species in Europe and a new one found this year by me and Ivo Rodrigues in Alto Alentejo, Portugal.
enjoy!
Melitaea aetherie
Although one of the rarest butterflies in Europe, what we know about the Aetherie's Fritillary is increasing year after year, especially in Portugal where we knew virtually nothing about its life-cycle until a couple of years ago, there being only a handful of records from the country.
In the last years not only we have made it to double its known distribution (i. e. we in fact doubled the number of 100km2 squares) but have unveiled some important aspects of its biology and got to know its quite an endangered but mobile species of traditionally managed large cereal meadows in the south of Portugal.
You can see other pictures and more information here:
www.flickr.com/photos/mothguy/699819470/
www.flickr.com/photos/mothguy/3361526236/
Imho, this picture represents an improvement in relation to the ones I had before of this species... this adult male coming from one of the northernmost populations of this species in Europe and a new one found this year by me and Ivo Rodrigues in Alto Alentejo, Portugal.
enjoy!