Post by wollastoni on Jun 6, 2015 15:02:58 GMT
Thanks to my friend Christian Castelain, I have finally found a good Polyommatus spot not too far from Milan... and I have seen the first Polyommatus hispanus of my life ! 
Varano de Melegari is a small village close from Parma (1.30 hour south of Milan) in Emilia Romagna.
Above this village, there is a road climbing in the mountain. On this road, there are plenty of butterflies, including the rather localised Polyommatus hispanus. This species flies only in Eastern Spain, Southern France and Northern Italy.
It is a bivoltine species, the first generation is in April/May, I must have seen late specimens of that first generation. But I achieve to find few fresh specimens.
It is close from Polyommatus coridon, but hispanus is bluer and with some dots on FW instead of the black line on coridon. Females are very close, but AFAIK, there are no blue females in hispanus.
It was very hot today, 35°C, so the specimen were very active and hard to picture.
A fresh male flirting with a female
Male bellargus verso
A fresh female bellargus
Always a nice moment, when you see for the first time a new species on your home continent !
On this path, there were also plenty of Aporia crataegi, Pieris napi, Leptidea sinapis, Brintesia circe, Argynnis paphia and some other Lycaenidae : Polyommatus dorylas?, Polyommatus bellargus, Glaucopsyche alexis
