Butterflies of Andalusia • 150 species to discover (2024)

Butterflies : four-wings insects covered with colored scales and feeding on the nectar of flowers at adult stage, which appears after the metamorphosis of an herbivorous caterpillar.

With its 150 butterflies, Andalusia is home to roughly 40% of European butterfly diversity if you don’t take in account the 54 species of theErebia, a difficult genus of mostly small-ranged mountain endemics… Andalusia’s butterfly fauna encompasses the range of European butterfly diversity.

Many of Andalusia’s species are typical of theMediterraneanregion, best illustrated by some common species in the sector:

• Southern Scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthamelii)
• Spanish festoon (Zerynthia rumina)
• Provence hairstreak(Tomares ballus)
• Cleopatra Gonepteryx cleopatra)
• Provence orange tip(Anthocharis euphenoides)
• Sage skipper(Muschampia proto)
• Two-tailed pasha(Charaxes jasius)
• Southern gatekeeper(Pyronia cecilia).

Here, a few common northern European species are frankly scarce and attain the southern limit of their range, such as:

• Paeco*ck (Aglais io)
• Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
• Comma (Polygonia c-album)
• Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia).

We must note the Apollo (Parnassius apollo), a boreo-alpine species restricted to Sierra Nevada, Sierra de Baza-Filabres and Sierra Maria.

And to give more flavour to any field trip to Spain, there are several butterflies shared only with North Africa:

• Mediterranean skipper (Gegenes nostradamus) -common-
• Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina) -common-
  
• Lorquin’s Blue (Cupido lorquini)
• False Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes abencerragus)
• African grass blue (Zizeeria knysna) -common-
• Common Tiger Blue (Tarucus theophrastus)
• Aetherie fritillary (Melitaea aetherie)
• Southern Hermit (Chazara prieuri)
• Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines) -common-
• Desert Orange Tip (Colotis evagore) -Autumn species-
• Sooty Orange Tip (Zegris eupheme) -Spring species-
  

Chase Hill-topping species

Large species of butterflies which live at low population densities across the landscape will fly uphill in order to meet a mate on a hilltop, where they chase each other, a behaviour best seen (at least by myself) in Serrania de Ronda… Dances ofSouthern Scarce Swallowtail(Iphiclides feisthamelii),Swallowtail(Papilio machaon) and evenTwo-tailed Pasha(Charaxes jasius) are extraordinarily attractive, but difficult to capture on camera.

Look at Butterflies gatherings

Blues (Lycaenidae) and Skippers (Hesperiidae) can join in spectacular gatherings during late springs and summers at banks of water points or streams, mostly easily seen in mountain areas. They explore (puddle) wet mud and gravels forsalts and minerals from the soil and probably also hydrating. Tens, even thousands, of butterflies can be seen together, sometimes joined by fritillaries (Nymphalidae). What memories!

Observe the migration

Painted lady(Vanessa cardui) is a large and attractive butterfly, well known in the whole Europe… and for a very good reason since it is a migratory species. In fact, it has been recently discovered this species realizes longer journey thanMonarchs, moving every year through and back from Gambia to Scandinavia, though it does it in waves of successive generations rather than individual travelling the full distance. It is possible to observe this fascinating behaviour, especially in years of strong migration. Other migrants include: Short-tailed Blue(Leptotes pirithous),Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Clouded Yellow (Clouded corceus) and Queen of Spain Fritillary(Issoria lathonia).

In summer, search for source of nectar

With severe drought and mostly dry vegetation, nectar is extremely scarce in summer, of course in lowlands but also in the mountains. Search forthistles(Asteraceae Carduinae) oreryngos(Eryngium spp) in grazed fields, andblue throatworts(Trachelium caeruleum) along shaded road verges. Those plants are blossoming late in season and attract the butterflies, thirsty and confident… You can expect nice sessions of photography.

Attract the Two-tailed Pasha

This strong flyer, whose caterpillar feeds onStrawberry trees(Arbutus unedo), is attracted by tree sap and rotten fruits… Just lay a few items in a quiet place and you might be surprised by the result.

106 specieshave been inventoried in Western Andalusia, especially in the provinces ofMalaga and Cadiz. Those are in most cases lowland and widespread species which are more abundant in spring (march-may). Only a visit to Eastern Andalusia will add the endemics and the rare butterflies restricted to the mountain ranges (Sierra Nevada, Segura, Magina, Baza, etc.) and on the fly up to early summer, a season when most Andalusia is very dry and hostile to butterflies.

Another feature of Andalusian mountains is the presence of a unique species, namelySpanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania) the sole southern species within this genus which is very frequent and species-rich in northern Spain. So what makes our mountains special? A very diverse fauna ofBlues(Polyommatinae) with up to 36 spp., many of them endemic or scarce throughout Europe. We can add the iconic, albeit rare,Betic/Nevada Grayling(Pseudochazara williamsi).

Let’s finish this review with a recently described species: theSpanish Greenish Black-tip(Euchloe bazae), mostly restricted to Baza depression.

Some Western Andalusia specialties :

• The Strait of Gibraltar is home to populations of Zeller’s Skipper (Borbo borbonica) and Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

• Sierra de Grazalema: Aetherie fritillary (Melitaea aetherie)

• Sierra de Las Nieves: Geranium argus (Eumedonia eumedon).