A Few European Butterflies
Tom Peterson
During a recent
business trip to CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, I visited a small park with
a grass and flower covered hill in Meyrin, just west of the Geneva
airport, between the airport and CERN. The photo below shows the
view from the park to the Jura Mountains, over some apartments in
Meyrin. It was late May, a bit early for many butterflies.
But in just a few hours on two different days, on the slope shown in
the photo, I found and photographed several species of
butterflies. Identifications are based primarily on "Butterflies
of Europe," by Tom Tolman and Richard Lewington, Princeton University
Press, 1997. Also very helpful was a nice website called The
Butterflies of the Monts du Lyonnais at
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/felixthecatalog.tim/
Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus)
Common Blue (Polyommatus
icarus)
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)
Small Heath (Coenonympha
pamphilus)
Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae)
Go to my Chicago area butterflies website
Last updated 30 May 2004