butterfly photography in morocco - Association for Tropical ...

14 KRIZEK: Morocco butterflies TROPICAL LEPIDOPTERAFig. 1. Zerynthia rumina ornatiorFig. 2. Euchloe ausonia crameriFig. 3. Zegris eupheme meridional'isFig. 4. Colotis evagore nounaFig. 5. Anthocharis belia beliaFig. 6. Gonepteryx deopatra

Vol. 1 No. 1 1990 Morocco butterflies: KRIZEK 15Fig. 7. Pandoriana pandora, 9Fig. 8. Pandoriana pandora, t?Fig. 9. Pandoriana pandora, 9Fig. 10. Melanargia inesFig. 11. Melitaea aetherie, 9Fig. 12. Melitaea aetherie,

16 KRIZEK: Morocco butterflies TROPICAL LEPIDOPTERAFig. 13. Eupkydryas desfontatnitFig. 14. Azanus jesousFig. 15. Euphydryas desfontainiiFig. 16. Glaucopsyche melanops,

Vol. 1 No. 1 1990 Morocco butterflies: KRIZEK 17\905JIyponephele marrocana Blachicr l90S,Nordmanniaesculimauretanica Staudingcr 1892, Plebicula ailantica Elwes 1905,Pseudochazara atlantis Ausiaut 1905, and Thersamonia phoebusBlachicr 1908. I was able to photograph two of these species(see the color plates).When collecting in the Moroccan mountains, one has to useone's "entomological instinct" to locate butterflies. They are notalways to be found in the vicinity of the creeks, as expected inthe tropics. On the contrary, one often finds them on very dryhot schist slopes or gorges. Pierids are usually not far from theirlarval food plants, and adults often spend the nigh percheddirectly on the blossoms (e.g., note the cryptic coloration ofZegris eupheme in the color plates). In the lowlands, however,the entomologist's attempts are usually not rewarded, unless onefinds a well irrigated field of lucerne (Medicago). In such places,one is lucky to find abundant Lycacnidac and Picridae.In Marrakech, the greatest number of butterflies is found in thegardens (palm groves) on the north-east margins of the city,behind the city fortifications in the vicinity of Bab-el-Khcmis. Itis best to go there via taxi cab. In that area, dangerous unexpectedholes in the sandy-gravel terrain of about 4 m diameter and 6m or 8 m deep should be avoided. These holes look like giantcone-shaped pits of ant lion larvae, but the walls are morevertical, which would make climbing out very difficult orimpossible. The origin of these holes is unknown to me. A verypainful death of dehydration would await a person trapped inside.It would be beyond the scope of this article to try to mention allof the butterfly species which I collected or observed in Morocco.Therefore, I would like to describe my observations and listrecords for only those 21 species which I photographed andwhose illustrations acompany this article. The type locality (TL)for each species or subspecies described from Morocco isincluded.1. PAPILIONIDAEZerynthia rumina ornatior Blachier, 1905 Fig. 1TL: Morocco. Larval food plant, Aristolochia. Ifrane, 7 May1987.2. PIERIDAEAnthocharis belia belia Linnaeus, 1767 Fig. 5Male. TL: "Barbaria," i.e., Morocco. Larval food plant,Biscutella lyrata. Ifrane, 8 May 1987.Colotis evagore nouna Lucas, 1849 Fig. 4Larval food plant, Capparis. Flies in very hot and drymountain gorges, both on schist as well as limestone terrain.Asni, Moulay-Brahim, 22 June 1982.Euchloe ausonia crameri Butler, 1869 Fig. 2Larval food plant, Cruciferae. Ifrane, 5 May 1987.Gonepteryx cleopatra cleopatra Linnaeus, 1767 Fig. 6Male. Ifrane, 8 May 1987.Zegris eupheme meridionals Lederer, 1852 Fig. 3Larval food plant, Sinapis incana. Note the cryptic resemblanceto the plant in the photograph. This specimen was photographedin its roosting position after sunset. Ifrane, 6 May 1987.3. NYMPHALIDAEEuphydryas desfontainii desfontainii Godart, 1819 Fig. 13-15Larval food plant, Knautia. Ifrane, 8 May 1987.Melanargia ines Hoffmannsegg, 1804 Fig. 10Asni, Moulay-Brahim, schist-limestone contact zone. 22 June1982.Melitaea aetherie algirica Ruhl, 1892 Fig. 11-12Ifrane, 6 May 1987.Pandoriana pandora Denis & Schiffermiiller, 1775 Fig. 7-9One of the largest Moroccan butterflies. In Ifrane (7 May1987), I saw only one specimen. My pictures are from AsiaMinor, Sultan Dagi Mountain (also limestone), where thisbutterfly was abundant on 19 July 1988, at 2000m. Larval foodplants are violets.4. LYCAENIDAEAricia cramera Eschscholtz, 1821 Fig. 25-26Ifrane, 8 May 1987.Azanus jesous Guerin, 1849 Fig. 14Larval food, Acacia, perhaps also Medicago. Flies aroundMimosa bushes, also nectaring at Medicago. Marrakech, 10 May1987.Cupido lorquini Hcrrich-Schaffer, 1847 Fig. 27Male. Ifrane, 8 May 1987. Dry Cedar-Ilex-Oak scrub, thesame locality as A. belia belia.Glaucopsyche melanops algirica Heyne, 1895 Fig. 16Male. High Atlas, 1700 m. 12 May 1987. Vicinity of tallbroom. Small, very steep dry schist valley with miniature spring.Several specimens were patroling up and down the valley,sometimes imbibing water from the wet stones, but also nectaringat yellow flowers of a species of Cruciferae.Lysandra punctifera Oberthiir, 1876 Fig. 19-20Male. Ifrane, 6 May 1987. Flies on dry limestone semiaridareas, together with A. cramera, P. abencerragus, E. ausoniacrameri and M. aetherie.Nordmannia esculi mauretanica Staudinger, 1892 Fig. 29TL: Morocco. This specimen was photographed in the HighAtlas at an altitude of around 1700m, in a dry Ilex-Oak mixedthorny scrub. In the afternoon hours, it was very common to findthis species lateral-basking and nectaring. This species was notrecorded from High Atlas by Higgins & Riley (1970). Note thatthe ventral side of both the forcwing and the hindwing is almostwithout any marking, simply pale grayish brown, unlike N. ilicisl21 June 1982.Philotes abencerragus Pierret, 1837 Fig. 21-22TL: Morocco.Found in rough places around Erica arborea. I observed thisspecies in May in the Middle Atlas (Ifrane) and in June in theHigh Atlas (Asni, Moulay-Brahim). Found on both schist as wellas limestone terrain. Ifrane, 8 May 1987.Tarucus theophrastus Fabricius, 1793 Fig. 28TL: Morocco. Larval food plant, Zizyphus vulgaris (a veryspiny shrub). Butterflies usually fly around and "inside" the bush,where they also mate. Sometimes they are nectaring on lucernein the immediate vicinity. As a rule, they sat with wings closed,so only the ventral side could be photographed. This pair incopula was photographed 24 June 1982 in Marrakech.Thersamonia phoebus Blachier, 1908 Fig. 23-24

18 KREEK: Morocco butterfliesTROPICAL LEPIDOPTERAFig. 19. Lysandra punctifera,

Vol. 1 No. 1 1990 Morocco butterflies: KREEK 19Kg. 25. Aricia cramera, 9 ovipositingFig. 26. Aricia cramera, 9Fig. 27. Cupido lorquini,

20 KRIZEK: Morocco butterflies TROPICAL LEPIDOPTERATL: High Atlas, Morocco. This true Moroccan endemicspecies was observed by me in Marrakcch in June 1982 and againin May 1987. I found it in the well-irrigated areas necuiring onMedicago, and also flying very low among the vegetation of thewater-filled irrigation ditches. It behaves like a typical copper.Larval food plant, Rumex. According to Higgins & Rilcy (1970),it is "confined to the High Atlas in western Morocco." Marrakech,17 June 1982. Elevation around 550m.Zizeeria knysna Trimen, 1862 Fig. 17-18Larval food plant, Oxalis and Medicago. I observed it at thesame locality as T. phoebus, T. theophrastus and A. jesous,ncctaring on Medicago. In contrast to T. phoebus, it wassometimes even several hundred meters away from moist places.It is very difficult to photograph, as a rule closing the wingswhen being approached by the camera. Marrakech, 10 May1987.5. HESPERIIDAEI saw many hespcrids in Morocco, most of them of the"Pyrgus" type, and I also photographed several. Here, I amshowing one species of the genus Carcharodus.Carcharodus boeticus standm Reverdin, 1913 Fig. 30I saw it primarily on hot and very dry schist slopes in the HighAtlas. Its cryptic coloration makes it indiscernible from its background.This species is a close mimic of some day-flyingNoctuids of the Autographa gamma group, which are abundant inthe same localities. I never found C. boeticus itself to becommon or abundant. It is very shy, and hard to photograph. Iobserved it in the Asni and Moulay-Brahim area on 22 June1982. The accompanying illustration shows Carcharodusboeticus (subspecific determination unknown) which I photographedin Asia Minor, Sultan Dagi Mountains, at an elevation ofabout 2000 m, on limestone background, 22 July 1988.In conclusion, I would like to say that safety should be aconcern to an entomologist travelling in Morocco. While thenomadic tribes (Bedouines and Berbers) in the desert andmountains far from civilization are friendly people (be sure tohave a large supply of coins, if you want to photograph children;without reward, they may become aggressive!), crime is flourishingin the cities. The most professional, highly trained criminalsFig. 33. Jebel Torbkal, Masif Asni, High Atlas.wait for a tourist immediately inside or in front of his hotel.They usually work as a team of two men, one on a motorcyclewho will help to carry away the successful pickpocket. Try toavoid any people, especially on trains and buses, who will try,very politely but adamantly, to involve you in a conversationsaying that they are "students" who like to talk to foreigners totrain their language skills. Very soon, these "students" will askfor financial reward, because the conversation was actually aservice of a "tourist guide" that provided you with a "lot ofinformation." Or they will push you to go into a particular hostelor hotel, whose manager is "their friend," and so forth. Innorthern Morocco, your car may be stopped far from civilizationby hashish peddlers, who want to sell hashish to you and willthreaten your personal safety if you refuse. It is better not to goto Morocco alone. Two or three persons, however, may feelfairly safe on an entomological expedition and have mostinteresting and stimulating collecting and photography in thisfascinating country.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI thank Dr. Jan Kutina of The American University, Washington,D.C., for his kind help regarding geological information andliterature pertaining to Morocco. I also wish to express mygratefulness to Monika Krizek for her editorial help on themanuscript.LITERATURE CITEDFig. 31-32. High Atlas foothill habitats.Anonymous.[Undated]. Editions du Sercie Geologique du Maroc. Rabat.Higgins, L. G., and N. D. Rilcy.1970. A field guide to the butterflies of Britain and Europe. Boston:Houghton Mifflin. 580 pp, 60 pi.MR-hard, A.1976. Elements de Geologic Marocaine. Notes Mem. Service Geol.(Rabat), No. 252.Mokhlcs, A.1984. Calendar of the flying period of the Rhopalocera of Morocco.Nota Lepid. (Bonn), 7(3): 257-263.