butterfly mating and marmots at the alps

The male orange tip butterfly, striking a majestic pose, with its legs firmly placed on the plant and err.. the female orange tip below…

orange tip butterfly, anthocharis cardamines mating

Orange tips (anthocharis cardamines) are common across Europe and found in some regions of Asia with temperate climates. The male has the characteristic orange tip on its forewings while the tips are greyish for the female.

and… for a better view of the tranquil mating…

orange tip butterfly, anthocharis cardamines mating

Well, somebody else is not quite happy with their tranquil mating. Another male orange tip flies on to interrupt the pair.

orange tip butterfly, anthocharis cardamines mating

All these happened in this beautiful valley of the Alps, at Valsavarence, Vale d’Aosta in Italy.

Alps at Aosta Valley

The Alps host a wide range of endemic species of the animal kingdom, including the alpine marmots (marmota marmota). Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. You can see the main burrow of a marmot family here. This burrow is just a part of their larger underground networking system. The whole terrain would be full of holes and burrows interconnected. We found this while following an ibex, an alpine antelope, and my foot got into many of those numerous marmot holes.

Interestingly, close relatives to the alpine marmots are found at Ladakh in India too.

marmot at its burrow

More pictures from Aosta Valley are at our Nature Italia Gallery <<<   😀

Aosta Valley is 2 hours from Turin, and near the French border. We were stationed at Valsavarenche, in the Gran Paradiso National Park, which is the oldest national park of Italy.

4 Responses

  1. I just love those ‘bukbuks’ as my children refer to Marmota bokboka which inhabits the bugyals of the Himalayas. So I just loved those marmot photos.

    The Orange-tip can also be seen in the Himalayas. We also have different Orange-tips in the plains (Ixias and Hebomoia spp).

    Lovely, lovely shots!

    • rocksea says:

      Hey ashwin, so have you seen the marmots of the himalayas? The alpines marmots we saw are sort of accustomed to humans and play around if you don’t disturb them.

  2. bindu says:

    wow – the butterfly pictures are fantastic! Especially the first one. The light through its wings is gorgeous.

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