Hello to another butterfly I met on the northern slope of Mt. Meron. The Upper Galilee region of Israel was all new to me in June 2013. Butterflies were everywhere. Some were known to me. This species was a lifer, the first I’d ever seen and identified of this species. Boing! Camera loaded (film), sun at my back, zero wind, now make a careful approach…risky because I’d never seen this one before, and if it flees, I may not see it …. Followed my Technique (see Technique feature at the top of your screen)…Good.

Our image here causes me to make this determination, Hyponephele lupinus c.. The ventral wing surface is mottled brown, with abundant dotting. The hindwing has that jagged pattern running through its center. The hindwing edges are also jagged. There is a tiny peek of the orangish-brown coloring of the center of the ventral forewing. The head is brownish as are the antennae. Much thanks to Dubi Benyamini’s A Field Guide To The Butterflies of Israel (Keter Publishing, 2002) for helping me identify this butterfly. They fly from May to June, then are not seen until August and fly into September. Where? Jerusalem and immediately north of Jerusalem, and a corridor at the north of Israel, roughly from Mt.  Meron to Mt. Hermon. They are Satyrs. I Love satyrs.

What do I wish? I wish that I had someone with me that, and other Whoopee! mornings, someone who would get me a photograph of ME! each time I discovered a new butterfly species, new to Jeffrey. New to me. What that moment must look like. Me, flush and satisfied. Me, setting out to uncover more new, more exciting, more…to share with You!

Jeff