She was seriously nectaring just steps from the trail. I knew that I had seen this species before, doing just about the same thing at agricultural roads north of Binyamina, Israel. This immediate beauty flew several hours north of Binyamina, along the slope of Mt. Meron. As throughout most of Israel her overall experience was beautiful weather and zero human conflict.

When we posted this species earlier, we were impressed with the eye-popping number of visits that followed. Lots of folks wanted to see this one, first identified and named by Guerin in 1849. He named it A. Jesous. Today is December 25th.

A tiny butterfly, they sport many black spots on their hindwings, and a curious brown streak on their forewings. Their caterpillars are tended/protected by ants. Seen in early June. Some species maps show their northern limits to be just south of where I was, but there she was on the mountain.

What’s in a name?

Jeff