The Brenne Natural Park lies just west of the centre of France with the large town of Chateauroux just outside the north-eastern corner.

It is an internationally important wetland, with birds, dragonflies, aquatic life, plants, invertebrates, etc etc.

It is truly a naturalist’s paradise, and one worth visiting time and time again.

Swallowtail Papilio machaon is widespread across mainland Europe and found mostly in wetland areas, though also on drier ground in the Mediterranean.

The Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius is more associated with trees – particularly Prunus species – on which the caterpillars feed.

All four common species of ‘white’ butterfly are present, the Large White Pieris brassicae being easy to ID because of the extensive amount of black on the wing tips. The less common species include the Wood White Leptidea sinapis which is small with often indistinct markings.

The Brimstone Gonopteris rhamni (which is actually classified as a ‘white’ is distinguished from the other yellow butterflies by having a brown circle on the underwing instead of the prominent white-centred one of the clouded yellow, and by the lack of black margins and spots on the upperwings.

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi
This small green butterfly almost always settles with its wings closed, showing off the iridescent green underside. The upperside is plain brown.

Brown Argus Aricia agestis
Both male and female brown argus can look like female common blues, but they do not have any trace of blue on either the under- or upper-sides. There is also a slight difference in the underwing pattern.

Sooty Copper Lycaena tityrus
In most copper species, the male is more colourful than the female. However, in the sooty copper it is the male that is duller (in our eyes at least), almost black in fresh individuals, but fading to brown later. The male also has very little orange on the underside of the forewing, in comparison with the female.

Sooty Copper Lycaena tityrus female is distinguished from the male by her brighter colours, and from the more common small copper by being not so bright on the upperside and having larger spots on the underside.

Small Blue Cupido minimus
The smallest of blue butterflies in Europe is hardly blue at all on the upperside, though there is a dusting of blue on the underside near the body. Females easily mistaken for other small species particularly in southern Europe. They fly close to the ground, and are seldom far from kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, the caterpillar food plant.

Southern White Admiral Limenitis reducta
The purple emperor and white admiral groups look very similar at first glance. The southern white admiral is one of the smallest of the group, is blue-black on the upperside, and that clear white spot on the inner part of the forewing is distinctive.

This ‘wings half open’ stance is typical of the Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina as it stands ready to defend its territory. It isn’t closely related to the fritillaries, which is superficially resembles, but is the only European member of the Metalmark (Rhiodinidae) family which occurs mostly in central America.

Glanville Fritillary Melitaea cinxia
This species is often found nectaring on Birds-foot trefoil and other Lotus species, but the caterpillar food plant is plantain, hence an older English name for it was the Plantain Fritillary

Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea phoebe
It is often more difficult to photograph the underside of a butterfly, but worth it for help with identification. This general patterning puts it in the Meliteae genus, and careful comparison with a good field guide showed it to be the knapweed fritillary.

Spotted Fritillary Melitaea didyma
This isn’t the only fritillary with spots rather than the chequer pattern, so again a view of the underside and a species list for the site is helpful.

The Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus rarely shows its upper-wings – a characteristic shared with other members of the family. However, its only cousin in the Brenne is the Pearly Heath Coenonympha arcania which has a white patch on clear eye-spots on the underside of the hind wing.

Wall Brown Lasiomata megera
Could be confused with a fritillary at first glance, but the pattern of lines and eye-spots is quite different, as is the underside.

Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae is the smallest and most distinctly chequered member of a confusing group of species. Photographing the upperside for later ID is relatively easy, getting the underside is not. Fortunately, in this case, the distinct markings on the hindwing indicate the species pictured.

Chequered Skipper Carterocephalus palaemon
A fairly distinctive skipper butterfly and the only brown and yellow skipper one in the area. On the wing in May and June.

Several books, such as the Crossbill guide, about la Brenne are now out of print.

However, there were several books such as these two – (and perhaps only in French) available at the Maison du Parc and/or the Maison du Nature which I haven’t seen on sale elsewhere – so clicking on these covers doesn’t get you anywhere.

Note that the flower book does not cover all species in the area.

A good old-fashioned folding paper map may not be the easiest thing to use in the field, but it does make it easier to work out where the various ponds are in relation to each other for route-planning.