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Books

The Butterflies of Greece by Lazaros Pamperis 1997 Bastas-Plessas (In English)

This is the life work of one individual totally dedicated to documenting the butterflies of his native country.  It is a beautiful book with some stunning photographs and lots of useful information.  It would have been more useful to visitors to Greece if the author felt he could publish the distribution of scarce and endemic species without these attracting the unwanted attention of collectors.  However it is the only major work on the butterflies of Greece. 

Greece: Travellers' Nature Guide (Nature Guides) (Paperback)
by Bob Gibbons (Author), Michael Wood (Illustrator), Stella Tranah (Illustrator)

Bibliography including many scientific papers

http://users.auth.gr/~efthymia/Butterflies/References.html

Websites

http://users.auth.gr/~efthymia/Butterflies/Butterflies_of_Greece.html  Mainly photos of set specimens.

http://www.butterfly-guide.co.uk/regions/greece/ by Simon Coombes a useful introduction with limited information on sites

Holidays

Naturetrek organise butterfly trips to Greece, www.naturetrek.co.uk

Greentours (www.greentours.co.uk) - butterfly tours with local expert Tristan Lafranchis, author of Butterflies of Europe (Diatheo) and acknowledged expert on the wildlife of his adopted country.  

Our members recommend as bases for butterfly watching holidays:

Hotel Filoxenia, Kalavrita for Mount Chelmos

Hotel Bourazani, North of Ioanina for Zagoria and the Northern Pindos.

Sites & Species

Map of Greece © INTUTE

Greece has about 232 species of butterfly and one of the richest butterfly faunas of any country in Europe with its own endemic species and many species with their European distribution largely restricted to Greece. The Greek mainland, particularly the mountains, are of greatest interest for butterflies though there are specialized endemic species on many of the islands including Crete e.g. Cretan Festoon (Zerynthia cretica). The season is very long with butterflies on the wing from February to November.

Most butterfly watchers visit fairly well trodden paths and some of the most visited sites include (see outline map above):-

Chelmos Blue (Agrodiaetus iphigenia)                     Odd Spot Blue (Turanama endymion)

1. Mount Chelmos near Kalavrita in the north of the Peloponnese which is the only site in Europe for Chelmos Blue (Agrodiaetus iphigenia) but also a good site for Fiery Copper (Lycaena thetis) and Odd Spot Blue (Turanama endymion). Pontic Blue (Neolysandra coelestina) is also found there and there is an abundance of other species. 

2. Mount Taygetos in the south of the Peloponnese also has its own Taygetos Blue (Polyommatus menelaos) as well as Greek Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus helena) which can often be abundant mud puddling on hot afternoons.

3. Mount Parnassos near Delphi has many species including White-banded Grayling (Pseudochazara anthelea), Krueper's Small White (Pieris krueperi), Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon) and Powdered Brimstone (Gonepteryx farinosa).

4. The northern Pindos mountains including Zagoria were rarely visited by tourists until recently but are also rich in butterflies. Look out for Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne), Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor), Freyers Fritillary (Melitaea arduinna), Greek Clouded Yellow (Colias aurorina), Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomana)..

5. The northern mountains bordering Albania and Macedonia are also rarely visited but very rewarding having Balkan Copper (Lycaena candens), Balkan Fritillary (Boloria graeca), Eastern Festoon (Zerynthia cerisyi) and Eastern Greenish Black-tip (Elphinstonia penia), Russian Heath (Coenonympha leander), Balkan Clouded Yellow (Colias caucasica)

6. Mount Phalakron has its own blue (Polyommatus andronicus) and Common Glider (Neptis sappho occurs in the Rhodopi mountains.

Even at sea level near tourist resorts you will find the magnificent Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) and the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus) which can be abundant. Pigmy Skipper (Gegenes pumilio) and Mediterranean Skipper (Gegenes nostrodamus) can also be abundant in warm places at low altitude.

Two Tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) Photo Neil Thompson

One or two scarce Graylings are found in Greece including Freyer's Grayling (Hipparchia fatua) and Grecian Grayling (Pseudochazara graeca) are more widespread than the very local Dark Grayling (Pseudochazara tisiphone) or Dils' Grayling (Pseudochazara orestes).

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Last modified: November 14, 2008