Spring Butterflies in Abruzzo

Tour Itinerary

• DAY 1
  Arrival at Roma-Fiumicino airport* and drive east toward Sulmona to reach our agriturismo, where we will spend the week.
• DAY 2
  The first day in the field will involve only a short distance, stopping at the foot of the Gran Sasso National Park. Here we will visit different places, most of them characterised by the presence of dry meadows on calcareous substrates; the meadows are rich in flowers (including orchids) and, consequently, butterflies. We will jump right in from the start in the search of our main target of the trip: the Italian endemic Italian Marbled White Melanargia arge. Other species here include Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia provincialis, Yellow-banded Skipper Pyrgus sidae, Rosy Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus onopordi, and Tufted Marbled Skipper Carcharodus flocciferus. After that, we will move to the other side of the valley, where in a small medieval church we’ll admire the astonishing “Abruzzo’s Sistine Chapel” frescos.
• DAY 3
  Today we will move completely to the other side of Abruzzo, heading to the magnificent Abruzzo National Park. Here the landscape is dominated by the immense beech forests that cover all the mountains and that are home to the iconic Marsican Brown Bear. Meadows, despite being less extensive here, are nonetheless rich in flowers and butterflies: Provence Orange Tip Anthocharis euphenoides, Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria euphrosyne, Geranium Argus Eumedonia eumedon, Lesser Spotted Fritillary Melitaea trivia, and Eastern Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea ornata are some of the species we will encounter.
• DAY 4
  Today we will stay closer to our base and explore the environs around Sulmona. Here, thanks to the south facing slopes and lower altitude, the climate is slightly warmer and flora and fauna are accordingly quite different from the places we visited earlier. This is a good place to carefully look for the endemic Italian Marbled White Melanargia arge and many other interesting species such as Mountain Small White Pieris ergane, Yellow-banded Skipper Pyrgus sidae, Rosy Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus onopordi, Marbled Skipper Carcharodus lavatherae, Osiris Blue Cupido osiris, Lesser Spotted Fritillary Melitaea trivia, Turquoise Blue Polyommatus dorylas and Blue-spot Hairstreak Satyrium spini. The variety and numbers of wild orchids at some of the sites will make even the most concentrated butterly-watchers lose some focus here.
• DAY 5
  

  Our fifth day will see us moving to a new area, in the foothills of the Sirente-Velino Regional Park. Here too the meadows are plentiful, expansive, and rich in flowers and insects. Among other species, we might encounter here Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia provincialis, Yellow-banded Skipper Pyrgus sidae, Weaver’s Fritillary Boloria dia,and Eastern Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea ornata. During the day, depending on time and weather, we can arrange a visit to a Roman archaeological site nearby, and to some cliffs that host a colony of Griffon Vultures (butterflies and orchids being abundant in both the latter areas).

• DAY 6
  

  Today we will enter the confines of the Gran Sasso National Park. We will start from low altitude meadows where we have one more chance to see species such as Italian Marbled White Melanargia arge, Southern Comma Polygonia egea, Blue-spot Hairstreak Satyrium spini, Cleopatra Gonepteryx cleopatra, Southern White Admiral Limenitis reducta, Provence Orange Tip Anthocharis euphenoides, and Mountain Small White Pieris ergane. Moving on, we will also make multiple stops where larval food plant is abundant to look for the rare Southern Marbled Skipper Carcharodus boeticus. Gaining in altitude, we will visit different environments looking for a variety of different species, including Chapman’s Blue Polyommatus thersites, Geranium Argus Eumedonia eumedon, Yellow-banded Skipper Pyrgus sidae, and Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia provincialis. If weather is fine, we will climb up to Campo Imperatore, a very beautiful high plateau; given the high altitude, butterflies here are not yet present in great numbers, but some early flying species such as Clouded Apollo Parnassius mnemosyne may already be on the wing depending on the season.

• DAY 7
  

  Our last full day in the field will be entirely spent in the north side of Majella National Park. The extensive open dry meadows dotted in wildflowers here are rewarding, and the fauna is very rich also! Here we will have a last chance to look for some species we might have missed in the previous days and maybe add a few more, such as Italian Festoon Zerynthia cassandra, and Amanda’s Blue Polyommatus amandus.

• DAY 8
  

  Departure to Roma-Fiumicino airport.

• As with all of our tours, we want our guests to enjoy the very best views of the very best wildlife and, as such, we think it’s important to retain a little flexibility in the holiday itinerary. This means that we may choose to swap days around to take into account local weather conditions, or the timing of the flight or flowering season we find upon arrival at our holiday destination. Rest assured, we will ensure you visit all the best sites, and we have your best interests and comfort at heart!

*We’ll meet at the airport as this is a convenient travel hub for many. However, we appreciate that some guests may have chosen to come overland via rail to Rome. Rome has two main airport rail links for Fiumicino Airport: the Leonardo Express is a non-stop, fast service from the Termini railway station, and the FL1 offers a slower, option connecting the airport to other major Rome stations like Tiburtina:

Connections to and from Roma-Fiumicino airport