Excursion: Arosa III
I think this is a small blue (how original!) aka Cupido minimus (source). Any input on the identification is appreciated.
Anyway, there were lots of butterflies flying about in Arosa but due to some technical difficulties I wasn't able to get many photographs. In case anyone is curious: my camera's display and even the EVF are almost useless in high illumination situations and a tiny moving target is nigh impossible to capture.
Incidentally, Pfiffoltra is the word for butterfly in the Swiss German dialect that's used in Wallis (the German-speaking Oberwallis, not the French-speaking 60% source) and I have to mention it because I've always found it such a lyrical word in a language that generally sounds very hard to me. As for in Graubünden, here are some of the words for butterfly (and/or moth) in the dialects of Romansch spoken there (source):
- spler (Grischun, Puter and Valader)
- tgiralla (Grischun)
- tschitta (Grischun, Sursilvan and Surmiran)
- bella (Sursilvan)
- bula (Sursikvan and Sutsilvan)
- pula (Surmiran)
- chüralla (Puter)
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6 comments:
Thank you for the information about Abe's. I had heard of it but it was a long time ago. And I tried to get a book but it was without dust covers so I passed it up for $1.00 and $3.00 something to mail. LOL
Appreciate it though.
I have always found it interesting that the word for butterfly is so different in other languages.
Butterfly
Schmeterlings
Papillon
Mariposa
How can all of those words really mean the same thing? :D
In any case, your little guy is a real beauty. I'm glad you were able to catch him.
Ah, Arosa! Your photos are lovely. Butterflies are so hard to shoot, esp. with the wings spread out. How nice that you can spend some time there. Just looked thru my Swiss photos & we were there on a sunny Sunday in Feb 1990 and then later in May. Took the train from Chur to Arosa & with a cable car to top of Weisshorn. Had great real hot chocolate. No butterflies then, but very pretty scenery.
It seems like a four-leaf clover on a three-leaf one.
Yours is a lovely blog. I visit most every day. Thanks!
AL: abebooks has been useful for me as I've been able to find a few out- of-print books through them (and not only English ones) and haven't really cared about the dust covers, though mine did have them.
Halcyon: I find the word 'butterfly' strange in and of itself.
Tash: Thanks for taking the time to write and share!
Claude: You're right. At first, I barely noticed it. It was only when it moved that I realized that it wasn't part of the plant!
Snapper: Thank you for your kind words!
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