Edited by Jason Sargerson

Published by Charaxes Publications

A4, 32 pages

ISSN: 2516-5275-01

From the publisher: Articles in the magazine cover: Butterflies in the Picos Mountains in Spain, the Val Rabbi Mountains in Northern Italy and the mountains in Graubünden in Switzerland. There are special features on Hairstreaks in Spain, the Violet Copper in France and the Poplar Admiral in Switzerland. Butterflies in the spring are described in South East France and lowland butterflies are covered in Geneva in Switzerland. A Greenwings butterfly holiday in Romania is featured. Contributors are butterfly enthusiasts and include: Matt Berry, Robin Fox, David Irven, Dave Maertens, David Moore, Tony Payne and Paul Wetton. Each page has a unique selection of photographs. All photographs are identified with the butterfly, date and place.

A Review by Peter Eeles, 22nd May 2018

This is the first edition of European Butterflies Magazine, the latest creation from Jason Sargerson whose other works have also been reviewed on Dispar. This offering, published annually, will be of interest (of course) to anyone that is interested in European butterflies. It also happens to feature my favourite European butterfly on the cover - the stunning Cynthia's Fritillary.

The introduction to this first edition says: "The aim is to include articles about Conservation, Photography, Life Cycle, Field Trips, Butterfly Sites, and particular butterfly species or groups from across Europe". Unfortunately, I feel that this publication is slightly unbalanced given its aims; of the 11 articles included, 7 are field trip reports, 2 are focused on species, 1 is on photography and another highlights the work of a tour provider. These articles are complemented with a couple of book reviews. In general, I found the quality of the articles to be a mixed bag, with varying amounts of detail (and therefore value) and quality of photography.

Of the trip reports, I therefore concluded that the most valuable are those that are more detailed and where there are very clear descriptions of routes taken, should a reader want to retrace the steps of the author. The highlights for me were the articles on the Butterflies of South-East France by Dave Maertens, the Val di Rabbi in Italy by Robin Fox and the Picos de Europa by Paul Wetton, as well as a description of the Violet Copper in France by David Moore.

However, the main thing that struck me is that, for an annual publication, I felt it was rather short. Of the 32 pages, 26 focus on the subject matter (excluding advertisements), half of which is taken up with photos (which is probably the right proportion). I therefore hope that the editor is able to attract more varied and high-quality articles for the 2019 edition so that this annual offering becomes more substantial.

How to Order

The magazine can be ordered direct from the publisher.