Juan Pablo Cancela Vallejo, PhD

🦋New paper out: "History of colonisation and updated distribution of the Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758) and its hostplants in mainland Portugal, Azores and Madeira" doi.org/10.3897/nl.46.…… in @NotaLepido with @SashVasconcelos @APalmeirim

The 2025 iteration of our featured tour of the week, Pallas's Fritillary & Late Summer Butterflies of Hungary, concluded a couple of days ago - and our first testimonial is already in! We love hearing that our guests have enjoyed their tours. 😃🦋 mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

Postcard from the field from our ongoing Pallas's Fritillary & Late Summer Butterflies of Hungary tour: Another sun-kissed day made for superb butterfly watching conditions. Almost 60 species logged, 14 of them blues, including 2 more of the Phengaris large blues, Alcon & Large.

Though between our tour leaders we've decades of combined tour leading experience, this weekend is Mariposa's second birthday! Team Mariposa's come a long way in a short time, and have to thank all our wonderful guests for their support. Including Sarah F for this lovely card!

It's been an open secret now for a while among our regulars, but today's the day we announce our Early Bird booking discount for 2026. Any week-long 2026 holiday booked before 1 December 2025 will benefit from a £150 discount off the list price! Enjoy your holiday planning! 😃

On Wednesday we finished our Spanish Pyrenees Tour with 64 species seen in Aisa and Hecho Valleys and two very special butterflies: Mountain Alcon Blue and Great Sooty Satyr. In total, 113 species seen in 7 days of tour which is amazing!

More than 60 species seen yesterday in our Spanish Pyrenees tour!! We are at the right time to see all the blues🦋 such as Glandon, Mazarine, Escher's, Amanda's, Turquoise, Chalkhill, Idas, Osiris and many more.

Yesterday was the best day so far in our Spanish Pyrenees tour with incredible views and more than 45 species seen. Photos of Large chequered skipper and Purple emperor.

First day of our Spanish Pyrenees tour with stunning numbers: 54 species seen at one site! Additionally, close to our accommodation we had the chance to see Gegenes nostrodamus (Mediterranean skipper). Photos of Spanish purple hairstreak, Cleopatra and Ripart's anomalous blue.

Stunning views today here in Arctic Norway... The weather turned out fine, and the Cranberry Blues turned out for our Butterflies of the European Arctic group. Happy days.

A couple more treasures from yesterday on a blanket bog in Swedish Lapland - Northern Grizzled Skipper, and Frigga's Fritillary. I absolutely love this part of the world - what a joy to share it with our @Mariposa_Nature guests.

Coppers may be pennies from heaven, but we think butterflies deserve a bit more than that. We donate to support the great work of @europebutterfly after *every* butterfly tour we operate. Our Butterflies of North Greece donation is already with them. mariposanature.com/tours/butterfl…

With Pau Lucio & Emmanuelle Juan as your leaders, you've a team with unrivalled local knowledge at the helm for an exploration of this incredibly beautiful and butterfly-rich area of northern Spain. An unforgettable experience awaits! (2/2)

Postcard from the field, from Juan Pablo Cancela, leading our Butterflies of North Greece tour this week: We all enjoyed close views of intricately marked Lattice Brown yesterday. This mating pair weren't hanging around - newly emerged, and quickly making more Lattice Browns!

Postcard from the field, from tour leader Juan Pablo Cancela, on our Butterflies of North Greece tour: Yesterday was rich in jewel-like blues and coppers, with guests enjoying Blue Argus and Lesser Fiery Copper, among other dazzling treasures.

Yesterday, fourth day of our Spring butterflies of Andalucía Tour, we saw another of the target species; the scarce and stunning Melitaea aetherie.

During the third day of our Spring butterflies of Andalucía Tour we could see, among many other nice species, one of my favourite butterflies: the amazing Euphydryas desfontainii (Spanish fritillary).

The third day in our Spring Butterflies of Central & North Spain Tour was marked by an impressive number of Spring ringlets (Erebia epistygne), one of the most beautiful Erebias in Europe. Photos of a female (left) and a male (right).

Second day in our Spring Butterflies of Central & North Spain Tour, with 29 species seen today. Some photographs following: Anthocharis euphenoides, Callophrys rubi, Pseudophilotes panoptes and Polyommatus thersites.

Postcard from the field: our Spring Butterflies of Central & North Spain tour began with a bang today, with Spring Ringlet and bonus Panoptes Blue both seen well. Tour leaders David Moore & @jpcancela1 can't wait to share more fabulous #butterflies with our guests in coming days.

The tour explores varied habitats the Spanish Pyrenees offer in a compact area, with a team of superb guides with impeccable local knowledge. And importantly, the tour generates a donation to support the vital butterfly conservation work of our friends at @europebutterfly. (2/2)