Butterflies of Lappeenranta Butterflies of Lappeenranta - Finnland Finnland 1
Profile: Lappeenranta Lappeenranta is a city of about 72 000 inhabitants in Southeast Finland, on the border between the European Union and Russia. Lappeenranta was founded in 1649. The city of Lappeenranta is the administrative and cultural centre of the surrounding province, South Karelia, located some 220 km northeast of Finland s capital, and about 230 km northwest of St. Petersburg in Russia. The city covers an extensive area, stretching from the shores of beautiful Lake Saimaa to the Russian border. Its special location at the northern tip of the Saimaa Canal opens up water connections both to the Gulf of Finland and to the entire Saimaa waterway. The city is also the largest inland port in Finland. Although Lappeenranta is the centre of a major industrial region, the city itself and the surrounding countryside are a clean and beautiful mosaic of green forests and blue lakes. Lake Saimaa, other great lakes and the water system of River Vuoksi have had a significant impact on the climate and environment of South Karelia, including settlement and the development of industries and business life. (source: maakuntaesite.ekarjala.fi)our regional bird is Thrush nightingale, regional fish is Lake salmon and regional flower is Pale pasque flower. The Finnish butterfly fauna, now comprising 122 species, has been indicated by several studies and reviews. For example, Marttila et al. (1991) evaluated that almost half of the indigenous species in Finland had suffered from changes in their environment since the 1970s. In 1976, the first butterflies to be protected by law were Parnassius apollo and P. mnemosyne. Nowadays a total of 14 butterfly species are under legal protection. In the latest evaluation of threatened species in Finland (2010), 43 butterfly species were classified as threatened or near threatened. In general, butterflies are regarded as one of the most endangered insect groups in Finland. Several factors have been implicated in the decline of butterflies, but the prime factor has been the alteration or complete destruction of the habitat. (source: Kimmo Saarinen, Tapani Lahti and Olli Marttila:Population trends of Finnish butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea) in 1991 2000. Written by Netta Purhonen 2
1 2 Green Hairstreak Butterfly Amanda s Blue Butterfly 3 4 Arran Blue Butterfly Wall Brown Butterfly 3
5 6 Geranium Argus Black Veined White Butterfly 7 8 Silver Washed Fritillary Butterfly Brimstone Butterfly 4
9 10 Checkered Skipper Butterfly Chestnut Heath 11 12 Comma Butterfly Common Blue Butterfly 5
13 14 European Skipper Butterfly Freija Fritillary Butterfly 15 16 Gray Veined White Butterfly Grizzled Skipper Butterfly 6
17 18 Heath Fritillary Holly Blue Butterfly 19 20 Large Grizzled Skipper Butterfly Large Skipper Butterfly 7
21 22 Large White Butterfly Lesser Marbled Fritillary Butterfly 23 24 Marsh Fritillary Butterfly Mazarine Blue Butterfly 8
25 26 Mourning Cloak Butterfly Orange Tip Butterfly 27 28 Peacock Butterfly Red Admiral Butterfly 9
29 30 Ringlet Butterfly Small Copper Butterfly 31 32 Scarce Copper Butterfly Scarce Fritillary Butterfly 10
33 34 Silver Studded Blue Butterfly Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly 35 Wood White Butterfly 11
Collected by Aakarsha Handa Source: www.wikipedia.org 12