Southern Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor) Alpes-de-Haute-Provence,France. My this years target species was Papilio alexanor , most comment read on the internet suggested that I was facing a challenging task but as sometimes happens lady luck offers a helping hand, passing what seemed a likely spot my wife suggests ,"lets try in there", no sooner had I parked and stepped out with the camera three Alexanors were spotted, great, but the species is a restless creature it rarely stops, eggs are laid on the wing the butterfly fluttering all the time, getting focus was a challenge ,but over the course of several days despite high temperatures and a steep scree slope I managed some video and stills, these can be seen on the link below,not only alex the site also provided a fresh Cardinal (Argynnis pandora),and a Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia) form valezina  my first for this locality plus many other species including Papilio machaon ,Iphiclides podalirius and Parnassius apollo.