Filming VarWild: About us

We designed this website so that we could share our passion for wildlife movies.

The idea of filming came from our quest to better understand and to study the behaviour of butterflies, not only courtship flight, egg laying, caterpillar habits, and various developmental stages etc., but also how they adapt for survival in often very specific habitats. The camera is a way to observe over an extended period of time and without interfering with the insect?s behaviour; the details filmed, by and large, frequently reveal unexpected and remarkable behaviour. Interactions between species also uncovered some unusual traits. We spend hours in the wild watching and filming in order to better understand their behaviour and equilibrium, which certain species depend on for their survival. Our work shows the biology of vulnerable butterflies.

We started by producing articles which appeared in "Les Lepidopteres de France" and "Oreina". French is not our native language so our dear friend Dr Phillipe Bertaud corrected the manuscripts and posed critical questions regarding the content of the text, thereby allowing us to enhance them. His enthusiastic participation in the editing is an invaluable support for the continuation of these articles. We then had the idea of making original documentaries using our observations. Ever enthusiastic Phillipe leant us his voice as narrator in these documentaries.

Three years ago we began to expand our research and are more and more drawn towards parasites which play a significant role in the regulation of butterfly populations. Equally we have studied the symbiosis between ants and the larvae of certain Lycaenidae species.

Wishing to reach a larger audience and also because there are specialists from other countries we decided to translate our publications into English. Our dear friend Mo Scott who is a botanist accompanied us on several field trips in order to identify certain flower species, shrubs and trees specific to our Mediterranean location. She has also translated our articles into English and is the narrator for the English versions of our documentaries.

Through the years, we worked and exchanged information and observations with people who are as interested as we are in the biodiversity of our surroundings. We exchanged data with the passionated naturalists and wildlife photographer Roger Gibbons, author ot the web-site 'Butterflies of France' and wildlife photographer Phillipe Bricaire, author of the web-site 'Fleeting wonders'. Together we are discovering unrevealed aspects of our environment.




Swiss butterfly expert David Jutzeler takes the time to study the biology of butterflies. All of us wonder what the reasons are for the decline of certain species, What are the root causes of these changes and what can be done to protect these endangered butterfly species. Since 2004 we have seen a significant decline in other insects, reptiles and amphibians typically found in the garrigue - a similarly fascinating subject.

The camera and other photographic equipment are tools which easily allow the observation of butterflies and other insects, records can be made without disturbing the butterflies.



This website was created by Flynn Kan with the participation of George Berenschot.


Thank you for your visit.
Pieter et Brigitte Kan