Brown Argus

[dmclean3]

Hi Folks,
Had a great day out today, first time I have photographed a Brown Argus, beautiful little butterfly, thought I'd share it with you
Duncan

Common Blue


Brown Argus

[RoyW]

Nice shots Duncan.

Are you sure it's a Brown Argus though? I really hope that I'm wrong (which is quite possible with butterflies!), but your photos don't show the close together pair of spots near the top edge of the hindwing that are typically seen on Brown Argus. I have a suspicion that this is a female Common Blue.

Roy.

[Guy F]

The first shot is a Common Blue (Roy mentions the key id point here) however your second is a Brown Argus, they're such smart little butterflies!
Nice shots!
Guy

[dmclean3]

Sorry about that mistake ,
when I took the shot of the brown argus it lifted and I thought it landed further up on a daisy head so I took a pic of it with it's wings folded, it turned out kind of fuzzy so I had another pic which was better quality so that was pic No 1,
I thank you both for helping andwill edit the pic accordingly
Duncan

[goosey]

What a bit of luck Duncan - 2 for the price of 1, you can't do better than that .
Very nice images - I see them rarely and have no decent blues amoung the many butterfly images I have, but I am working on it .

An after thought - I do see holly blues regularly in the garden, but not any of the other blues.

[H Dogg]

I agree 2 is definately a Brown Argus Aricia agestis

[RoyW]

I'm pleased that I was only partly correct and you still got your first Brown Argus photo Duncan!
Just so that I know - what is the best feature(s) to use to seperate Brown Argus/ brown female Common Blues from views of the upperside? Do female CB's always show more obvious black spots between the orange and the wing edge?

Roy.

[dmclean3]

Originally Posted by RoyW

I'm pleased that I was only partly correct and you still got your first Brown Argus photo Duncan!
Just so that I know - what is the best feature(s) to use to seperate Brown Argus/ brown female Common Blues from views of the upperside? Do female CB's always show more obvious black spots between the orange and the wing edge?

Roy.

Hi Roy,
I had a look in Wikpedia and Quote; Brown Argus

The underside has the typical "blue" pattern of a greyish/brownish ground colour with black spots outlined in white and a row of orange spots along the border. The pattern of the black spots is the best way to distinguish this species from female Common, Chalk Hill and Adonis Blues as they lack the black spot found near the base of the forewing present on these three species.
There isa good moth site that show Male topside and underside and also female topside and underside for Brown Argus

UK Butterflies

I'm having a look now to see if I can differenciate between the species,
Duncan

[paul m]

While you're there, can you tell me how to differentiate A. agestis from Aricia artaxerxes, the Northern Brown Argus? I'm fairly happy that most of the ones I see in the Derbyshire Dales are A.agestis but I gather that the Northern one has been expanding into South Yorkshire since the turn of the century ......

[dmclean3]

Hi Paul
Just gleaned this from a website on lakeland butterflys

Northern Brown Argus - Aricia artaxerxes

The Northern Brown Argus, with the distinctive white spot in the centre of its brown forewing, is at the southern edge of its British range in Cumbria. In size and underwing markings it is very similar to the Common Blue, the brownish female of which could easily be confused with the present species. This butterfly feeds as a caterpillar on Common Rockrose and is restricted to the limestone areas in the south of the county where this plant grows in limestone grassland. The flight period is generally from mid June with a peak in July but can continue to early September.

And this from "Collins wild guide , Butterflys and moths"
The northern brown argus is very similar to the Brown Argus, except that orange crescents on forewingsare reduced or missing ,
Underside is much paler, black spots much smaller british sub species (Northern Brown Argus ) has a white spot in centre of each forewingon upperside,
black spots mostly absent from underside and ground colour much darker,
Hope this helps,
Duncan

[paul m]

Thanks - clearly I shall need to get few pictures: they will be a first if I succeed! Knowing my luck I shall probably find a hybrid ....

Originally Posted by dmclean3

Hi Paul
Just gleaned this from a website on lakeland butterflys

Northern Brown Argus - Aricia artaxerxes

The Northern Brown Argus, with the distinctive white spot in the centre of its brown forewing, is at the southern edge of its British range in Cumbria. In size and underwing markings it is very similar to the Common Blue, the brownish female of which could easily be confused with the present species. This butterfly feeds as a caterpillar on Common Rockrose and is restricted to the limestone areas in the south of the county where this plant grows in limestone grassland. The flight period is generally from mid June with a peak in July but can continue to early September.

And this from "Collins wild guide , Butterflys and moths"
The northern brown argus is very similar to the Brown Argus, except that orange crescents on forewingsare reduced or missing ,
Underside is much paler, black spots much smaller british sub species (Northern Brown Argus ) has a white spot in centre of each forewingon upperside,
black spots mostly absent from underside and ground colour much darker,
Hope this helps,
Duncan

[paul m]

Well, got a brief sighting of an argus with white spots on forewings:

... so this must be the Northern species?
This was from Derbyshire (NW) and thus not where I would expect it. Could it be a hybrid?

Originally Posted by paul m

Thanks - clearly I shall need to get few pictures: they will be a first if I succeed! Knowing my luck I shall probably find a hybrid ....

Or is it a female common blue (there were some blues about)?