David Element

 

 

Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images

 

_____________________________________________________________________ Butterflies 76 – Cranberry Blues

 

 

A picture containing insect Description automatically generated

 

CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

 

CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

A butterfly on the ground Description automatically generated with low confidence                 A close up of a moth Description automatically generated with low confidence

 

   CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)                                                                            CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

A close up of a snake Description automatically generated with low confidence

 

CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

                 A brown and black butterfly on a rock Description automatically generated with low confidence

 

   CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)                                                                            CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

A butterfly on a tree Description automatically generated with medium confidence

 

CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

A picture containing insect Description automatically generated                 A picture containing insect Description automatically generated

 

   CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)                                                                            CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

 

CRANBERRY BLUE BUTTERFLY Agriades optilete (m)

 

·         European Blue Butterflies are notoriously difficult to identify, particularly when worn, so it helps a great deal if they possess a characteristic that separates them from the other contenders. Fortunately, in the case of the Cranberry Blue Butterfly Agriades optilete the position of the two black, orange, and blue spots on the undersides of the hindwings is unique and the upperside of the male is also a relatively dark shade of blue with well-defined black and white margins and no chequering. The fresh male above was photographed in the Swiss Alps where this species is reported to have a localised but scattered distribution. The presence of a probable Formica sp. ant in the final photograph might be coincidental, or it may indicate that, in common with some other Blues, there is a symbiotic ant-association (in which protection is offered in exchange for sugary exudations produced by the larvae and ants may attend an emerging imago). The generic name of this butterfly appears to have been altered twice recently, so it has presumably been reclassified following detailed DNA sequencing studies.

 

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