David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
_____________________________________________________________________
Butterflies 86 – Brown Arguses
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(m)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(m)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(m)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(m)
BROWN ARGUS
BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis (m)
BROWN
ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis (f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis
(f)
BROWN ARGUS
BUTTERFLY Aricia agestis (f)
·
The Brown Argus Butterfly Aricia agestis is a charismatic little insect, although it
may easily be overlooked because of its diminutive size and speed of flight. In
the UK this butterfly is only to be found in the southern counties, although it
may be spreading its range. South-facing chalk slopes are a productive habitat,
and they are often to be found in the company of other lycaenid (Blue) butterflies
including the Common Blue Polyommatus icarus, Chalkhill
Blue P. coridon and Adonis Blue P. bellargus, the females of which may be similar in
appearance, and all of which have been illustrated elsewhere on this site. The
orange markings on the wings of Brown Arguses are generally larger relative to
the size of the wings, they don’t contain any blue scales, and the sexes may be
separated both by size (the males are noticeably smaller, with more angular forewings)
and by the strength of the orange marks at the apex of the forewings as these
are smaller in males. Careful comparison with typical (brown) forms of female blue
butterflies that could cause confusion will reveal differences in the
arrangement of the black spots on their undersides. As may be seen from these
photographs the brown ground colour may contain hints of gold, purple, or other
colours, dependent on the angle from which they are observed. These are most evident
in freshly emerged specimens. Recent studies by Butterfly Conservation have
demonstrated that the average lifespan of the imago is a mere four days.
-> Butterflies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100
-> Species
Index, Common Names
-> Species
Index, Scientific Names
-> Site Index
-> Home