Advanced Butterfly Identification, Blues     back to common blues

 (The Lycaenidae)                                                                                    Next Advanced ID (4, Skippers)page                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       back to 1st Page

In North Wales as well as the Common Blue and Holly Blue we have the Brown Argus and our own unique race of Silver-studded Blues.

See the Regional Species page for more details of habitats, life cycles and distribution. 

If you would like to help us save butterflies by keeping records of the ones  you see click here; Recording or for just a Recording sheet to print off; Record

Blues  (The Lycaenidae family) ; Generally quite small and bright blue, females sometimes being brownish on top.	Siver-studded Blue, heathland race (Plebejus argus) In the heathland environment the caterpillar of this race (ie., not a separate species from the Great Orme race) of Silver-studded Blue feeds on heathers and Ling. Whereas in the limestone environment, like the Great Orme,  they feed on Common Rockrose. The caterpillar also relies on a certain species of ant for part of its life cycle.		Small Blue (Cupido minimus) This butterfly has not been recorded in North Wales in living memory, but its habitat (limestone grassland with Kidney vetch - its larval foodplant) is still here, and it does still live in South Wales, so it is possible it may be hiding nearby, somewhere! Please let your local recorder know if you think you have seen it. It is smaller and greyer than any of our other blues.
Silver-studded Blue, Great Orme race, underwing (Phebejus argus Caernensis) The top wings may look identical to the male Common Blue, but the underwing has a more continuous orange band than the Common Blue. The 'silver stud' is in the third or fourth outer black spot, but not always present.This butterfly is very sedentary, that is it never flies more than a few metres from where it emerges. So you will only ever see it in a few special places. Like many blue butterflies, this one has a special relationship with ants that are attracted to the caterpillar's sugary secretions.	Common Blue, underwing (Polyommatus icarus) Note the separate orange spots along the edge of the wing and the inner black dots that if joined together with a pen would  make a rough circle.	Brown Argus, underwing (Aricia agestis) Note the more random pattern of black dots on lower wing. (In this picture the butterfly is ovipositing (laying eggs) on a Rockrose leaf.)	Brown argus, Top view (Aricia agestis) Although both sexes are entirely brown on top, if you look at the underwing you can see that this is a member of the Blue family. It is easily confused with the female common Blue, and although it is often said that the orange spots on the top wing of the Brown Argus go all the way to the top, you can see how in this specimen that is not always easy to see. The most reliable diagnostic is the black spots on the underwing not forming a circle like they do on the Common Blue. This butterfly is confined to Limestone grassland where the caterpillar feeds on Common Rockrose. (Photos by Janet Graham, Ilija Vukomanovic and Rob Whitehead)