Silver-studded Blues (Plebejus argus subsp. caernensis) on the Great Orme

July 8, 2013:
After visiting the Shropshire site, it was interesting to see this endemic subspecies at its classic locality on the limestones of the Great Orme. It is only known from here and a few other sites close by where it has been introduced.

The males are rather similar to subsp. argus but the females can be quite different, especially in regard to the wings' uppersides which can be shot with a bright blue sheen and orange markings. They vary appreciably in this respect. Also, both sexes are noticeably smaller than in subsp. argus and the females here are even smaller than the males.

A range of males and females are shown below.