Adonis Blues (Lysandra bellargus) near Stroud. Gloucestershire

September 3. 2013:
On a small piece of sloping limestone grassland, several second (autumn) brood Adonis Blues were flying in warm sunny weather. Mostly, they nectared on the flowers of scabious and marjoram but also sometimes rested on dead grasses. The distinctive intense sky-blue colour of the males could easily be picked out even at a distance.

 

This is probably the most northerly colony in Britain and surprisingly is a site where the grass is quite long, much different to the short-turfed habitat that the butterfly normally favours.

 

 

 

All males above

 

 

Females

 

 



French Jura: Butterflies

July 17-21, 2012:
Woodland and open sub-alpine grassland in the Foret du Risoux near Les Rousses was rich in butterflies. The Adonis Blue and Large Ringlet were frequent here especially in the more open areas whilst three different fritillaries nectared on the flowery species-rich grassland.

Adonis Blue (male) above and below



Adonis Blue aberration showing pale-coloured striations replacing the marginal lunules

Large Ringlet (female) with conspicuous silver band on the underside of the forewing

Amongst the fritillaries, the False Heath Fritillary was the scarcest with the Meadow and Lesser Marbled more frequent.

False Heath Fritillary (both above)

Meadow Fritillary (both above)

Lesser Marbled Fritillary (three above)

A solitary Purple-edged Copper made a brief appearance, the brightly coloured dark bordered upperside seen clearly when in flight. This is a scarce butterfly.

Purple-edged Copper

A sheltered woodland glade near Divonne-le-Bains had several species including Silver-washed Fritillary, Chalk-hill Blue, Wood White and Large Skipper. Ringlets were locally frequent in damp pasture elsewhere.

Silver-washed Fritillary (male) with very broad silver bandings on the hind-wing underside

Chalk-hill Blue male

Wood White, a delicate weak-flying butterfly

Common Ringlet

Large Skipper

A Small Heath frequenting rough grassland at Lac de Bellefontaine

Foret du Risoux, butterfly-rich flowery grassland