Argus Species Identification

[IonJ]

This photo was taken at Doncaster, South Yorkshire today. I know what it looks like but as it is well outside the usual distribution area for Northern Brown Argus, my question is; can Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) also exhibit the white wing spots? I never got to see the undersides as after this photo was taken it vanished into the long grass.

[David M]

Wow! I've never seen an English NBA nor a Brown Argus with those markings.

Great find and I'll be interested to hear what those with more experience of the Scottish race think about this.

Did you find more 'normally' marked individuals flying there too?

[CallumMac]

Based on location and date, it’s virtually impossible that this very fresh individual is a Northern Brown Argus, which is univoltine and all but gone over, even in the extreme north of its range. This must therefore be a striking aberration of A. agestis. Looking at the British Butterfly Aberrations page, it appears there is a named ab. snelleni which has white points. Very nice find! http://www.britishbutterflyaberrations. ... berrations

[Allan.W.]

For me ,that is a Brown Arg ,AB Snelleni (as suggested by Callumac ) ,and a very striking one at that ………...lovely find !
I posted a n Ab; Snelleni pic , a couple of days back to add to my personal photo log ,but nowhere near as striking as that one. they do tend to turn up quite regularly down here in Kent.
Regards Allan.W.

[IonJ]

Wow! I've never seen an English NBA nor a Brown Argus with those markings.

Great find and I'll be interested to hear what those with more experience of the Scottish race think about this.

Did you find more 'normally' marked individuals flying there too?

Hi David,

Yes this individual was also flying in the same area of grass

[IonJ]

For me ,that is a Brown Arg ,AB Snelleni (as suggested by Callumac ) ,and a very striking one at that ………...lovely find !
I posted a n Ab; Snelleni pic , a couple of days back to add to my personal photo log ,but nowhere near as striking as that one. they do tend to turn up quite regularly down here in Kent.
Regards Allan.W.

Allan.W. Thank you very much for the information, Much appreciated. IonJ

[IonJ]

Based on location and date, it’s virtually impossible that this very fresh individual is a Northern Brown Argus, which is univoltine and all but gone over, even in the extreme north of its range. This must therefore be a striking aberration of A. agestis. Looking at the British Butterfly Aberrations page, it appears there is a named ab. snelleni which has white points. Very nice find! http://www.britishbutterflyaberrations. ... berrations

CallumMac, thank you very much for information and the weblink. Being relatively new to seriously recording Butterflies in my local area, i find it fascinating that there is so much variation and not everything is clear cut. IonJ

[IAC]

Well then, thats a beauty isn't it. Not Northern Brown Argus by a long chalk though the thumbnail image would have fooled me. I agree with CallumMac that its likely ab. snelleni. I have seen a good few of these on various forums this year.

As for NBA Scottish flight times. I don't agree with CallumMac as NBA are still flying in south east Scotland though fewer of them now granted. Might need to look out for partial bivoltine NBA on the Scottish Border soon if the climate stays to form.

Great find IonJ

Iain.

[CallumMac]

Thanks for that Iain - very interesting. I was in the Newtonmore area two weeks ago and had to search a good site quite hard to find a single, tatty, NBA; hence my comment. Perhaps it has a longer flight period further south where conditions are more favourable?