Blue ID - Nilsia, central Finland

[NickB]

Hi
Poor photo - only got one - I saw this rather old specimen in a woodland edge in damp conditions where last year, 2 weeks earlier I saw Agrodiaetus amanda - Amanda's Blue.

Possibly Amanda then, particularly with isias in mind;- did see, but not photograph, the underside briefly to see some orange lumules on the hind-wing. Was quite small, I thought, compared to my remembrance of other Amanda females last year.
Other possibilities:
Eumonedonia eumedon - Geranium Argus?
Plebjeus argus - Silver Studded Blue? (Saw these elsewhere so I don't think this)
Vacciniina optilete - Cranberry Blue (Certainly small enough - not sure about underside tho'...)

Any ideas...?
Ta, N

[Mikhail]

I think you're right to suspect f. isias of amanda. Looks very like it, but await verdict of one of our Finnish experts.

Misha

[Roger Gibbons]

If you hadn't said where you had seen it, I would have said female Reverdin's Blue (Plebejus argyrognomon) would have been a strong contender, but as this doesn't occur in Finland, Amanda's Blue of the form isias looks most probable.

No doubt you will hear from JKT in due course, but I checked his site (http://www.tyllinen.eu/Butterflies/Butterflies.htm) and the two female uppersides shown appear to be of the nominate form not isias.

Roger

[JKT]

Naturally I have to meddle with this.

I actually had to check what the P. a. f. isis looks like, but I don't think this is it. To me it looked liked quite typical worn female P. optilete from the first time I saw the picture and the comment about size seems to be an indication to the same direction.

The corner of the front wing seems quite round, which is also typical for that species (or P. idas/argus). The angle does not make that observation quite certain, though. Also, the habitat fits to that species, which happens to be one of the most common ones here - much-if not most-of the Finnish woodland is perfect for it. There is clear overlap in habitat with, P. idas or P. argus, but my hunch is that is not either of those. The only concrete reason for that is the mention of lunules - those two have a continuous orange "stripe".

[NickB]

Vacciniina optilete - Cranberry Blue

Thanks guys!
A new one for me! (My butterfly hunting time in Finland is sadly limited by travel and meeting friends and relations; my fiancée's summer cottage is on a small wooded island - only the odd Erebia ligea -Arran Brown - to be seen, and they were quite battered.

But also saw Vanessa Cardui - Painted Ladies in good numbers; and Scarce Copper - Lycaenae vigaureae - is scarcely scarce at all!

Plus ran into a Lesser Marbled Fritillary - Brenthis ino - again, I think.

Down in Helsinki nice to catch a colony of Small Copper - Lycaenae phlaeas - on the historic buildings island (?)

(Lots of moths - but let's not go there. I'm not yet ready for the "Dark Side" of Lepidotera !)

[JKT]

Not much else to see at the time you were here. When the L. virgaureae appears (yes, it is very common here as is the L. phlaeas on dry, open ground), the summer is just about over. The second generations are the only fresh ones after that. On the other hand, that includes N. antiopa, but just a bit later...