Eastern Short-tailed Blue

[traplican]

Last year I succeed in snapping the female of Everes decoloratus laying the eggs to black medick head:



Here is a male of Eastern Short-tailed Blue:




Here is a female:




... and here is a pair mating:

[Padfield]

Very interesting Traplican! I'm surprised to see how little the upf discoidal mark shows in the male here. I don't doubt your identification - none of the pictures (except perhaps the last two) look anything like alcetas and most of them look distinctly different from any Everes I've seen (I'm familiar with argiades and alcetas but not decoloratus). But it's interesting, because the books always stress this mark and it seems to me from your photos that other things are more important in confirming this species.

Guy

[Padfield]

Mmm ... I've been examining my own pictures of alcetas and so many of them look just like your male ups that I would like to know how you distinguish them. Most of your female uns, as I say, are quite different. Do both species fly in your region, or just decoloratus? What do you regard as being the definitive features?

Guy

[traplican]

Identification was done by the experts of the Czech entomological institute. Furhermore the identification of the laying female was acknowledged on Biolib.cz as "certain":
http://www.biolib.cz/en/imagedeterminat ... agedetID=0
http://www.biolib.cz/en/imagedeterminat ... agedetID=0
Some of these photos will maybe be used in new Polish book about butterflies - I have given the photos and rights for this usage.

Everes decoloratus very reseblembles E. alcetas, but in SE Moravia there is more likely to see E. decoloratusbecause it is an expanding species while E. alceas is probably critically endangered.

I have snapped an Eastern Short-tailed blue even in my garden:

[Padfield]

Thanks Traplican. As I said, I didn't doubt your identification, but asked for my own interest. I had imagined it would be easier to identify a male decoloratus. As it turns out, those females are actually more distinctive!

In much of Europe alcetas is, or has been, spreading. It is now widespread and common in Switzerland, even in mountain villages, and I have found it equally easily in Eastern France. In contrast, argiades has apparently been declining, though the last couple of years have seen better numbers. It would be a great hat-trick for me to see decoloratus one day!

Guy

[traplican]

I haven´t seen alcetas yet but on the other hand argiades is one of most common blues near me. I find it constantly in my garden and i have snapped it even in park lawn of Buchlovice chateau.