Chalk Hill Blue aberration

[Piers]

Hi Dave,

Ab. postico-obsoleta (see my above post). A great photo of a super specimen; and a timely find which adds nicely to this thread...!

Felix.

[millerd]

Thank you, Felix!

I was amazed to go out today and see the very beast described above, in amongst the throng. (And it would have been much more interesting to have done butterflies in O-level Latin than "Gallia omnia divisa est in partes tres...")

Dave

[Cotswold Cockney]

Hi Vince,

Chalkhill Blue undersides can vary in colour from snow white through to deep chocolate brown, slate gray, or bright orange-ochre. And that's just the males...!

There are many named underside colour forms for almost every shade...!

This may seem excessive (and to a degree it probably is), but many of these underside colour forms can be bred through in captivity from carefully selected females to produce strains with different coloured undersides implying that the underside colour is (in some instances) genetically controlled.

Felix.

Back in the 1970-80s an enthusiastic breeder of the Chalkhill Blue produced a huge number of superb varieties of this butterfly by selective breeding. IIRC .. Revels? but the memory is not what it was...

A wide variety of specimens he exhibited at a BENHS exhibition were really interesting, not least females as blue as the males...
.

[Piers]

Back in the 1970-80s an enthusiastic breeder of the Chalkhill Blue produced a huge number of superb varieties of this butterfly by selective breeding. IIRC .. Revels? but the memory is not what it was...

Nowt wrong with your memory CC, it would have been Richard Revels. He has done a great deal of work with aberrations, and a fair bit has been published over the years.

http://www.richardrevelsphotography.com/page18.htm

Felix.

[millerd]

I saw this female Chalkhill Blue at Denbies today. It's a pity the forewing was mostly covered, as I would guess it also lacked spots.

Dave

[Piers]

Hi Dave,

It's ab. obsoleta, which was mentioned earlier in the thread. You'll notice that the specimen is slightly deformed as well. This is very often the case with obsoleta and it's kin.

Felix.

[NickB]

Two weeks ago - One with nice blue spots....