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Here's a first selection of blues from North Spain, kicking off with Agrodiaetus. There are potentially two species of furry blue in the region, dolus and ainsae, and two species of anomalous blue, ripartii and agenjoi. I'm very unsure about the identity of the furry blues as the available maps are not reliable enough to do it on precise location alone. It is possible both species were present. I know I saw both agenjoi and ripartii, because the males are characteristic, but some females are problematic because I can't tell them with any certainty from female furry blues at the moment! Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Here is a rather bright, male furry blue:



Some were a rather pale white rather than blue. This individual is worn, but others whose ups I couldn't photograph were fresher and still pale:



The undersides varied from having no stripe at all...



... to quite a strong stripe:



This is a female furry blue:



I think this is also a female furry but there's nothing absolute to say it's not female ripartii:



Male ripartii is easy to identify, because it is male and has brown uppersides, as well as a strong stripe:



This is a male agenjoi:



There is no stripe at all. On the upperside, the androconial scales are easily visible:





They are most visible from behind:



This aberrant female had almost no markings at all and I really don't know what species she is. I'm calling her agenjoi:



This is a more typical agenjoi female, with just a short stab of a stripe:



These were my first encounters with anomalous blues and it was very exciting but I have a lot to learn!

Guy

Great shots Guy. Making me think about next year's holiday now.

I am soooo jealous

Guy, if you're struggling with the ID, what chance have the rest of us got?

Paul Wetton wrote:Great shots Guy. Making me think about next year's holiday now.

I travel through north Spain most years on my way to the Pyrenees and I've often thought what wonderful butterfly country it was out there. If my discovery this time is typical, just getting off the bus at a likely spot and having a wander, then you should have easy pickings driving around, Paul. You could guarantee yourself dolus and ainsae simply by going into their known ranges, for some of which there is no overlap.

David M wrote:Guy, if you're struggling with the ID, what chance have the rest of us got?

It's all about local experience, I think, David. Many of these groups are so variable across Europe it can be quite confusing when you go to a new region for the first time. I think some members, like Misha, for example, visit Spain regularly, and others have encountered similar butterflies elsewhere. Roger G has local furry blues - definitely dolus, not ainsae - so he might have some tips, though his are a different subspecies.

Rev - you have no need to be jealous! You have had a storming summer and photographed some fantastic butterflies! I always look forward to new instalments in your diary.

Guy

padfield wrote:
It's all about local experience, I think, David. Many of these groups are so variable across Europe it can be quite confusing when you go to a new region for the first time. I think some members, like Misha, for example, visit Spain regularly, and others have encountered similar butterflies elsewhere. Roger G has local furry blues - definitely dolus, not ainsae - so he might have some tips, though his are a different subspecies.

I understand what you mean, Guy. I was most perplexed at first by the Furry Blue ssp vittatus in the Cévennes earlier this month, but of course, if I were to return next year this butterfly would present no problems whatsoever.

I remember the first time you saw dolus, Guy. 2004 I think. Waiting patiently for an hour or more at the spot where I had seen them previously, until around 5pm when several males and a female passed by. I should mention that you had about a seven hour trip back to CH after that. Commitment that can only be described as Herculean.

On reading your diary of the trip to the Val, it is interesting to note that you would not have found these superb locations and new species had it not been for the abysmal weather effectively forcing you to try something different. There is some general advice here, particularly applicable to the Pyrenees, that if the weather is lousy in the valley you are in, try the next one along. If that fails, head south to Spain. That advice was given to me by Graham Hart, who obtained his doctorate on the ecology of Violet Copper (Lycaena helle).

Roger Gibbons wrote:
On reading your diary of the trip to the Val, it is interesting to note that you would not have found these superb locations and new species had it not been for the abysmal weather effectively forcing you to try something different. There is some general advice here, particularly applicable to the Pyrenees, that if the weather is lousy in the valley you are in, try the next one along. If that fails, head south to Spain. That advice was given to me by Graham Hart, who obtained his doctorate on the ecology of Violet Copper (Lycaena helle).

That's a good point, Roger. Sometimes, the unexpected turns up in adversity. If you've made the effort to get there in the first place, then you will lose nothing through perseverance, and you might just uncover a little bonus something along the way.

Roger Gibbons wrote:I remember the first time you saw dolus, Guy. 2004 I think.

Absolutely right, Roger! I remember you seemed almost resigned to having let Tim and me down when we waited at your site and dolus didn't appear. Tim went off on his own and drooled over striped graylings while I insisted on waiting for the blues! It was a wonderful day - for which continued thanks to you, Roger.

I don't think it's coincidental that I got striped graylings on this trip too. They are certainly worth drooling over!



I'll do a separate post with some other graylings later.

Re your advice, and David M's endorsement of it, I remember the first time Paul K came to Switzerland (or actually nearby France). It poured every day so he drove down to the south of France daily!

Guy