Brown Argus - or is it?
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:08 pm
I have been up in Yorkshire all week visiting relatives. One of the family excursions took us out to the Wolds Way Lavender Farm not all that far from Scarborough (SE872743 is a rough grid ref.).
One of the attractions on offer was a half-mile "nature walk" around the perimeter - this was blessed with informative boards at regular intervals describing likely sightings, including those of various butterflies. Despite overcast conditions, I quickly clocked up Meadow Browns, Small Coppers, Large Whites, a Red Admiral and a Small Skipper. One area had been sown with colourful wild flowers, and here I found what appeared to be a reasonably new female Brown Argus.
It was only afterwards I asked myself the question: How far north does the Brown Argus actually go? Beyond what point is it likely to be a Northern Brown Argus that you see, rather than the soft southern sort?
Here is the individual, from both above and underneath. My feeling is that the timing matches that of a second brood Brown Argus (though I think I've read that in the north they have just the one brood to confuse things).
Any answers/thoughts/musings welcome!
Dave
One of the attractions on offer was a half-mile "nature walk" around the perimeter - this was blessed with informative boards at regular intervals describing likely sightings, including those of various butterflies. Despite overcast conditions, I quickly clocked up Meadow Browns, Small Coppers, Large Whites, a Red Admiral and a Small Skipper. One area had been sown with colourful wild flowers, and here I found what appeared to be a reasonably new female Brown Argus.
It was only afterwards I asked myself the question: How far north does the Brown Argus actually go? Beyond what point is it likely to be a Northern Brown Argus that you see, rather than the soft southern sort?
Here is the individual, from both above and underneath. My feeling is that the timing matches that of a second brood Brown Argus (though I think I've read that in the north they have just the one brood to confuse things).
Any answers/thoughts/musings welcome!
Dave