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After having seen only 4 Common Blues all season in my field a new hatch appeared yesterday, but they all seemed smaller and lighter in colour than I remember them (but then a year is a long time ) This is a female CB??

Hi John,
I would say, yes, definitely a Female Common Blue. There are some clever folks here that should be able to tell you which particular type of aberrant this is as well (there is a distintive range of different types of the Female Common Blues all with different and recogniseable types of colouring etc). Unfortunately I don't know the aberrants that well, and I just bow to those with superior knowledge..
Michael

Thank you for that confirmation. I keep hoping that one of my CBs will turn out to be something else, I suppose I should be content with what I have.

She is a stunning lady though John, and your picture shows her colours superbly.

Cheers

Lee

I'm a big fan of Common Blue females and their immense variety of blueness. A look around my local patch this evening revealed a few, some of which were recently emerged and very small - as small as the the Brown Argus that were flitting amongst them. However, their blueness gave them away. I managed a couple of open-wing shots before they decided to roost. One tiny female found a very snug looking spot - in contrast to a nearby male who appeared to have elected to snooze on the butterfly equivalent of a bed of nails...

Dave