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just completed a "bad weather" cruise to Canary Islands & Maderia. A couple of sunny mornings at Teneriffe & Maderia enabled us to see a bit. A good park in walking distance from dock at Santa Cruz Teneriffe produced quite a few Monarchs some whites that looked small ones & a tiny bf on a low growing herbs. Unfortunately my wife cannot stand about while I take photos, the small one about size of our small blue was a pale brown underside with a violet tinge to upperside when flying - any ideas what it might have been. The "Jardin Botanico" in Maderia produced a tatty Spec wood. Apologies for photo quality, as I said my wife cannot stand around so they had to be snatched ones. Eric

Hi Eric,

The blue could well have been African grass blue, Zizeeria knysna, which flies in the Canaries. Here are the upperside and underside of a male:





This is a tiny blue, generally found in rather damp gullies - sometimes coastal gullies, sometimes irrigation ditches and occasionally just dripping wet city areas where they water flowers.

Guy

Many thanks Guy, that could well be it. I did not get a detailed view as wife was very impatient (she has had hips replaced & cannot stand), there was a large pool water feature with many water sprays nearby & i suppose the herbs would have been watered. Eric

I agree they would most likely be African Grass Blues. When I was in Lanzarote earlier in the year I saw them amongst the few butterflies I spotted. There were also Lang's Short-tailed Blues there.