www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

A few to ID please. I think I know what they are but would be grateful if someone can confirm, thanks (I am assuming they are Silver-spotted Skipper, Large white and Silver-washed Fritillary but am unsure about the blues - is there a Brown Argus there?)

Thanks

Hi Paul. The skipper is a female large skipper. The first blue is a female chalkhill and my guess for the other one is female Adonis but I can't make out enough detail of the fringes to be sure of that.

Guy

You're a better man than I am, Guy.

I thought the lycaenid had 'Brown Argus' written all over it.

Which one did you have for brown argus, David? I presume you are looking at the underside shots. If so, then the orientation of the two pd spots nearest the costa of the hindwing is the clue. In brown argus these would be out of the general arc of the pd spots, forming a 'colon' on their own. As for the upperside shot, it simply looks like a chalkhill to me - I haven't really got any detailed justification! That's usually when I get things wrong!

Guy

padfield wrote:Which one did you have for brown argus, David? I presume you are looking at the underside shots. If so, then the orientation of the two pd spots nearest the costa of the hindwing is the clue. In brown argus these would be out of the general arc of the pd spots, forming a 'colon' on their own. As for the upperside shot, it simply looks like a chalkhill to me - I haven't really got any detailed justification! That's usually when I get things wrong!

Yes. I'm assuming both underside shots are of the same butterfly.

Maybe it's a perspective issue - this butterfly looked particularly small and dainty and the 'smudge' of white in the mid-hindwing fringe just cried out 'agestis' to me instinctively....but then my instincts are nowhere near as sharp as yours.

Yes, the first female lycaenid HAS to be Chalkhill, and given that I probably saw 200+ of them four days ago, I've probably never been in a better position to judge!!