www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

It's probably a long shot, but could this faded brown butterfly that I saw struggling through the grass at Arnside Knott on 1st July this year possibly be a Northern Brown Argus ...
I realise that it doesn't look much like the pristine specimens on the identification page, with much less orange, and barely visible white spots on the forewings, but I wondered if it might be an older butterfly that had lost some of its colour.

I often see similar brown butterflies 'down south' and always struggle to decide whether they are brown arguses or some variety of female blue?

Yup that's a male NBA in my opinion. The ones at arnside are the salmacis form which rarely have the white spot of the Scottish animals.

I think the absence of orange lunules on the forewings pretty much confirms that it is an NBA.

Thanks for your help. It was a long trip to try and see one, so that's made my day!