| Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon (Poda, 1761)) |
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Scientific name: Lysandra coridon (Poda, 1761) Common name: Chalkhill Blue Other names: Other scientific name: Polyommatus coridon French name: Argus bleu-nacré Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Lycaenidae Subfamily: Polyommatinae Wingspan: 30 to 36 mm. Biotope: Sunny grasslands up to an altitude of 2500m, with a preference for chalk grasslands. Geographic area: Europe, missing in south of Spain, south of Italy, north of the British Isles and Scandinavia. Flight time: July-August. Number of generations : 1 Caterpillar: Green with lateral and dorsal yellow lines. Host plant: Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa). |
The edges of the Chalkhill Blue's wings show a lightly white and black chequered fringe. The upperside of the male's wings is a pale silvery blue colour. The outer edge is dark with more or less white-circled black dots, more visible on the hindwings. The upperside of the female's wings is a dark brown colour with black-centred orange lunules on the hindwings. The underside of the wings show white-circled black marks. The background colour is grey on the male and brown on the female. |
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While hiking over 2000 meters in the Alps, I observed numerous Chalkhill Blues landed on the ground with wide open wings. |
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A higher shutter speed would have made a sharper picture without this light moving blur. |
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Female. There is a possible confusion with Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus). The identification is based on the chequered fringe and on the fact that I have observed numerous Chalkhill Blue males in the surroundings. |
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Underside of a male's wings. |
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Underside of a female's wings. |
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Chalkhill Blues are photogenic butterflies. |
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You can also observe the Chalkhill Blue in the region near Paris. I have found a small chalky meadow where it flies with Common Blues, Silver-studded Blues and Adonis Blues. |
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This view is enough to tell that this one is a male and it provides a good view of the pattern on the underside of the wings. |
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I think that the brown ground colour indicates one female. |
André Bon July 2017
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