Long-tailed Blue

Lampides boeticus

Male, Val d'Aran, July 2005

Female, Val d'Aran, July 2005

Portugal, June 1992

This butterfly is a remarkable migrant for so small an insect, winering in southern Europe but reaching even to Britain in good summers (though it is always a rarity there).

Both male and female are easily identified by the tail on the hindwing, the white wedge on a rippled underside and the very fast flight which can be recognised at considerable distance once your eye is in. One can come across the long-tailed blue almost anywhere but in high summer it does tend to hang around wild pea plants and it was on these that most of the pictures above were taken.