Provence Chalkhill Blue

Lysandra hispana

Male, France, August 2008

Female, France, August 2008

Mating pair, France, August 2008

This butterfly is very like the chalkhill blue but the male is consistently paler and the female consistently darker. The first picture above gives a good idea of the colour of the male. The next two male uppersides look much bluer than they did in real life - it was an overcast day and the camera seemed to exaggerate the shade of blue. There is no doubt about their identity though, because not only are the markings correct for this species but the pictures were taken at two known Provence chalkhill blue sites where the first brood flew in May, and chalkhill blues were not on the wing in the region.

Both colonies were much denser than chalkhill blue colonies. The butterflies could be seen easily in every direction, never wandering far even when disturbed. All the males appeared off-white in flight, more likely to be confused with a wood white or a moth than a chalkhill blue. The overall effect was strikingly distinctive and coupled with the very dark undersides of the females suggested to me that this is probably not nearly such a tricky species to identify as the books make out!