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Silver-studded Blue / plebejus argus. Lindrick Common, South Yorkshire. 21/06/20.
'A LITTLE TIME OUT.'
Another of the c30 males present at Lindrick Common. Although mostly on the wing, they did land on Bird's Foot Trefoil to nectar and occasionally perched lower down in the grasses to rest.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
Stud Farm Scenes - Pic 10.
37416 places wagons under the loader to form 6G63, 12.36 to Bescot on the 13th February 1998.
©Dave Peachey.
RSPB Arne.
The silver-studded blue emerges in June and is usually on the wing until late August. It is a rare butterfly, generally found in heathland habitats that have shorter, sparsely vegetated areas. It is restricted to close-knit colonies in southern England and Wales. Two subspecies can be found in its range, while two others are now extinct in the UK. The larvae feed on a wide variety of plants, such as bell heather, cross-leaved heath and gorses. (The Wildlife Trusts).
My thanks to anyone who clicks or comments on this photo. It is much appreciated.
He looked over his kingdom as far as the eye could see. Owning everything east of the Grey Peaks and west of the Fathomless Forest, he was a god in the universe. Naive yet "mighty" ruler of the 5 Stud Kingdom. (Or so he saw himself)
***Scale photo in comments below***
We got distracted tonight lol... We promise we're finishing up other much larger MOCs :)
Thanks for hanging around during these few micro tangents!
Ellisons Pond, Ashdown Forest - another of the mating pair from just over a week ago. This time after a bit of pole dancing, they changed position on the perch, with the male at the top.
I didn't manage to get it in sharp focus throughout but I liked the colour of the wings catching the late evening sun.
Every year, for the same seven weeks, on the same 6km walk, I do a study of the fragile Silver Studded Blue butterfly on Ashdown Forest. As an adult, they will live for just five days so seeing them is a rare and precious thing. If you see one, the chances are that no one else in the world will ever see the same butterfly... there's a thought. They are entirely dependent on a black ant, Lasius niger, which will tend and protect the caterpillars, chrysalis and adult butterfly, in return for a sugary secretion treat. If you are very lucky you may be able to catch sight of the ants tending an emerging adult as it inflates its wings and dries out. This short video shows such an event. Thank you for watching.
I photographed this male Silver-studded Blue at the RSPB South Stack reserve on Anglesey. We visited South Stack to look for Choughs after we had seen the Elegant Tern. This one is slightly unusual in that it lacks the silver studs that give rise to the name. Silver-studded Blues are commonest on southern heathlands around the New Forest and Thames Basin. Beyond that they are decidedly localised, though often common where they do occur. They are noticeably smaller than Common Blues, with a more leaden blue colouration, with a row of black studs around the hindwing margin. Its caterpillars feed on a variety of plants including gorse, heather and rock-rose, but they also have a relationship with black ants of the genus Lasius. Ants carry the young larvae into their nests where they tend and protect them, presumably for the sugary solutions they exude. But it is not known whether they actually feed on ant larvae (like Large Blues do), but at night the caterpillars emerge from the ants' nests to feed on vegetation. Female Silver-studded Blues selectively lay eggs on vegetation close to Black Ant nests.
The Silver-studded Blue has the scientific name Plebejus argus. Plebejus were basically the Plebs or common folk, as this was Linnaeus's "dumping ground" for all the small butterflies like blues and skippers. These were lower than the grand Swallowtails, Emperors and Admirals. And so to the name argus. In Greek mythology Zeus was in love with Io, so to indulge himself without arousing his wife Hera's suspicion, he turned her into a Heifer. Hera found out and placed her under the care of Argus, who had a hundred eyes. Zeus enlisted the help of Hermes who lulled Argus to sleep with his flute and then cut off Argus's head. Hera consoled herself by setting Argus's eyes into the tail of the peacock. So any butterfly that has numerous eyespots often has the name Argus, and elsewhere in the animal kingdom (eg Great Argus Pheasant).
Studded shoes are a must at this time of the year in Finland. Very much ice on paths and on the roads.
Once upon a time there was the beauty of a place called Glen Canyon. This is a long time ago since the existence of the Glen Dam and Lake Powell. With the construction of the dam a town called Page was created in the middle of the Southwest. Page is now a attraction for the prime time locations in the surroundings. Lake Powell is just the most visible one, but there are Antelope Canyon, Wahweap Hoodoos, Alstrom Point and many other places with mysterious names - for example Stud Horse Point.
Interested in a photo tour through the American Southwest? I can help you with it and make you come back with unique shots.
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Image is under Copyright by Peter Boehringer.
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I posted a male Silver-studded Blue recently and today it was in Explore. I'm not expecting as much attention for this duller female, but it is the first time I have managed a photograph of a female with wings open.
I remember my first encounter with Silver-studded Blues was in my early teens while visiting my Uncle in Surrey. He lived right next door to Whitmoor Common and I wandered onto the heathland there and saw thousands. But I had to consult my Observer's Book of Butterflies to work out which species it was. I identified them as Silver-studded Blues, but I wrongly thought the females were Brown Argus as I could not see any trace of blue on them. Female Silver-studded Blues from the northern populations tend to show more blue on the upperwings than ones from the south. The silver studs that give rise to the name, are inside the black spots around the edge of the underwing hindwing, and are present in both sexes. Here they are on a male I took some years ago: www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/5824137718/in/photolist
The Silver-studded Blue has the scientific name Plebejus argus. Plebejus were basically the Plebs or common folk, as this was Linnaeus's "dumping ground" for all the small butterflies like blues and skippers. These were lower than the grand Swallowtails, Emperors and Admirals. And so to the name argus. In Greek mythology Zeus was in love with Io, so to indulge himself without arousing his wife Hera's suspicion, he turned her into a Heifer. Hera found out and placed her under the care of Argus, who had a hundred eyes. Zeus enlisted the help of Hermes who lulled Argus to sleep with his flute and then cut off Argus's head. Hera consoled herself by setting Argus's eyes into the tail of the peacock. So any butterfly that has numerous eyespots often has the name Argus, and elsewhere in the animal kingdom (eg Great Argus Pheasant).
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had this idea since October as well. i have tons of photo ideas from the October 2012 that I never did and I'm trying to go back and do them.
i think what kept me from doing this was the lack of studs.
Many thanks to my Flickr friend John Tomsett who guided me in the right direction for these. My first ever sightings of these beauties. There were at least a dozen in the area I went to in the Ashdown Forest and by careful observation I was able to get the macro lens within a few inches of them. John, I am indebted to you Sir. I took about 200 images and have some great keepers.
This image will repay viewing large if you have a moment to spare.