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The Silver-studded Blue gets its name from the light blue reflective scales found on the underside of most adults and which are quite visible when light reflects off them. As with many other species of blue, the males are blue while the female is a less-conspicuous brown. However, this butterfly is highly variable in appearance and, the variation extends to "differences in the male upperside coloration, the width of the marginal border (wide in the New Forest, narrow in Devonshire) and the underside grey coloration (dull grey in the New Forest, silvery grey in east Suffolk); in the female to the development of the blue coloration and the orange lunules on the upperside, and on the underside to the coloration, the width and prominence of the medial white band".
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.
Taken at Prees Heath, Whitchurch during their four or five day mating season. These beautiful insects are about the size of an adults thumb nail.
A pair of Silver-studded blues Female Left and Male on the Right taken at Prees Heath Common Reserve.
pinhole camera Reality So Subtle 6x6F with Yellow filter (Y2), film Fomapan 100, developed on Compard R09 1:50 for 9 min.
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!
I thought that this was the common blue butterfly, Polyommatus icarus, resting on some heather on Kettering Downs in Norfolk, UK, but have now been informed by Celery Celery that it is a silver studded blue which can be scarce in GB. Quite a blustery day (it always seems to be windy) this was the best of about ten shots.Lots of little butterflies flying around but all getting blown by the wind.
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).
I didn't manage to get it in sharp focus throughout but I liked the colour of the wings catching the late evening sun.
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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The theme was Alphabet Mania and I got the letter "Q"
I made a "Quartet of Quizzically Quacking Quails".. it's a bit of a quirky quilt, but I'm really happy with it. It's the first quilt that I finished on my own from start to finish (also first appliques, free motion quilting, binding and label, whew!). It's 15" square.
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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.
Have you noticed how frequently the name "argus" appeared in butterfly names. We have Scotch Argus and Brown Argus in Britain but there are many more in Europe. And the word is also incorporated into several scientific names (eg bellargus, semiargus). This Silver-studded Blue has the true name all to itself with the scientific name Plebejus argus. Plebejus were basically the Plebs or common folk, as this was Linnaeus' "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).