Small Blue butterfly

In most "blue" butterflies, the females are brown and the males are blue (there are a few exceptions; Holly Blue, Large Blue, Brown Argus). In the Small Blue, males just have a peppering of blue scales on their wings, while females lack this colour altogether. The male's blue peppering is variable but this one is typical, and it is never so extensive that an observer would describe the overall colour as blue. But they do look a bit more blue when they are on the wing. This is Britain's smallest butterfly, and from wingtip to wingtip when perched at this angle would be about 15mm (more if it opened its wings flat, as they sometimes do). Its specific scientific name minimus reflects its small size, as it means smallest. It has an incredibly patchy distribution in Britain, stretching to northern Scotland, but there are enormous gaps where it does not occur. Where it does occur, it isn't usually common. This was photographed at a tiny, vulnerable site in North Yorkshire that I found in 2010 but was asked not to divulge.

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