 Wingspan
20 - 30mm |
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Short-tailed Blue
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Everes argiades
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Pallas, 1771 |
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Ref: 1570 |
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| Superfamily: | Papilionoidea |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Subfamily: | Lycaeninae |
| Genus: | Everes |
| Subgenus: | |
| Species: | argiades |
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Male |
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![Short-Tailed Blue - imago - St Guyomard, South Brittany, France - 03-Aug-04 [Pete Smith]](image_generator.php?src=phpBB/gallery/images/cache/f121a327517d20f7545770b28b7fabfb.jpg&r=223&g=246&b=216 "Short-Tailed Blue - imago - St Guyomard, South Brittany, France - 03-Aug-04 [Pete Smith]") |
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Male Underside |
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Female |
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Female Underside |
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This butterfly is one of the rarest immigrants to the British Isles with only 17 records in total. The first acknowledged specimens were seen on 18th and 20th August 1885 on Bloxworth Heath in Dorset, leading to the species' earlier name of the Bloxworth Blue. However, it subsequently turned out that a pair had been seen in a small quarry near Frome in Somerset in 1874. Half of all records were recorded in 1885 and 1945, two exceptional years for immigrants.
All records come from southern England and the Channel Islands and most records have been recorded from a relatively-small area that encompasses east Dorset, west Hampshire and south Somerset. It has been suggested that these individuals have flown the channel from the heaths of Brittany in northern France, where the species can be abundant.
All individuals found in the British Isles have occurred between July and September. 
Description to be completed
The primary larval foodplants are Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Lucerne (Medicago sativa), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) and Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca).
Description to be completed
Description to be completed
Description to be completed
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Short-tailed Blue, unknown aberation, SE Moravia - Košíky, 49°8'57.549"N, 17°25'21.509"E, on July 10th 2010 10:42 summer CET
Photo © traplican
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Description to be completed
Description to be completed
Description to be completed
No similar species found.
No sites found.
This species is a rare migrant and no conservation action is relevant.
The following links provide additional information on this butterfly.
The species description provided here has been derived from the author's own observations and the information contained in the following works:
- A Natural History of British Butterflies, by F.W.Frohawk.
- British and Irish Butterflies, by Adrian M. Riley
- South's British Butterflies, by T.G.Howarth (which is based extensively on the classic work, "The Butterflies of the British Isles", by Richard South).
- The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington.
- The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland, by Jim Asher, Martin Warren, Richard Fox, Paul Harding, Gail Jeffcoate, Stephen Jeffcoate.
- The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Volume 7 (1) Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae (the Butterflies), by A. Maitland Emmet and John Heath (editors).
- The State of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland, Richard Fox, Jim Asher, Tom Brereton, David Roy and Martin Warren.
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![Short-Tailed Blue - imago - St Guyomard, South Brittany, France - 03-Aug-04 [Pete Smith]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/f121a327517d20f7545770b28b7fabfb.jpg "Short-Tailed Blue - imago - St Guyomard, South Brittany, France - 03-Aug-04 [Pete Smith]")
