Spanish argus - Aricia morronensis

Family: Lycaenidae. Flight Time: July/August Size: mm Altitude: 900-2200m

The Spanish argus is quite a local species in Spain, Portugal and southern France. The species has a much darker ground colour, and is in fact darker altogether than other arguses. Other characteristics not visible in the photo include a large black spot in the cell of the upperside forewing. Also the spots on the underside forewing tend to be larger than those on the hindwing. The specimen above from northern Spain is of subspecies hesselbarthi which has quite small spots on the hindwing.

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