It was an wonderful summer for Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon and back in late August I was still hoping to take some decent shots of the secretive females, but poor weather meant that by the end of the month the few remaining butterflies were looking decidedly tatty and past their best. So to cheer myself up as Autumn spirals into Winter I have dug out a few photos from August 2008, taken on a warm, cloudy late afternoon on the northern slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon. Female Chalkhill Blues can be quite elusive spending much of their time crawling around in the short grass but on this day, perhaps because it was overcast and humid, they were very showy, often settling for long periods on the purple blue heads of Devilsbit Scabious Succisa pratensis.
Surely there can be few more entrancing sights than dozens of silvery Chalkhill Blues dancing across the flowery slopes of the Chilterns in the late summer sunshine!
Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)
Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)
The two images above illustrate the marked difference between the darker undersides of the brownish females and those of the paler silvery blue males.
Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)
Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)
Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008) on Devilsbit Scabious
Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)
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