Provence Chalk-hill Blue (Lysandra hispana)
2011 photos highlighted in green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 10173_male_Var_1May08 | 24711_male_Var_13May11 | 5412_female_Var_14May07 |
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| 24628_male_Var_07May11 | 13951_male_Var_27Aug08 | 15399_male_Var_23May09 |
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| 24680_female_Var_11May11 | 10562_female_Var_15May08 | 23587_female_Var_2Sep10 |
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Hispana is very similar to Chalk-hill Blue (L. coridon), the differences being described on the coridon page. It is double brooded, the first brood emerging from late April, and the second brood may be on the wing until well into October. It is widespread and often quite common in Provence. |
In the new European taxonomy, this species now has the scientific name Polyommatus hispanus. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 10173 | M |
a typical male, a distinctly yellow tinge to the blue. |
185 |
| 24711 | M | a slightly bluer male. | 140 |
| 5412 | F |
a female, quite strong uph marginal lunules and even faint to vestigial orange upf submarginal marks. |
185 |
| 24628 | M | a typical male underside, perhaps the uph is rather less brown than the norm. | 220 |
| 13951 | M |
a male with the typical smudgy unf marginal markings, as compared to coridon which always seems much cleaner. The unh marginal black spots have some silver scales in them, particularly in s1-3, which I have never seen before, nor have I ever seen it written about in books, although I have seen examples of UK specimens of coridon with similar effects. |
185 |
| 15399 | M |
a very fresh male, nicely and cleanly marked, and even the usually smudgy unf marginal markings look quite tidy. |
140 |
| 24680 | F | a female underside, the unf submarginal series being very heavy and smudgy. The unf pale grey ground colour contrasting nicely with the unh brown ground colour. | 30 |
| 10562 | F |
a female, nicely marked on the unh, and with the unf smudgy forewing marginal marks with orange extending just about to the apex. |
140 |
| 23587 | F |
a female, with rather heavy unf marginal marks. |
780 |
