A rather untypical blue, unlike any other found in France - a rather dull upperside, lacking the usual resplendence of male blues, but having a very bright and distinctive underside. The female is similar but usually brown with only a sprinkling of blue scales, although some females can be quite blue and some males less blue so that it there is an area of cross-over.

The male underside ground colour generally seems to a pure-ish white whereas the female seems to have a slight yellowish tinge. I am not sure how consistent this is, though.

It cannot be mistaken for any other species in France, where it occurs locally in the south-eastern quarter of the country. I had not seen it until 2005, but it was reasonably common in this one semi-Alpine location at 1000m altitude. In 2011 I was shown another site, this time in Var and at a much lower altitude, where it was present in good numbers.

It is a quite localised butterfly of southern Europe, univoltine and with a quite early flight season. However, 21417 was seen in early July in the same location as others on this page and, in view of its freshness, it appears to be a second generation.

observations

a male with rather limited blue scales, in typical territorial pose.

a male, possibly a second generation (see comment above).

this male has a quite cleanly marked underside, for a species that often appears smudgy even when in focus. The underside cannot be confused with any other species in France.

a mating pair, with I believe, the female on the right, judging from the body shape and relative freshness - it seems normal to me that in mating pairs the females (which tend to emerge later) are usually the fresher of the two, whereas males look more battered, presumably as they are older and may have been defending their territory.