Furry Blue (agrodiaetus dolus)
2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 62-36_male_Var_Jun02 | 2299_male_Var_5Jul06 | 47-02_female_Var_Jun02 |
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| 2608_female_Var_11Jul06 |
A quite uncommon blue that I have only encountered in two places. Books sometimes show dolus with a white unh streak (male only), but this can be vestigial or absent in southern France and this has certainly been true for the few specimens I have been lucky enough to see in Var.
When I first saw dolus, it looked like a Provence Chalk-hill blue (lysandra hispana) at first sight (it was too early for coridon to have emerged), especially as it was in an area where both hispana and coridon were common, but didn’t look quite as silvery. I saw several males and females, all restricted to one very small area. I revisited the same site again in July 2003, but saw not even one specimen, although 2003 was exceptionally hot and it did seem to have been a very bad year for blues generally. In July 2004 I met up with Tim Cowles and Guy Padfield at the same site and dolus finally put in an appearance after an hour or so, and I suggest you visit their excellent sites (links page) for photos of these dolus from 2004. I saw a single male and female at another site nearby in 2006, suggesting that its range is wider.
62-36: a male, a rather poor photo from pre-digital camera days, but at least showing the paleness of the blue. Of course, I have not had such a photo opportunity since having a digital camera.
2299: a typical male, with the silvery grey-blue upperside just visible.
47-02: a pair, the brown female above with wings open, male below.
2608: a very appealing fresh female, with a light chocolate-brown colouring. It is quite sedentary and 2608 refused to move from a bramble shoot very close to the ground, making it very hard to get a good photo at the right angle without settling into the bramble. Well, it's not a species you see every day and the wounds are healing nicely.
