maculinea rebeli

Rebeli's Blue (maculinea rebeli) and Alcon Blue (maculinea alcon)

2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.


12120_male_Alpes de Haute Provence_7Jul08 - rebeli	12080_male_Alpes de Haute Provence_7Jul08 - rebeli	12094_female_Alpes de Haute Provence_7Jul08 - rebeli

7402_female_Alpes Maritimes_25Jun07 - rebeli	12114_female_Alpes de Haute Provence_7Jul08 - rebeli	13479_female_Vienne_15Aug08 - alcon

13564_female_Vienne_15Aug08 - alcon	13492_ova_Vienne_15Aug08 - alcon

Rebeli is also known as the Mountain Alcon Blue and is closely related to the Alcon Blue (M. alcon). It was only recently that rebeli was considered to be a separate species and older reference books record rebeli as a subspecies of alcon. They are very similar in size and colouring and the undersides are almost indistinguishable, although the altitude is the best differentiator - it it's at altitude, it's almost certainly rebeli.

Apart from possible confusion between rebeli and alcon, it is a large butterfly and could only otherwise be mistaken for the Large Blue (M. arion), which also flies at high altitudes and often in company with rebeli, although the male upperside is blue with clear black borders, lacking the black upf "splashes" of arion. The female is largely brown with a varying amount of blue in the basal regions.

Both rebeli and alcon are reportedly quite rare and their habitat is threatened, especially alcon. I have, however, seen rebeli in a number of places, only ever in small numbers, so maybe I've just been lucky. I have only seen alcon in one place that I was taken to, for the first time in 2008, and would not have chanced upon the location (thanks to Neil Wilding). The females were constantly egg-laying on gentiana pneumonanthe, so easy to photograph, whereas the males were whizzing around, never settling, chasing after females that generally weren't interested.

12120: a male rebeli, with the clear mid-blue colouring and distinct black borders. Altitude 2200m.

12080: a male rebeli underside. Altitude 2200m.

12094: a female rebeli upperside which matches the illustration in T&L quite well. It is very similar to the high altitude form of arion, and arion was present at this site, but I had seen the underside clearly so can be fairly sure it was rebeli. Altitude 2200m.

7402: a female rebeli, with the upperside just visible, which appears more dark brown than black. The underside is a shade of cinnamon brown. It is egg-laying on gentiana cruciata, which is all the females seem to do. Sometimes G. cruciata can be seen peppered with rebeli eggs. Altitude 1680m.

12114: a female rebeli, again only ID'd for sure because the upperside was seen. Altitude 2200m.

13479: a female alcon, with almost no blue scales, and with a clearly visible upf cell spot and a faint post-discal mark in s2. Altitude 100m.

13564: a female alcon underside, probably the underside of 13479. Altitude 100m.

13492: two alcon ova on G. pneumonanthe. Altitude 100m.

12120_male_Alpes de Haute Provence_7Jul08 - rebeli