Escher's Blue (polyommatus escheri)
2008 photos highlighted green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 7573_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07 | 11755_male_Alpes Maritimes_29Jun08 | 7571_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07 |
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| 11675_male_Alpes Maritimes_28Jun08 | 7615_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07 | 1293_male_Alpes Maritimes_28May06 |
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| 2910_female_Alpes Maritimes_24Jul06 |
A quite large and very attractive blue, usually found at altitude, at least that is my experience, although I have also found it at very low altitudes. It seems quite widespread across southern France, but I have never seen more than a few in any one place. As with most blues, the male is encountered far more often than the female.
The male upperside is a bright blue, with clearly lighter upf veins around the cell area. The margins of both wings are black, of varying width, and there is quite often uph chequering, sometimes quite pronounced. The male underside ground colour is a beautiful clean pale grey colour with very pronounced marginal lunules, which are usually large and very pointed, varying in colour from orange to deep brown. There may or may not be orange unf lunules, as can be seen from the above. There is no unf cell spot (c.f. the Common Blue (P. icarus). The female underside is similar but with a clear brown colour, and the spots can sometimes be very large. The female upperside is brown, but rarely seen (hence no photo).
This species is referred to as agrodiaetus escheri in T&L, but now seems to be classified as a member of the polyommatus family.
7573: a male, distinctive by its size and by the strong blue colour, with slight chequering of the uph margins which can sometimes be quite pronounced. Altitude 1875m.
11755: a male, with strong black upf borders. This is the typical blue colour.
7571: a male, with a very pale grey underside ground colour. There are no unf orange marginal lunules, and the unh lunules are quite brown and very pointed, often the case with escheri but unusually so here. Altitude 1875m.
11675: a male, with a very delicate pale grey colour, making the darker markings stand out.
7615: a male, more typical than 7571 with strong bold markings and a darker grey ground colour. The unh marginal lunules are darker orange than most polyommatus species, becoming quite brown as the unf costa is reached. Altitude 1875m.
1293: rather paler than usual but still unmistakable. This shows how absorbed and approachable male butterflies can become when puddling (taking moisture and salts from wet patches of earth, often at river edges). Altitude 330m.
2910: a rather extreme example of the female underside with very elongated and sagittate lunules, heavily black edged. Altitude 1500m.
7573_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07
11755_male_Alpes Maritimes_29Jun08
7571_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07
11675_male_Alpes Maritimes_28Jun08
7615_male_Alpes Maritimes_26Jun07
1293_male_Alpes Maritimes_28May06
2910_female_Alpes Maritimes_24Jul06
