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Plebejus idas - mating

Posted by
Johan Dierckx (Wijnegem, Belgium) on 12 September 2012 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

Plebejus idas (NL: Vals heideblauwtje / EN: Idas Blue, Northern Blue / DE: Idas-Bläuling, Ginster-Bläuling / FR: Azuré du genêt, Moyen argus, Argus sagitté, Argus bleu-violet, Argus Idas) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. Plebejus idas can sometimes be hard to differentiate from the Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus), not to mention possible confusion with Reverdin's Blue (P. argyrognomon) where the latter occurs. P.idas is a very variable species. The male (left in the image) upper-side is a strong bright blue with a narrower black border than P.argus and wide white fringes. The female (right in the image) upper-side is brown with varying amounts of blue, with marginal lunules more prominent than P.argus. There are sometimes no silver centres to the marginal spots, or at least, that's how it appears - the silver is often a question of the viewing angle. Also the orange on the underside fore-wing lunules does not extend to the apex as it does on P.argyrognomon. The foreleg in P.idas lacks a spine which is present in P.argus but to see this, you surely need a good magnifying glass.

Image: Tschierv (CH) – 13/07/2012

Canon EOS 400D 1/250 second F/8.0 ISO 100 150 mm

© Johan Dierckx

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All species are photographed in their natural habitat, without cutting or capturing them, and with maximal respect and the least possible disturbance to the environment.

(To see species in the same taxonomic rank (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus), please use the tags provided with the image. The last tag is the Iso-code for the country where the image was taken. Image-date in DD/MM/YYYY format.)


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dang from Atlanta, United States

Excellent.

12 Sep 2012 6:07am

Grigore from Bucuresti, Romania

A very beautiful picture! Keep going with great images!

12 Sep 2012 10:16am

Christine from Ellemford, United Kingdom

Fabulous

12 Sep 2012 1:03pm

Tinx from Kuressaare, Estonia

Great macro!

12 Sep 2012 2:45pm

Aigleloup from Rebecq, Belgium

Salut Johan,
Je découvre ton blog via Löner.
Fantastique les macros

12 Sep 2012 5:01pm

christine from schoten, Belgium

Een prachtige compositie, de vlekjes met metaalglans bij het vrouwtje heb je schitterend weergegeven!

12 Sep 2012 6:25pm

omid from mashhad, Iran

woooow!
very nice & amazing!!!
so beautiful colors!!!

12 Sep 2012 9:12pm

Canon EOS 400D
1/250 second
F/8.0
ISO 100
150 mm

animalia
arthropoda
insecta
lepidoptera
lycaenidae
plebejus
ch