Scientific Name: Aricia agestis (syn. Plebeius agestis).
English Name: Brown Argus.
French Name: Le Collier-de-corail (='the coral necklace') or l'Argus brun (='the brown argus').
5 Key Characters:
Habitat: Unimproved, dry grassland, open woodland and fringes. On very hot days they rest on long grass stems in the shade.
Flight Period: April-May-June-July-August-September-October.
Caterpillar: small, green with a red and white stripe down the side. June to April, overwintering as a caterpillar in leaf litter.
Host Plant: Geraniums (Cut-leafed Cranesbill Geranium dissectum, Dovesfoot Cranesbill G. molle, Round-leafed Cranesbill G. rotundifolium, G. purpureum, Common Storksbill Erodium cicutarium), Rockroses (Common Rockrose Helianthemum nummularium, White Rockrose H. apenninum) and Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.
Status: Very common. Widely distributed and quite abundant. This is a conspicuous and easy to see butterfly in the Touraine Loire Valley and Brenne.
Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
Photographs numbered from left to right, and top to bottom. All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. 1 female on Daisy Bellis perennis in our orchard, April. 2 - 5 two slightly confused male Common Blues Polyommatus icarus tentatively attending a similarly responsive Brown Argus Aricia agestis female on Common Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus in our orchard, May.
English Name: Brown Argus.
French Name: Le Collier-de-corail (='the coral necklace') or l'Argus brun (='the brown argus').
5 Key Characters:- a band of orangey red crescents close to the outer edge of each wing.
- small (forewings 12 -15 mm).
- upperside brown.
- a black spot in the middle of the upperside forewing.
- undersides grey or brown with spots.
Habitat: Unimproved, dry grassland, open woodland and fringes. On very hot days they rest on long grass stems in the shade.
Flight Period: April-May-June-July-August-September-October.
Caterpillar: small, green with a red and white stripe down the side. June to April, overwintering as a caterpillar in leaf litter.
Host Plant: Geraniums (Cut-leafed Cranesbill Geranium dissectum, Dovesfoot Cranesbill G. molle, Round-leafed Cranesbill G. rotundifolium, G. purpureum, Common Storksbill Erodium cicutarium), Rockroses (Common Rockrose Helianthemum nummularium, White Rockrose H. apenninum) and Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.
Status: Very common. Widely distributed and quite abundant. This is a conspicuous and easy to see butterfly in the Touraine Loire Valley and Brenne.
Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
Photographs numbered from left to right, and top to bottom. All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. 1 female on Daisy Bellis perennis in our orchard, April. 2 - 5 two slightly confused male Common Blues Polyommatus icarus tentatively attending a similarly responsive Brown Argus Aricia agestis female on Common Birdsfoot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus in our orchard, May.
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| On Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus. |
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