Agriades orbitulus
Agriades orbitulus, the alpine argus, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is a high altitude species found in the Alps (ranging from the French Alps to Slovenia and Austria), the mountains of Norway and Sweden, the Urals, the Himalayas and across central Asia.
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Agriades orbitulus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Agriades |
Species: | A. orbitulus |
Binomial name | |
Agriades orbitulus (Prunner, 1798) | |
Synonyms | |
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Description
The wingspan is 25–30 mm. The male upperside varies from sky blue to a greyish or steely blue, and is unmarked apart from the narrow black borders and white fringes. The female is brown, often with a slight blue dust suffusion at the wing bases. The fore-wings end in a very pointed apex. Both sexes are clearly assigned by conspicuous white spots on the otherwise pale greyish brown or beige wing underside. The spots under the hind-wing are pure white and lack black centres. The butterfly flies from June to August depending on the location.
Ecology
The larvae feed on Astragalus alpinus.
Subspecies
Subspecies include:[1]
- A. o. orbitulus (Prunner, 1798)
- A. o. luxurians (Forster, 1940)
- A. o. lobbichleri (Forster, 1961)
- A. o. tatsienluica (Oberthür, 1910)
- A. o. major (Evans, 1915)
- A. o. pheretimus (Staudinger, 1892)
- A. o. sajana (Rühl, 1895)
- A. o. tyrone (Forster, 1940)
- A. o. shanxiensis Murayama, 1983
- A. o. tibetana (D'Abrera, 1993)
- A. o. qinlingensis (Wang, 1998)
- A. o. demulaensis (Huang, 2001)
- A. o. dongdalaensis (Huang, 2001)
- A. o. litangensis (Huang, 2001)
- A. o. jugnei (Churkin, 2004)
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agriades orbitulus. |
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Wikispecies has information related to Agriades orbitulus. |
- Savela, Markku. "Agriades orbitulus". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved August 9, 2019.