Post by nomad on Jan 9, 2015 18:09:11 GMT
The little blue butterfly, Plebejus argus, is a very wide ranging species, which occurs across the entire Palearctic region from Spain to Japan ( it is absent in North Africa). There are many described subspecies of Plebejus argus that are found in a wide range of habitats from lowland Heaths to high mountain passes. The females almost invariably, from this huge area, have uniform brown forewings and those that are found in Spain differ to no marked degree to those flying over 10,000 km away in Japan. Only in a few special localities do the females of Plebejus argus show various amounts of blue scaling in all of the population. Blue females of Plebejus argus are found in a few populations from different areas of England. The most beautiful of all the argus races, masseyi, became extinct on the mosslands of Northern England around 1940. One other dwarf race of P. argus with blue females, named subspecies caernensis, inhabits the North Wales limestone ( see the field report section ). This article is mainly concerned with some of the historical accounts of another special race with blue females, Plebejus argus ssp corsicus ( Bellier 1862) that is only found on the Island of Corsica. Another allied species, P. idas bellieri or according to some authors, P. bellieri ( Oberthur 1910), also flies in Corsica and Sardinia ( see the post under collecting trips, Sardinia, to discover endemic species). The islands of Corsica and Sardinia are well know for their endemic butterflies, the most famous being Papilio hospiton. In this article there are specimen images of both the endemic Corsican P. argus corsicus and of P. idas? bellieri from Corsica. Plebejus idas also has an impressive range being found across Europe to Siberia ( Absent from Britain) and it is also present in parts of North America.
Plebejus argus specimens from two extremes of its vast range. Above. ssp Pyrenaica Boisduval, 1840 from the Pyrenees of Spain
.
Above. Plebejus argus micrargus Butler, 1878 from Nagano - Nomugi Pass, Japan. (All specimens-Manuel Rodriguez Moreno collection ).
Plebejus argus corsicus is found very locally in the central mountains of Corsica and here it can be plentiful . P. idas bellieri is usually found at lower levels than P. argus corsicus but it does occur up to 1140 meters on Corsica at the elevation where the latter species flies. There is also the very little known and rare Corscian endemic Polyommatus ( Lysandra) coridon nufrellensis from the Spasimata Valley-Fango valley regions .
Plebejus argus corsicus 1. Male recto 2. male verso. 3. & 4. female recto and verso. (Claude Sinner collection) Data. Col de Vizzavona 1160 meters - 1972 A. Schneider leg.
Plebejus idas bellieri. Images 1. Male recto 2. male verso . 3 & 4. female recto and verso . ( Werner Kraus collection, images copyright Claude Sinner) Data male - Restonica 700 meters. female - Cape Corse. Both 1970, A. Schneider leg.
The endemic Plebejus argus from Corscia were discovered by the French Entomologist with the impressive name of Jean- Baptise Eugene Bellier de la Charignerie ( 1844-1888). His collection was later obtained by Charles Oberthur. Bellier described Plebejus argus corsicus in 1862 as Lysandra aegon corsica in the Annales de la Societe Entomologique.
" This variety appears sufficiently remarkable to be described. The male differs only from the ordinary type by its rather darker tint of blue and by a wider white fringe; but the female is always brown at the base and the disc of the four wings are of a very brilliant blue, the fringe of a yellowish-white not chequered. It is the underside of this variety and especially the female, however, that offers the chief characters of the race. The underside of the Corsican argus is an uniform grey-brown; the many discal spots no longer black but of a tint hardly darker than the ground colour, from which, however, they are clearly cut off by a white margin that encircles them. The discal spot of the forewing is much larger than in other races. The larva lives in June on a species of Astragalus ( Milk Vetch - Fabaceae family). The imago is common in the mountains where the plant serving as the larva grows in abundance. It occurs from the end of June until August, according to the altitude." Genisa from the Fabaceae has also been suggested as a foodplant.
Plate 14 figure 5 from the Annales de la Societe Entomologique 1862.
Here are a few historical accounts of encounters with Plebejus argus corsicus in the field. I believe today, these are still a valuable source of reference. The following narrative of Plebejus argus corsicus, that also refers to P. idas bellieri, comes from the British lepidoperist and chemist Harry Powell. Powell lived for most of his life in the south of France and then later in the high Atlas mountains of Algeria. He entertained all the leading British European collectors of his day and was a friend of Charles Oberthur. He is remembered in Neohipparchia ( Satyrus) powelli - Oberthur 1910, a scarce and local species which he discovered in the high Atlas. He wrote of his meeting with Plebejus argus corsicus
.
" This variety was in great abundance at the top of the Col de Scalella between Bastelica and Bocognano altitude 1173 meters July 13th -24th 1905, on rough pastureland with short grass, dwarf Juniper bushes, low growing thistles with large flowers, and a sort of Lemon-thyme, the flowers of which are attractive to this blue, The insect occurs only a few meters below the summit of the col, north or south, and the variety occurs in diminishing numbers down to the first trees. On the south side it is much scarcer and one sees no more of it as soon the bracken and heather become abundant. Here it is replaced by the scarcer but more widely distributed, Corsican form of P. argyrognomon (P. idas bellieri) which is had all over the Bastelica Region "
A year later during 1906 the well known English collector Margaret Fountaine came here. Fountaine must have collected in most European countries, especially those in Southern Europe, she enjoyed the heat. She also collected in many tropical countries. Her very large World collection including her series of Plebejus argus corsicus is kept in the Norwich Museum in the U.K. She mentioned that she took corsicus in July 1906 on the very top of the Col de vergio at 5000 feet ( 1524 meters) where she found it to be extremely plentiful.
In 1962. R.F. Bertherton and The Baron C.G. Worms wrote a fine and interesting account of their field trip to Corsica ' the Butterflies of Corsica' that was published in ' The Transcations of the London Entomological Society , The wrote of both Plebejus argus corsicus and of Plebejus idas bellieri
" corscia (corsicus) was only seen on the slopes above the Col de Vizzavona, but there abundant among heather and bracken and feeding on the flowers of Sambucus ( The shurb known as Elder from the Adoxaceae family). This is a most distinctive subspecies. In the females the basal half of the upperside of all the wings is bright blue, while the underside , both the ground colour and spots have a thick powdering of dark scales, thus having a smudged appearance. Both sexes are also considerably larger than in most other forms of P. argus. The Lycaeides ( Plebejus) idas bellieri " was very local near the railway above Tattone and high up a side valley : already going over lower ground. Also a fine subspecies, with the females purple-blue on the upperside and thus much resembling the previous species ( P. argus corsicus), though both the colour and spotting on the underside are very different.
Today, Plebejus argus corsicus still seems to occur in all of those localities mentioned here, but is still very local and is missing from most Lycaenidae collections. A detailed paper was produced by the Belgian lepidopterists David Jutzeler & Ronng Leestmans in the Journal ' Linneana Belgica' for 1999. They visited Corsica and studied in detail the early stage to appraise the taxonomic status of the endemic Plebejus argus corsicus. This subspecies has been referred to by some authors as a separate species. Unfortunately for me, I do not read French, so I am not sure about their conclusions. In the paper there are some very good quality and interesting images of both the early stages and the adults. There are also images of the habitat and of one of the larvae, foodplants . Link below.
www.filming-varwild.com/articles/fr/david-jutzeler/1999-jutzeler-et-al-argus-corsicus.pdf
A plate from Charles Oberthur Etudes de Lepidopterologie comparee published in 1910.
Figures 280-281 Lycaena argus bellieri = Plebejus ( idas) bellieri. Figures 288-289 Lycaena aegon corscia = Plebejus argus corsicus.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Manuel Rodriguez Moreno from Spain for the use of his images from his collection & also Claude Sinner for their kindness in allowing the use of his images from the Werner Kraus collections. Claude is currently working on a Woldwide catalogue of Lycaenidae of the Werner Kraus collection held by the Natural History Museum of Luxembourg.
I should like to add that I am staying at Vizzavona in Corsica for one week during the middle of July, so hopefully later this year I will have some images of Plebejus argus corsicus and other Corsican butterflies to share here.
Plebejus argus specimens from two extremes of its vast range. Above. ssp Pyrenaica Boisduval, 1840 from the Pyrenees of Spain
.
Above. Plebejus argus micrargus Butler, 1878 from Nagano - Nomugi Pass, Japan. (All specimens-Manuel Rodriguez Moreno collection ).
Plebejus argus corsicus is found very locally in the central mountains of Corsica and here it can be plentiful . P. idas bellieri is usually found at lower levels than P. argus corsicus but it does occur up to 1140 meters on Corsica at the elevation where the latter species flies. There is also the very little known and rare Corscian endemic Polyommatus ( Lysandra) coridon nufrellensis from the Spasimata Valley-Fango valley regions .
Plebejus argus corsicus 1. Male recto 2. male verso. 3. & 4. female recto and verso. (Claude Sinner collection) Data. Col de Vizzavona 1160 meters - 1972 A. Schneider leg.
Plebejus idas bellieri. Images 1. Male recto 2. male verso . 3 & 4. female recto and verso . ( Werner Kraus collection, images copyright Claude Sinner) Data male - Restonica 700 meters. female - Cape Corse. Both 1970, A. Schneider leg.
The endemic Plebejus argus from Corscia were discovered by the French Entomologist with the impressive name of Jean- Baptise Eugene Bellier de la Charignerie ( 1844-1888). His collection was later obtained by Charles Oberthur. Bellier described Plebejus argus corsicus in 1862 as Lysandra aegon corsica in the Annales de la Societe Entomologique.
" This variety appears sufficiently remarkable to be described. The male differs only from the ordinary type by its rather darker tint of blue and by a wider white fringe; but the female is always brown at the base and the disc of the four wings are of a very brilliant blue, the fringe of a yellowish-white not chequered. It is the underside of this variety and especially the female, however, that offers the chief characters of the race. The underside of the Corsican argus is an uniform grey-brown; the many discal spots no longer black but of a tint hardly darker than the ground colour, from which, however, they are clearly cut off by a white margin that encircles them. The discal spot of the forewing is much larger than in other races. The larva lives in June on a species of Astragalus ( Milk Vetch - Fabaceae family). The imago is common in the mountains where the plant serving as the larva grows in abundance. It occurs from the end of June until August, according to the altitude." Genisa from the Fabaceae has also been suggested as a foodplant.
Plate 14 figure 5 from the Annales de la Societe Entomologique 1862.
Here are a few historical accounts of encounters with Plebejus argus corsicus in the field. I believe today, these are still a valuable source of reference. The following narrative of Plebejus argus corsicus, that also refers to P. idas bellieri, comes from the British lepidoperist and chemist Harry Powell. Powell lived for most of his life in the south of France and then later in the high Atlas mountains of Algeria. He entertained all the leading British European collectors of his day and was a friend of Charles Oberthur. He is remembered in Neohipparchia ( Satyrus) powelli - Oberthur 1910, a scarce and local species which he discovered in the high Atlas. He wrote of his meeting with Plebejus argus corsicus
.
" This variety was in great abundance at the top of the Col de Scalella between Bastelica and Bocognano altitude 1173 meters July 13th -24th 1905, on rough pastureland with short grass, dwarf Juniper bushes, low growing thistles with large flowers, and a sort of Lemon-thyme, the flowers of which are attractive to this blue, The insect occurs only a few meters below the summit of the col, north or south, and the variety occurs in diminishing numbers down to the first trees. On the south side it is much scarcer and one sees no more of it as soon the bracken and heather become abundant. Here it is replaced by the scarcer but more widely distributed, Corsican form of P. argyrognomon (P. idas bellieri) which is had all over the Bastelica Region "
A year later during 1906 the well known English collector Margaret Fountaine came here. Fountaine must have collected in most European countries, especially those in Southern Europe, she enjoyed the heat. She also collected in many tropical countries. Her very large World collection including her series of Plebejus argus corsicus is kept in the Norwich Museum in the U.K. She mentioned that she took corsicus in July 1906 on the very top of the Col de vergio at 5000 feet ( 1524 meters) where she found it to be extremely plentiful.
In 1962. R.F. Bertherton and The Baron C.G. Worms wrote a fine and interesting account of their field trip to Corsica ' the Butterflies of Corsica' that was published in ' The Transcations of the London Entomological Society , The wrote of both Plebejus argus corsicus and of Plebejus idas bellieri
" corscia (corsicus) was only seen on the slopes above the Col de Vizzavona, but there abundant among heather and bracken and feeding on the flowers of Sambucus ( The shurb known as Elder from the Adoxaceae family). This is a most distinctive subspecies. In the females the basal half of the upperside of all the wings is bright blue, while the underside , both the ground colour and spots have a thick powdering of dark scales, thus having a smudged appearance. Both sexes are also considerably larger than in most other forms of P. argus. The Lycaeides ( Plebejus) idas bellieri " was very local near the railway above Tattone and high up a side valley : already going over lower ground. Also a fine subspecies, with the females purple-blue on the upperside and thus much resembling the previous species ( P. argus corsicus), though both the colour and spotting on the underside are very different.
Today, Plebejus argus corsicus still seems to occur in all of those localities mentioned here, but is still very local and is missing from most Lycaenidae collections. A detailed paper was produced by the Belgian lepidopterists David Jutzeler & Ronng Leestmans in the Journal ' Linneana Belgica' for 1999. They visited Corsica and studied in detail the early stage to appraise the taxonomic status of the endemic Plebejus argus corsicus. This subspecies has been referred to by some authors as a separate species. Unfortunately for me, I do not read French, so I am not sure about their conclusions. In the paper there are some very good quality and interesting images of both the early stages and the adults. There are also images of the habitat and of one of the larvae, foodplants . Link below.
www.filming-varwild.com/articles/fr/david-jutzeler/1999-jutzeler-et-al-argus-corsicus.pdf
A plate from Charles Oberthur Etudes de Lepidopterologie comparee published in 1910.
Figures 280-281 Lycaena argus bellieri = Plebejus ( idas) bellieri. Figures 288-289 Lycaena aegon corscia = Plebejus argus corsicus.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Manuel Rodriguez Moreno from Spain for the use of his images from his collection & also Claude Sinner for their kindness in allowing the use of his images from the Werner Kraus collections. Claude is currently working on a Woldwide catalogue of Lycaenidae of the Werner Kraus collection held by the Natural History Museum of Luxembourg.
I should like to add that I am staying at Vizzavona in Corsica for one week during the middle of July, so hopefully later this year I will have some images of Plebejus argus corsicus and other Corsican butterflies to share here.
