Friday 3 June 2016

Small Blue

Last Friday (27th May) I answered the call of the Downs and decided on a trip to the environs of Lewes to watch a Small Blue colony that I have been aware of for a few years. The Small Blue (Cupido minimus) is a charming butterfly and the smallest UK species but its size, together with its erratic flight and silvery underside make it a most frustrating insect to follow with the eye. I watched at least eight males holding territory in a small area of long grass at the bottom of a steep sided downland valley.
 
 
Small Blue (Cupido minimus) (males)
 


 
Further down the valley I came across the exuvia (empty larval case) of an Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) at the edge of a dew pond.  
 

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