DETAILS

Discipline

NH: ZOOLOGY: INSECTS

Scientific Name

Polyommatus bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775)

Common Name

Drawer of Adonis Blue butterflies

Age

adult

Form

pinned

Collection

Crow Collection

Description

Drawer of Adonis Blue butterflies (Polyommatus bellargus).

The bright blue butterflies in this drawer are male Adonis Blues. The dark brown Adonis Blue butterflies with blue near the wing base are females. The scientific term for this type of difference is sexual dimorphism. The paler brown butterflies with white and black spots are Adonis Blue butterflies that are pinned to show the underside of their wings.

These vibrant butterflies live on chalk downland and enjoy warm sheltered spots. Like the closely related Chalk Hill Blues, Adonis Blues live where their foodplant Horseshoe Vetch grows. This is only in the south of England and includes the chalk downloads of Dorset, South Wiltshire, and East and West Sussex.
(June 2020)

This drawer is part of the Crow Collection of Lepidoptera (Z.1988.46), which was put together by the amateur entomologist Peter Noel Crow (1912-1987). The collection contains butterflies and moths from the UK and Europe, particularly north Wales and southern England. Peter was passionate about fieldwork and collected most of these specimens himself.

ID Number

ENTO.C061.B01

Location

In storage