The scalloping of the hindwing, much more pronounced in the female, makes this species unmistakable. Daphnis seems to be a butterfly of medium altitudes, usually around 500-1000m and sometimes above (I saw it in 2011 at 1800m flying in company with a Glandon Blue (Plebejus glandon) - not a frequent sight!) . The nominate form of the female is basically blue over most of the uph and about half of the upf. The female also occurs in a brown form, steeveni, which seems to me to be more common as I have only seen the blue nominate form on one occasion.

The male underside has very faint marginal marks and the scalloping is much less apparent when it is settled with closed wings. I usually see a few daphnis every year, but not every year, as it tends to emerge in mid-July and my trips to its localities have often been earlier than that. In 2014 and 2015 several were seen at a location where it had not been seen for several years, so it appears to survive at low densities.

This species was previously known as Meleageria daphnis.

observations

a typical, albeit worn, female of the nominate form, judging by the illustration in T&L, although the upf blue is less extensive than shown there. But this is the only non-steeveni I have seen, so cannot make too many assumptions based on such limited experience.

a female, a fairly standard example of the form steeveni, being quite a dull dark brown with scarcely a hint of blue scales.

a female of the form steeveni, quite fresh and cleanly marked, with only a limited spattering of blue scales in the basal region.

a underside, rather a brown ground colour. If it were not for the difference in the degree of scalloping between the sexes, the unusually brown ground colour might be taken to indicate female.

rather worn, but a typical female underside, quite dark compared with 02_75-36 below. The underside of 3256.