Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes baton)

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2023 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.

9693_male_Var_11Apr08 28794_male_Var_21Apr12 36925_male_Var_16Apr15 41110_male_Hautes-Alpes_8Jul16
4962_female_Var_24Apr07 9830_female_Var_19Apr08 19961_female_Var_7May10 36918_male_Var_16Apr15
14571_male_Var_15Apr09 18172_male_Isère_12Jul09 28792_male_Var_21Apr12 28508_male_Var_12Apr12
   
50478_female_Var_31Aug22 42362_pair_Var_11Apr17    

About the size of an average Small Blue (Cupido minimus) and could easily be overlooked. It seems to have a very early flight period, more so in the far south of France, with only a limited second brood in the localities I have visited. It can often be very common.

The male is a steely grey-blue with chequered margins and often a series of dark marginal spots on the upf. The female is noticeably larger with a smattering of blue scales. The underside is a cleanly-spotted pattern which cannot really be confused with any other species, at least in France.
ref sex

observations

alt. m
9693 M

a male, in typical territorial pose. Pity about the shadow.

185
28794 M a male, showing the characteristic blue of the male of this species. 185
36925 M a male, slightly bluer than the usual steely grey-blue colouring of males in this region. 36918 is the underside. 185
41110 M a male taking salts from the damp ground at about the upper limit of its altitude range, rather bluer than the steely grey-blue of its low altitude counterparts. 1490
4962 F

a female, quite dark with limited blue scales.

140
9830 F an unusual female, with strong blue scaling on the uph and the underside post-discal black spots appearing strongly on the upperside. I have never seen this elsewhere. This was actually the case - it wasn't a photographic transparency effect which can sometimes happen with backlit images. 185
19961 F

a female, very fresh and unusually dark.

220
36918 M a male, the underside of 36925. 185
14571 M

a male, quite dark and with pale dull orange lunules.

185
18172 M

a male, a very clean pale grey ground colour and slightly unusual lunules that are effectively orange between two black spots, rather than the normal lunule shape as indicated in 14571.

1120
28792 M a male, the ground colour being rather browner and darker than the norm. 185
28508 M a typical light silvery ground colour. On studying the magnified image, the end of the foreleg appears to be hooked, which confirms that this is a male. 185
50478 F a second brood female. The forewing marks are exceptionally large. 780
42362 PAIR a mating pair. I suspect the male is on the left, as a magnified image suggests that the end of the foreleg of the baton on the left is hooked, which would indicate male, but the magnified image was not entirely clear leaving some room for doubt. 220

 

9693_male_Var_11Apr08

 

28794_male_Var_21Apr12

 

36925_male_Var_16Apr15

 

41110_male_Hautes-Alpes_8Jul16

 

4962_female_Var_24Apr07

 

9830_female_Var_19Apr08

 

19961_female_Var_7May10

 

36918_male_Var_16Apr15

 

14571_male_Var_15Apr09

 

18172_male_Isère_12Jul09

 

28792_male_Var_21Apr12

 

28508_male_Var_12Apr12

 

50478_female_Var_31Aug22

 

42362_pair_Var_11Apr17