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Plebeius argus.


Plebeius argus.
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter Stoeckl (peter_stoeckl) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1539 W: 270 N: 3370] (9377)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-07-31
Categories: Insects
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-H5
Exposure: f/4, 1/200 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Lycaenidae Butterflies [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-03-04 5:28
Viewed: 957
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 64
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Plebeius argus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Silver-studded Blue
Argus-Bläuling
Allmän blåvinge
Argusblåvinge
Argus blåfugl
Heideblauwtje
Kangassinisiipi
Modraszek argus
Modráčik čiernoobrúbený
Modrásek černolemý
Niña hocecillas
Azuré de l'ajonc

Genus: Plebeius
Family: Lycaenidae
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Order: Lepidoptera

Wingspan: 25 – 30mm

A cool day in midsummer is always a good day to watch blues taking shelter in the grass.

Widespread from Japan through temperate Asia to Europe, the Argus Blue may be found in most parts of Europe with the exception of Ireland, Scotland, and northern Scandinavia, from the lowlands up to 1500m in the mountains.

The species is hard to tell from the very similar looking P. idas which shows turquois studded black spots on the underside of hindwings instead of silver studded spots, and the most reliable difference being a well developed thorn on the tibia of front legs that is missing at L. idas. With legs not shown large enough in the presented picture, the identification has some chance to go for P. idas as well, but, as Ivan Kruys (Argus) pointed out, the broad black border of wings should be a good indication for P. argus. Males of Plebeius idas usually show a narrow black border.

>>> Plebeius idas.

One generation of butterflies from June to August, or two generations May-June, and July-August. The Argus Blue prefers heaths, and scrubby and grassy sunny spots. Caterpillars feed on Genista pilosa, Melilotus alba, Lotus corniculatus etc., and they live in symbiosis with various species of ants: Lasius niger, Formica cinerea etc.

“The larvae have a close relationship with ants and produce a honeydew-like liquid to feed them. In return the ants will protect the larvae from predators. (...) In some European countries ants have been seen carrying the larvae. Pupation takes near and often inside ant nests where they continue to secrete honeydew until the butterfly emerges.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plebeius_argus


References:

L.G. Higgins, N.D. Riley, W. Forster (bearb.): Die Tagfalter Europas und Nordwestafrikas, Hamburg und Berlin 1978²

Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Die Tagfalter Europas und Nordwestafrikas, Stuttgart 1998.

C. Jonko: European Butterflies. http://www.lepidoptera.neo.pl


The location:

A limestone hill emerging from the eastern Austrian lowlands of the Vienna basin, in front of the alpine chain, at an elevation of 350 meters.

Camera:

SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, 16mm macro, F/4, 1/200 sec., ISO-125; no tripod, no flash; 31.07.2006, 15:02.


Postwork:

Photoshop Elements, cropped, downsized to web presentation, slightly sharpened, brightness, contrast and saturation adjusted.


Thank you for looking.
Have a very good day.

TheSheep, phlr, fthsm, Adanac, claudine, uleko, ramthakur, jmp, martinmena, anel, star74, dew77, Janice, JoseMiguel, Juyona, Silke, sgo, snowfalken, Jamesp, loot, greenpinkorange, SkyF has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To loot: - precious little gempeter_stoeckl 1 06-05 18:39
To Argus: Argus or Idaspeter_stoeckl 1 03-17 19:26
To Argus: magnagrecapeter_stoeckl 1 03-11 05:03
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Peter,
Wonderful colors and texture; so smooth looking! Perfect presentation.
TFS
Regards,
Lurdes

Hello Peter.

Excellent picture, nice composition and colors.

Regards.
Jose Luis.

Que belíssima borboleta um ton muito agradavel ao meus olhos,parabéns por esta preciosa imagem.
Nilson.

bonjour peter
un autre superbe cliché de ce petit papillon qui m'a toujours echappé.
super details et jolie couleurs.
le POV est vraiment bien.
laurent

  • Great 
  • fthsm Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 144 W: 50 N: 418] (2532)
  • [2007-03-04 6:34]

Details are excellent just like your notes.
TFS Peter.

Hi Peter,
Excellent composition and details and DOF.
TFS
Eric

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1111 W: 1 N: 4518] (15128)
  • [2007-03-04 7:20]

Hello Peter,
WOW simply outstanding capture with everything being perfect in my opinion. Only one thing to do, into my favorites it goes. Thanks Peter.
Rick

Hallo Peter,
wunderschön - er sitzt ganz dekorativ da mit den halb geöffneten Flügeln. Gefällt mir auch sehr mit dem grünen Hintergrund, keine bunte Blume die ablenkt. Hoffentlich sind sie bald wieder "zurück", tschüssi
Sabine - wishnugaruda

Hello Peter,
What a lovely couple those two make :) This picture of the male is superb with excellent details, colors, exposure, composition and DOF. As usual it is great butterfly portrait. Thanks for this nice picture in WS too. It is a nice specie :) Thanks,
Claudine

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2577 W: 170 N: 7864] (24859)
  • [2007-03-04 8:49]

Hello Peter,
Very fine capture of this little male Blue with its row of bright orange spots. I like its pose on the grass and the light background. Beautiful composition!
TFS and regards, Ulla

  • Great 
  • GLEM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 524 W: 87 N: 693] (5741)
  • [2007-03-04 9:05]

hi Peter,
ton papillon irait bien sur ma fleur, les bleus seraient harmonieux.
Très belle composition, la netteté est parfaite, la lumière bien dosée.

tfs

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2754 W: 147 N: 7948] (24747)
  • [2007-03-04 10:09]
  • [+]

Hello Peter,
Firstly I must say this is an excellent capture, sharply showing both the upper and undersides of the wings and presented in a fine composition with pleasing bokeh BG.
However, despite the apparent absence of the spine on the foreleg, I would say that this is argus rather than idas.
My reason is that the black border to the upper surface of the wings is too broad for it to be idas and both sexes of idas have more of a light brownish tinge to the undersides of the wings.
Now I am talking of those individuals I have seen in Sweden. However, according to Tolman the Greek form, magnagreca looks like the one in this shot, with broad blackish borders.

TFs and best wishes, Ivan

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3160 W: 148 N: 4787] (15449)
  • [2007-03-04 10:11]

Hi, dear Peter.
Next your charming picture of this fluffy beauty. I like its great details and sharpness as well as a very interesting composition and POV. Leaf in front of butterfly wing is looked wonderfully. Nice well-illuminated and smooth BG is too. Note is perfect. as always. My heart wishes and TFS.
Yours Alexei.

A smashing specimen of Idas Blue, Peter.
We get to see three faces of its wings in their most glorious aspects in this thoughtfully composed image.
The patterns and colours on the two segments of underwing are beautiful. However, it that brilliant blue of the upper wing that fascinates me immensely in the case of the male Blues. And that soft, downy and white fringe to the wings is another feature of this butterfly's beauty.
Superb shot and thanks for sharing it.
Regards,
Ram

Hello Peter
What a great shot of this wonderful butterfly,
Excellent composition and lighting,
Welldone.

Regards
Fartash

  • Great 
  • Maite Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1005 W: 64 N: 1242] (5082)
  • [2007-03-04 11:00]

Hello Peter
JUST WONDERFUL!
A perfect catpure of this beautiful Plebeius with its wings ajar. Wonderful colors and sharpness which lets even to appreciate the scales.
Gorgeous composition and very good note.
Congratulations and thank you very much for sharing.
Best wishes
Maite

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1836 W: 94 N: 2340] (8406)
  • [2007-03-04 11:40]

Hi Peter,
What a bright colours! Perfect pose due to the cold day and the expert observer. Extreme details and an all-sides vision that let see wings for both sides. Appropriate dof and blurred though visible background complete a nice photo.
TFS and best regards, José M.

Hola Peter.
Magnifica imagen de esa bella mariposa.Saludos.
Antonio.

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1238 W: 0 N: 2222] (9356)
  • [2007-03-04 13:12]

Hallo Peter,
Ein schöner Bläuling,in hübscher Pose und mit sichtbaren Vorder- und Hinterseite, ideal zum Erkennen. Natürlich hätte ich den Unterschied zwischen Plebeius argus und Plebeius idas nicht gewusst. Da muss man ja wirklich sehr gut hinschauen.
Mit herzlichem Dank für Bild und Text
Anne

  • Great 
  • star74 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 294 W: 5 N: 619] (2466)
  • [2007-03-04 13:38]

Hi Peter,
This is another magnificent shot.
Colors,sharpness and POV are marvellous.
Perfect details
TFS

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2007-03-04 14:48]

Hello Peter,
Excellent close up.POV,use of light,framing and 3D effect are wonderful.Have a good dat too!
TFS..:-)

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3464 W: 145 N: 5942] (17790)
  • [2007-03-04 16:39]

Hi Peter, this is beautiful. So sharp and clear and the colurs are so pretty. I do like these dainty little butterflies, TFS
Janice

Hi Peter,
A high quality capture, as usual.
I like so much the beauty light on the butterfly, and the magnificent details got on the antenna and the blue hairs.
I think you made and excellent composition here.
Congratulations and thanks for share.
My best regards,
JM

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2102 W: 6 N: 2113] (13565)
  • [2007-03-05 3:08]

Hola Peter,
maravillosa macro, compo. y detalles...
agradable pov. y bg.
saludos

  • Great 
  • Silke Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 753 W: 108 N: 1729] (5398)
  • [2007-03-05 23:04]

Wonderful PoV, superb colours, excellent details and perfect BG, Peter
TFS
silke

  • Great 
  • sgo Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 136 W: 35 N: 239] (716)
  • [2007-03-06 1:13]

Hi Peter,
I sit here early morning admiring your lovely Idas Blue that carries its own intrinsic beauty as well as the beauty of your presentation with your unmistakable imprint. Your lovely picture heightens my impatience in having to wait for spring/summer. Your Blue also reveals an exquisite equilibrist in action - I can see him sway up and down on the extreme edge of this leaf as you with your skilled craft freeze him in the midst of motion. Thank you very much for a very enjoyable contribution!
With best regards,
Goran

Hello Peter,

This is a wonderful capture of this cute and very small butterfly! The composition is outstanding! You placed the butterfly in a very powerful point and used the horizontal grass blades according to the rules of thirds. The gradually fading sharpness in the background adds depth to your picture separating the butterfly from everything else! Very well done!
The rich and well saturated colors are a must for a butterfly photo. The details are sharp and every tiny hair on the butterfly's body is perfectly visible. The slightly OOF left wing is a result of working at such close distances, a small inconvenient which doesn't distract from the beauty of this picture.
In spite of the harsh July sun, you exposed the image correctly with details clearly visible in shadows without overexposing the highlights. The accurate focus on the butterfly's head and body was a good choice and the fact that the antler in the distance is blurred while the close one is in focus is a great asset. As usual, you provided rich and valuable informations in your note which makes your post outstanding! Thank you!

With Friendly Regards,
Eddie

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1297 W: 0 N: 5080] (15138)
  • [2007-03-12 3:28]

Hi Peter

Lovely shot of this blue. Good composition and detail.

james

Beautiful butterfly and well captured
Good sharpness and nice composition
well done
Chris

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2007-03-23 8:38]

Hallo Peter,
oh der ist super, vor allem die Perspektive und das Licht stechen hier ins Auge, schoen dass man beide Seiten der Fluegen sieht. Die Farben und die Bildgestaltung sind einfach herrlich.
Gruss..Sky

Hi Peter!
WOW.. What a clear, detailed and awesome picture. THe sharpness is really well taken and the color of the butterfly is really vibrant. You managed to capture a beauty :)

STeph

  • Great 
  • loot Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5747 W: 606 N: 3503] (9405)
  • [2007-06-03 4:06]
  • [2] [+]

Hi Peter

What a remarkable contrasting capture with the blue against the soft green BG. Lovely stuff.

As always a great composition and a lovely posting from your ever increasing abilities to present these aesthetical and visually pleasing shots. The grass blades seem to deliver this precious little gem into the frame. The colours are splendid and well saturated, the details are great, and the exposure was perfectly controlled.

Very well done and TFS.
Regards
Loot

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