Volume 10, Plate XXXI / Entomology (Insects)

Azure Blue, Bedford Blue & Mazarine Blue Butterflies

Polyommatus Argiolus, P. Alsus & P. Acis

1. & 2. Azure Blue Butterfly. Spanning about thirteen to sixteen lines, the male is delicate light blue tinged with lilac and narrowly edged black, the female lighter blue with a broad dusky border. Beneath it is grey faintly tinged with blue and marked with black streaks and spots; its greenish-yellow caterpillar feeds on buckthorn and holly, the butterfly flying in May and again in late July.
3. Bedford Blue Butterfly. The smallest of British butterflies, sometimes spanning but ten lines, it is brown above with a silky gloss, one sex faintly tinged with blue at the wing-base. Beneath it is ash-coloured with a white-edged black crescent on each wing and a row of ringed dots; the smallest of the European blues, it occurs sparingly over most of the kingdom.
4. Mazarine Blue Butterfly. Spanning about thirteen lines, the male is deep blue glossed with violet and narrowly bordered black, the female dark brown faintly blue at the base. Beneath it is ash-grey, the fore wings with a white-ringed oblong spot and a band of eyes, the hind wings with black streaks and an irregular band; rather scarce, it frequents chalky districts.