Brown Argus

(Aricia agestis)

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The male is identified by the fact that the orange markings do not reach all the way to the tip of the wing	The markings go right to the end of the wing-tip in the female, and she is somewhat larger than the male with more rounded fore-wing tips	Wing-colour can vary from light brown to almost chocolate - here's a much darker male
And a chocolate-brown female	The very pale colouring of this male is due to age though! Note however that, unusually, he has only three orange spots on his upper wing	The wings can sometimes show iridescence, as in this female
And in this particularly dramatic example (again a female)	The underwing of a Brown Argus is distinguished from that of a Common Blue by the fact that there is no marking in the lower part of the fore-wing - in both sexes	The white patch in the upper part of the hindwing is less pronounced in the male however, as here and next below, than in the female, to the left
An "over & under" view of a male, showing the typical Argus orange "eyes" above and the lack of a marking below	Mating pair, showing the slight difference between the male and female underwing patterns - male to the left, female to the right	Another pair, the next year, in the same orientation
The chase was still on for these pairs though!		Pursuit must succeed sometimes though - by pure chance, a female was seen ovipositing this minute egg on Cranesbill, else it would never have been spotted.