Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Male.
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Field notes and information
Extremely local in the southern Balkans. Discussion about the status of this taxon as a full species or a subspecies of the Gavarnie blue, A. pyrenaicus dardanus, is still not concluded.
In 2004 it was extremely satisfying to discover a thriving colony of this rare and extremely local butterfly in Bulgaria. We probably saw 30 or 40 individuals in the very tiny area they were flying over.
Identification & Similar species: No similar species share the same range.
Distribution & Flight: From a limited number of mountains in the southern Balkans from north Greece, south Bulgaria, FYROM, Bosnia where it is very local. Flies in July.
Habitat & Behaviour: Our Bulgarian colony was on a small rocky ridge with a great variety of plants and sparse grasses at roughly 1900m. It was my father who found them - we had both spent an hour wandering fruitlessly across similar looking areas nearby without finding a single specimen.
It is a very small and inconspicuous butterfly. It flies low over the ground stopping frequently on rocks or to take nectar from low plants.
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Female.
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Female underside, much browner than the male.
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Male taking salts from the fabric of my trouser leg
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004
Another favoured nectar plant, second only to thyme, Thymus.
Pirin Mts, Bulgaria, July 2004