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I found this species in the heart of its distribution about 100km N of
Barcelona. Its range is confined to the hills between Barcelona and the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. I only found half a dozen fairly old specimens in early August, the main flight having finished.
It feeds avidly on the abundant whites Scabious.
It's unconvincing as a species in its own right. The lepidopterist powers-that-be are in the throws of separating and recombining the very complex
group of Anomalous Blues, Anomalous Blues being the groups of Agrodiaetus species with both sexes brown.
It appears that the Anomalous Blues are speciating at the moment (separating
into new species - something that happens over a long period of time), hence the
arguments over what is/ isn't a species.
agenjoi has a faint white streak along vein 4 of the underside hindwing,
a common and useful diagnostic feature in the Agrodiaetus genus. Some
species are separated by the possession or not of this streak. In agenjoi it
about half the normal length. It is possibly one of the main visible external
features for this species. It is extremely similar to A. fabressei which is found a little further south in central Spain.
This has an equally faint streak but it is much longer, about the same as the
typical Agrodiaetus streak. A. ripartii flies with it but this
species has a very strong pure white streak. Another species flying here
is A. dolus, and in a limited area of N Spain the extremely similar A.
ainsae - see that species for a discussion of identification. I also found A.
damon with fabressei in central Spain which is also closely similar.
The males have blue uppersides in dolus, damon and ainsae, brown
in agenjoi, ripartii, fabressei. Although dolus, damon and
ainsae are shown in the guide books with white streaks on vein 4, in dolus
and ainsae is by no means always obvious or even present. The
females of all the species are brown on the upperside so are particularly
problematical. I found the following combined to help me with separating the
females of dolus and ainsae from agenjoi, ripartii
and fabressei. In dolus/ damon/ ainsae:
- Underside spots are crisper in are slightly larger and there is a
greater difference between largest and smallest.
- The line of underside hindwing spots is relatively further from the wing
edge (possibly the most consistent and least subjective feature).
- There is a row of shadowy chestnut sub-marginal smudges. These are bolder
in agenjoi, ripartii, fabressei.
I don't know how reliable these features are but I think they are of value.
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