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| UK Status |
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| Resident |
A species which is continually Resident in the UK with stable breeding populations. |
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| Migrant |
A species which occurs as a Migrant in the UK. It may be able to breed here although they are usually unable to survive our winter months. Migrants are normally reported in the UK every year. |
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| Rare Migrant |
A species which occurs as a Rare Migrant in the UK. It may able to breed here although they are usually unable to survive our winter months. Rare Migrants may not be seen for many years. |
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| Extinct |
A species which is Extinct in the UK, usually as a result of habitat loss. |
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| Introduction |
A species which ocurs in the UK as an accidental introduction. |
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Description
The Adonis Blue (originally known as the Clifden Blue) is the most vivid of our Blue butterflies. The Male Adonis Blue is a real jewel. Most males are a vivid sky-blue colour while others are more turquoise and depending upon how the sun reflects on their wings they may even appear to be an irridesent purple.
The females are chocolate brown in colour fringed with white although on some sites Blue females may occur. Both the male and female have black lines which extend across the outer white fringe a feature which distinguishes this species from the Common Blue.
The males patrol their teritory flying low over short turf looking for females. This species has an important relationship with both Red Ants (Myrmica sabuleti) and Black Ants (Lasius alienus) as the larvae are often tended by ants.
Habitat
The Adonis Blue is to be found on Chalk and Limestone grassland in particular on South facing slopes on un-improved close-cropped turf where its larval foodplant Horseshoe Vetch is found in abundance.
Larval Food Plants
The larvae feed on Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) |
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| Stock Photography Library |
| We have 62 photographs of the Adonis Blue in the British Butterflies photo library |
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BB1907 - Adonis Blue
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BB1906 - Adonis Blue
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BB1905 - Adonis Blue
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BB1904 - Adonis Blue
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BB1903 - Adonis Blue
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BB1902 - Adonis Blue
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BB1901 - Adonis Blue
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BB1900 - Adonis Blue
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| Distribution |
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| The Adonis Blue is restricted to the limestone and chalk of southern England. Good areas include Dorset, Isle of Wight, the Chilterns, Wessex and Kent. |
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| Where to see the Adonis Blue |
Wiltshire: Martin Down
Isle of Wight: Ballard Down, Compton Down
Dorset: Cerne Hill Giant, Corfe Castle, Fontmell Down
Gloucestershire: Rodborough Common
Other sites include Devils Dyke and Durlston Country Park. |
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| Population Trends |
| species status |
the Adonis Blue is a resident species in Britain |
| population trend1 |
(1995-2004)  up by 63% |
(1976-2004) up by 28% |
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1Fox, R., Asher. J., Brereton. T., Roy, D & Warren, M.
(2006) The State of Butterflies in Britain & Ireland, Pices, Oxford. |
| UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Status |
| UK BAP status2 |
priority species (link) |
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| 2 For more information about the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species status, visit www.ukbap.org.uk. |
| IUCN Category Status |
| IUCN category3 |
 near threatened4 |
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3 Fox, R., Warren, M & Brereton, T.
(2007) New Red List of British Butterflies. Butterfly Conservation, Wareham.
4 More information about IUCN categories available here. |
| Find Out More Online* |
| More information about the Adonis Blue can be found on Peter Eeles excellent UK Butterflies web site. |
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Aberrations and Forms |
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| We currently know of 31 named aberrant forms of the Adonis Blue. More information about aberrants can be found here. |
 ab. albicincta - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. albofimbriata - Gillmer (1905) |
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| ab. argentea - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. atrescens - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. caeruleo-cuneata - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. cinnides - Staudinger (1901) |
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| ab. conjuncta - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. crassipuncta - Courvoisier (1903) |
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| ab. czekelii - Aigner (1905) |
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| ab. detersa - Verity (1911) |
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| ab. disco-elongata - Courvoisier (1911) |
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| ab. excelsia - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. flavescens - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. irregularis - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. krodeli - Gillmer (1900) |
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| ab. marginata - Tutt (1896) |
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| ab. minor - Muschamp (1908) |
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| ab. nigra - Cockerell (1889) |
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| ab. obsoleta - Tutt (1896) |
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| ab. pallida - Austin (1890) |
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| ab. puncta - Tutt (1896) |
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| ab. purpurascens - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. rufescens - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. semiceronus - Tutt (1909) |
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| ab. striata - Tutt (1896) |
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| ab. subtus-partim-radiata - Oberthür (1896) |
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| ab. suffusa - Tutt (1896) |
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| ab. totonigra - Lipscomb (1966) |
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| ab. urania - Gerhard (1853) |
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| ab. venilia - Bergstrasser (1779) |
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| ab. viridescens - Tutt (1909) |
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The following aberrant forms of the Adonis Blue have been photographed in the wild in Britain:
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| References |
| The information on this web site comes from a variety of freely available resources including books, academic reports and web sites alongside my own personal observations of butterflies. The species descriptions are currently in the process of being edited (spring 2009) to include new data, recent personal observations and referencing following a major update to the site.
A complete list of references mentioned in the text on this web site is available here. |
| * External Links Disclaimer |
| This web site includes links to information provided by external web sites which are not in any way under the control of www.britishbutterflies.co.uk. We cannot, therefore, be held responsible for the content of external web pages. |
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30-40mm
