Agriades pyrenaicus


Agriades pyrenaicus, the Gavarnie blue, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Asturias Mountains of north-western Spain, the Pyrenees, the southern Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, the Caucasus and Armenia. The habitat consists of alpine grassy rocky meadows where it is found at altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,200 meters.
The wingspan is 22–28 mm. The wings are grey suffused with blue and the wings are bordered by a white line. On the upperside a grey discal spot centers each wing, on the underside the forewings are decorated with black dots circled in white and the hindwings have a sub-marginal line of white dots some centered yellow.
The larvae feed on Androsace species.

Subspecies

  • A. p. pyrenaicus
  • A. p. asturiensis
  • A. p. dardanus - Balkan blue smaller than pyrenaicus, and the pale spots of the hindwing beneath with more distinct black centres.
  • ''A. p. ergane''