Brown argus
The brown argus is a small butterfly from the blue family, but it is not blue at all. It is chocolate brown with a row of orange spots along the edge of each wing. It flies low over fields and grassy hills, always close to the ground.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its caterpillars are always looked after by ants.
In the daytime it rests with its wings spread open, but at night it sleeps with them closed, hidden in grass flowers.
The caterpillar is green and shaped a bit like a little slug.
It can live high in the mountains, up to about 3,000 metres.
In Britain it has been spreading further north in recent years.
Most asked questions about Brown argus
?Is the brown argus a blue butterfly?
Yes, it belongs to the blues family, but its wings are brown with orange spots.
?What does the brown argus caterpillar eat?
Rock-rose, cranesbill and stork's-bill plants.
?Where can you see a brown argus?
In sunny fields, grassy hills and even gardens across Europe and Asia.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Aricia agestis
- Named by
- Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa
Where the facts come from
- Aricia agestis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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