Agriades pyrenaicus

Gavarnie blue
A. p. asturiensis
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Agriades
Species:	A. pyrenaicus
Binomial name
Agriades pyrenaicus (Boisduval, 1840)
Synonyms
Lycaena orbitulus pyrenaicaBoisduval, 1840 Lycaena pyrenaica asturiensisOberthür, 1910 Agriades erganeHiggins, 1981 Lycaena dardanusFreyer, 1844 Lycaena araraticusGerhard, 1853 Lycaena rebeliTuleschkow, 1932 Lycaena latedisjunctaAlberti, 1973 Agriades hesselbarthiNekrutenko, 1974 Agriades erzurumensisEckweiler & Hesselbarth, 1978 Agriades kudrnaiKoçak, 1980

Agriades pyrenaicus, the Gavarnie blue, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. ^[2] It is found in the Asturias Mountains of north-western Spain, the Pyrenees, the southern Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, the Caucasus and Armenia. ^[3] The habitat consists of alpine grassy rocky meadows where it is found at altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,200 meters. ^[4]

The wingspan is 22–28 mm. ^[5] 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 (central Pyrenees)
• A. p. asturiensis(Oberthür, 1910) (Picos de Europa)
• A. p. dardanus(Freyer, 1844) - Balkan blue (Balkans, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Armenia) ^[6] smaller than pyrenaicus, and the pale spots of the hindwing beneath with more distinct black centres. ^[7]
• A. p. ergane(Higgins, 1981) (Ukraine, Russia)

References

1. van Swaay, C.; Ellis, S.; Warren, M. (2025). "Agriades pyrenaicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2025 e.T173269A211444223. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
2. "Agriades Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
3. Agriades dardanus at euroButterflies
4. Agriades pyrenaicus at euroButterflies
5. asturnatura
6. IUCN Redlist Plebejus dardanus
7. Adalbert Seitz in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .