page_title: List of butterflies of Great Britain
section_title: Lycaenidae – hairstreaks, coppers and blues
hierarchical_section_title: List of butterflies of Great Britain / Lycaenidae – hairstreaks, coppers and blues
caption_attribution_description: English: Brown argus butterfly (Aricia agestis) male, Aston Rowant NNR, Oxfordshire
context_page_description: This is a list of butterflies of Great Britain, including extinct, naturalised species and those of dubious origin. The list comprises butterfly species listed in The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland by Emmet et al. and Britain's Butterflies by Tomlinson and Still.
  A study by NERC in 2004 found there has been a species decline of 71% of butterfly species between 1983 and 2003. Species listed in the 2007 UK Biodiversity Action Plan are indicated by a double-dagger symbol —two species so listed for research purposes only are also indicated with an asterisk. Range expansions according to the 2010 Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland.
  Butterfly Conservation lists 29 of Great Britain's 58 breeding butterfly species as "High UK treat priority", with 9 of those with conservation priority status "Action urgent across UK range".
context_section_description: Subfamily Theclinae
  Green hairstreak – Callophrys rubi
  – throughout much of country
  Brown hairstreak – Thecla betulae ‡
  – south of River Humber, with concentrations in south-west Wales, north Devon and south-west Somerset, and west Weald. In 2009 eggs were found at Feckenham Wylde Moor reserve in Worcestershire.
  Purple hairstreak – Neozephyrus (Quercusia) quercus
  – throughout most of England and Wales, more thinly distributed north to River Clyde
  White-letter hairstreak – Satyrium (Strymonidia) w-album ‡
  – throughout much of England (except far south-west and north-west) and eastern Wales
  Black hairstreak – Satyrium (Strymonidia) pruni
  – confined to heavy clay soils along Chiltern hills
  Subfamily Lycaena
  Small copper – Lycaena phlaeas eleus
  – throughout, except far north and north-west
  Subfamily Polyommatinae
  Small blue – Cupido minimus ‡
  – southern and south-central England, south Wales coast, and east coast of Scotland (patchy distribution)
  Silver-studded blue – Plebejus argus ‡
  P. argus argus – south-west and south England, East Anglia coast, and north Wales and north-east Wales borders
  P. argus cretaceus – formerly on chalk and limestone downland of south and south-east coasts, now restricted to Portland Bill
  P. argus caernensis – Great Ormes Head (north Wales)
  P. argus masseyi – extinct (formerly north-west England)
  Brown argus – Aricia agestis
  – throughout southern England, north to River Tees, south and north coasts of Wales; expanding range north
  – evidence of hybridization with A. artaxerxes salmacis across northern England and Wales
  Northern brown argus – Aricia artaxerxes ‡
  A. artaxerxes salmacis (Castle Eden argus) – England from north Lancashire north
  – evidence of hybridization with A. agestis across northern England and Wales
  A. artaxerxes artaxerxes – Scotland
  Common blue – Polyommatus icarus icarus
  – throughout
  Chalkhill blue – Lysandra coridon
  – southern England
  Adonis blue – Lysandra bellargus
  – south England; expanding range north and west
  Holly blue – Celastrina argiolus britanna
  – north to Solway Firth and River Tyne; expanding range north
  Large blue – Phengaris arion ‡
  P. arion eutyphron (endemic subspecies) – extinct
  P. arion arion – introduced to various sites in west England
caption: Brown argus
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "5472", "Image ImageLength": "3648", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 70D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2015:04:03 09:25:00", "Image Artist": "\u00be\u00bc", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "316", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "9500", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9614", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6480", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:08:30 10:12:02", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:08:30 10:12:02", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "67/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "51/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "100", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2340", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1561", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9468", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "5472000/899", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "3648000/599", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "073024014483", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[100, 100, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000068780"}