Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 18.ix.2023

Polyommatus ripartii / Ripart's Anomalous Blue
Anomalja e vogël
Lycaenidae - Polyommatinae

Polyommatus ripartii (Freyer, 1830). TL: Spain.

1a. Polyommatus ripartii, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Polyommatus ripartii ♂ underside. Valikardhë, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Habitat of Polyommatus ripartii. Valikardhë, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Polyommatus ripartii courtship. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Polyommatus ripartii ♀ underside. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 14-17 mm.
Ups: brown gc, unmarked.
Upf: conspicuous patch of hairy androconial scales, no discal spot.
Uns: pale grey-brown gc.
Unf: no cell-spot, usual pale ringed discal line and postdiscal spots, marginal margins absent or rarely vestigial.
Unh: white streak from base on v4 of variable length and width.
♀♀
Slightly smaller.
Ups: paler brown gc, smooth.
Upf: dark discal dark spot.
Uph: sometimes with vague orange marginal lunules near anal area.
Uns: darker grey brown gc, markings bolder.
Unh: conspicuous but variable white streak, distally expanded, mostly no marginal markings.

Similar species

The anomalous blues (brown Agrodiaetus) are variable and difficult to distinguish on external characters.
Ups and uns: gc depends on the freshness of the butterflies, a tendency for darker gc in the Polyommatus aroaniensis complex is mentioned.
The presence or absence and intensity of a white streak on the unh is only a trend but not a fully reliable criterium.
COI barcoding is distinctive for Polyommatus admetus, Polyommatus (aroaniensis) lurae, Polyommatus (aroaniensis) orphicus and Polyommatus (aroaniensis) aroaniensis.

Polyommatus admetus Uph: ♀♀ obscure orange marginal markings. Uns: pale brown-grey gc. Uns: dark brown sagittate sm lunules and chevrons. Polyommatus aroaniensis complex: Polyommatus lurae and Polyommatus orphicus Uns gc and absence of white streak are variable. Uns: to variable pale reddish brown gc. Uns: no or vestigial sm markings. Unh: absence of white streak (!!! variable) Polyommatus damon Ups: ♂♂ pale shining blue gc. Ups: ♂♂ diffuse dark border extended along veins. Ups: ♀♀ brown gc with blue scales on thorax and base of the wings. Uns: ♂♂ yellow grey gc, unh slightly darker. Uns: ♀♀ café-au-lait gc. Uns: no sm markings. Unf: strong white-ringed pd spots. Unh: firm white streak from base along v4.

Life cycles
Adults: single generation from second half of June to early September.
Egg: short stage.
Caterpillar: probably hibernating in the egg or as young larva.
Pupa: probably short stage.

Habitat
Polyommatus ripartii inhabits warm, open rocky and flowery places with scattered bushes on limestone and ophiolite substrate, from 500 up to 2000 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement modest, population density can be high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Onobrychis alba, O. arenaria, O. caput-galli, O. montana and O. viciifolia.
Butterflies are feeding on a variety of available flowers in the habitat.

Distribution
Albania: local, not recorded from the Northern Albanian Alps.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU* (complex ripartii-galloi-pelopi)
Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Polyommatus ripartii is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NT.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
euroButterflies

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