Escher's Blue and Damon Blue

I photographed this mixed group of blue butterflies mud puddling for essential minerals on a track in a mountain valley above Cauterets in July 2021.

Escher's Blue top left, Damon Blue top right.

Escher's Blue Polyommatus escheri (Fr. l'Azuré du plantain) is a localised but abundant bright blue butterfly that occurs in the south of France. They can be found in hot dry poor grasslands up to 2200 metres. 

Damon Blue P. damon (Fr. le Sablé du sainfoin) is also a blue butterfly, but much more muted. They have a distribution that is limited to the flower rich grasslands on mountains all over Europe, from Spain to Siberia, 600 to 2400 metres above sea level. They are easy to identify because of the white streak on the underside of their hind wing.