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Field guide · Denmark
Blues, coppers and hairstreaks · Denmark

Northern Brown Argus

Aricia artaxerxes

Northern Brown Argus is rare in Denmark. Wing span: 27-32 mm. It flies in a generation from late June to late July. Found in warm dune systems and overgrown dunes along the coast with large amounts of bloody cranesbill.

Status in this countryRare in DenmarkEN (Endangered)
Northern Brown Argus

Flight period

Flies in a generation from late June to late July.

Habitat

Warm dune hollows and overgrown dunes along the coast with large quantities of bloody cranesbill.

Identifying features

Wingspan: 27-32 mm. The upperside is chocolate brown with orange spots, and sometimes with a broad dark band on the forewings – this can also occur on the hindwings.

Similar species

The species can be confused with several of the Danish bluebird species, but especially brown argus and the brown females of common blue can be very challenging. The underside resembles that of common blue, except that it ‘often’ has a spot under the central spot on the forewing, and that it does not have a shifted spot in the spot arc on the hindwing, unlike Northern Brown Argus.

Distribution

Northern Brown Argus is currently known from approximately five locations along the Limfjorden, in North Jutland, down to the coast near Tornby Plantation.

Biology

The larva feeds on bloody cranesbill.