Week 23: Large Blue Butterfly (‘Phengaris arion’)

The Large Blue Butterfly was @SpeciesofUK from 12^th to 25^th May, 2013.

The large blue is one of the UK’s 59 species of butterfly. It became extinct in the UK in 1979, but has since been successfully reintroduced.

Large Blue
[Source: Flickr Creative Commons © Lynkos Natura]

Our large blue is one of five species of large blue across Europe, all from the genus Phengaris in the Lycaenidae family, the second largest family of butterflies with about 40% of extant species.[1] The large blue is also one of 15-20,000 individual species of butterfly across the world![2]

Week 12: Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis)

The slow worm was @SpeciesofUK from 17th to 23rd February 2013.

Slow worms, despite their name, are not worms, and despite their appearance, are not snakes. They are lizards.

Slow Worm
[Source: Jonas Bergsten]

Historically all lizards had legs so the lack of them is an evolved characteristic. There are a number of families of lizards that have evolved leglessness, many independently of each other.