Brown argus is a beautiful small butterfly with a wingspan of 22 to 28 mm. It was named after a 100-eyed giant in Greek mythology because of the multiple eye-like dots on its underwings.
The upper sides of the wings are dark brown with a white fringe and orange dots [see todays photograph]. The underside of the wings is greyish brown with black spots and orange dots on the margins [see my next photograph].
The main habitats of the butterfly are chalk and limestone grassland. There, this species occurs in small, compact colonies. It is not a great wanderer, only travelling a couple of hundred meters, at most, from where it emerged.