Whilst
birdwaching the Talea’a Valley near Abha in the Asir mountains in southwest
Saudi Arabia Phil Roberts and I came across a large number of small butterflies
using the damp areas near a large pool. These
butterflies appear to be Common Zebra Blue Leptotes
pirithous is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
It is also called Lang's Short-tailed Blue. It is a small butterfly with a
wingspan of 21–29 mm in males and 24–30 mm in females. The uppersides of the
wings are purple bluish in males, bluish-brown in female. The undersides are
dark beige striped with white lines. The hindwings show marginal orange and
black spots and two small tails. These butterflies fly from February to
November depending on the location and are regular migrants.
