Scotch argus
erebia aethiops latin

The Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops) is a Palaearctic butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.

Here live creatures great and small, from the ptarmigans and mountain hares that inhabit the Cairngorms to the Scotch Argus butterflies of the Allt Mhuic reserve by Loch Arkaig.

Clouded Yellows have started appearing, and even a few Gatekeepers, a southern grassland butterfly, have been seen dancing across the heather with the Scotch Argus, a native moorland butterfly now being pushed further north.

"The Scotch argus is at its southernmost site in the country here (of only two sites in England), but on a good day there may be clouds of these dark - almost black - velvety beauties rising from the blue moor grass pastures.