This is one of the rarest butterflies in the world, limited to just a single large valley in northwest Italy. It is rather non-descript and is very similar to the other anomalous blues found in Europe. Both sexes possess a chocolate-brown upperside and sandy-brown underside, peppered with several small black spots and lacking the white stripe possessed by some of its close relatives. Identification is straightforward, as no other anomalous blue occurs in the area. The colony is very small threatened by fires, human activity and habitat succession. When I visited, there had been a large fire which only stopped metres away from the occupied site.

Distribution: Found only in the Val d’Aosta in northwest Italy.

Flight Period: Flies in a single generation between mid-July and mid-August.

Habitat: Occurs in dry, scrubby slopes with trees and open areas with plentiful sainfoin (Onobrychis).

Foodplants: Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia)

Nectar Sources: I observed this species visiting flowers of Sainfoin (O. viciifolia), Lucerne (Medicago sativa) and scabiouses (Scabiosa).