Adonis or Common Blues?

[doke]

Took these photos yesterday of what I assume to be Male Adonis Blues (pics 1 and 2) on Denbies Hill, Surrey in a field of horseshoe vetch. However, the black stripes on the fringes look indistinct to me, so I am wondering whether they are common blues. The third picture is of a possible female. The fourth picture is another individual, with pale underwings and I'm not sure of the species. Any help would be gratefully received.

[Bellow]

Hi Doke,
your pictures are not very clear,but by looking at pict.1from what I can see, there is no checkering on the white border so this would point towards a Comm. Blue. In pict.2 closed wing shot you can see some checkering which would point to an Adonis.Pict 3 again is difficult it is a female but again the white border is vague although there are a couple of black veins showing.Pict 4 looks like Comm.Blue.
I shall post a couple of shots of an Adonis so you can see what I,m talking about.Note the closed wing shot,which gives you 2 lines of identification,the checkering and the underside.I hope this helps you.
Roly.

[doke]

Thanks Roly,

Pictures 1 and 2 are actually of the same butterfly, so I assume this to be a male Adonis. Certainly, given the site it is a strong possibility. Will try to get better pictures next time, just got a new camera and still trying to figure it all out. Agree with you that pic 4 is a common, but why are there no strong markings on the underwing (i.e. any orange), might it be just the camera angle?

[Dom Greves]

I'd say Picture 1 was Adonis - very difficult to tell with faded examples but you can just about see the black marks through the white wing border.

[Bellow]

If Pict.1 & 2 are the same butterfly,then I,d agree with Dom an Adonis.As for the marking on pict.4 Comm.Blues can vary enormeously,which again is why an open and closed shot is important.When the Chalkhill Blue start showing,the female has checkering just like the Adonis female,so again testing our camera skills.This is what makes our hobby so fascinating,we,re learning all the time.Have a great "summer shooting" these wonderful creatures.
Roly.