Genus Phengaris Doherty

(Fig. 13)

Distinctive features in the egg of the three Iberian species of this genus are striking. Phengaris alcon (Denis & Schiffermüller) (Fig. 13 A, B) has eggs that are similar to those of Scolitantides orion (Fig. 11 A, B), but with more distinct cells and thicker walls. The surface of the cell walls is rough, the annular zone is located in a deep hollow and the transition zone is formed by cells of four to six sides. The chorion is thick except at its base, where it is thin and smooth (details in Munguira 1985, 1989; Thomas et al. 1991; Steiner et al. 2006). P. ar i o n (Linnaeus) (Fig. 13 C, D) shows cells with a background of irregular roughness, which becomes coarser in the transition zone. The cells increase in size towards the tubercle-aeropyle zone, where the corners of the polygons have short elevations and greater length in the equatorial region of the egg. This results in a pattern that is more typical of other lycaenid eggs. In P. nausithous (Bergsträsser) (Fig. 13 E, F) the annular and transition areas are formed by cells with very low reliefs caused by flattened cell walls. The tubercle-aeropyle area has cells with well marked edges but without tubercles and a spongy surface, similar to that of the transition zone.