(Bergsträsser, 1779)
Baton Blue
Description:
The Baton Blue can be found on dry, grassy, and flower-rich vegetation, especially on warm patches. They are often seen on flowers, drinking nectar.
The females lay their eggs on the flowers and leaf stalks of various species of thyme (Thymus spp.), savory (Satureja spp.), lavender (Lavandula spp.), and mint (Mentha spp.). The caterpillars feed on the flowers and developing seeds of the food plant. They are attended by ants.
The Baton Blue passes the winter as a caterpillar or a chrysalis, and has two generations a year.
Habitat:
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Heath and shrub
Sclerophyllous scrub
Similar species:
Pseudophilotes vicrama
Pseudophilotes bavius