(Ochsenheimer, 1816)
Iolas Blue
Description:
The Iolas Blue is Europe's largest blue. It occurs locally on calcareous soil, where shrubs of its food plant are growing. Bladder Senna (Colutea arborescens) is its food plant. In Greece, C. cilicica is also used. This plant is practically the most important source of nectar for the butterflies. At times, the males can be seen some distance away from their habitat, but the females stay near the food plants.
They lay their eggs, usually several at a time, on the inside of the calyx and inside the bladder-like fruits.
The caterpillars feed on the seeds and are visited frequently by ants. Usually, they can easily be seen by holding a pod up to the light. When fully-grown, the caterpillars pupate at the foot of the food plant, passing the winter as a chrysalis.
Although it occasionally has a partial second brood, the Iolas Blue usually has only one generation a year.
Habitat:
Heath and shrub
Sclerophyllous scrub
Deciduous forests
Similar species:
Unmistakable