(Fabricius, 1793)
Common Tiger Blue
Description:
The markings on the underside of its wings make the Common Tiger Blue an eye-catching butterfly. It breeds in warm, dry, scrubby vegetation, spending much of its time on the food plants Christ's Thorn (Paliurus spina-christi) and Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba), that are usually plentiful where it lives.
The caterpillars betray their presence by the translucent "windows" that they make by hollowing out grooves on the underside of the leaves.
The Common Tiger Blue has several generations a year, and passes the winter as a caterpillar.
Habitat:
Heath and shrub
Sclerophyllous scrub
Similar species:
Tarucus balkanica
Cacyreus marshalli