(Fuessly, 1775)
Small Blue
Description:
This butterfly is well named. It is very small and its modest colours make it even seem smaller than it really is. The Small Blue can only be found on calcareous soils. An open, mostly rather short vegetation and a warm microclimate typify its habitat. The butterflies may occur in large numbers.
They lay their small, white eggs singly on the underside of leaves of Kidney-vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria). A practised eye can detect them between the flowers and the sepals. The creamy-white caterpillars feed on the flowers and seeds, and are seldom seen. However, workers of various ant species attend them regularly. When fully-grown, the caterpillars hibernate either between the withered petals of dead flowers, or in the litter layer and pupate on the ground.
The Small Blue has one or two broods a year.
Habitat:
Dry siliceous grasslands
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Similar species:
Cupido osiris
Cupido lorquinii
Cupido argiades
Celastrina argiolus