Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae
Holly Blue
CELASTRINA argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Holly Blue
CELASTRINA argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Alternative Name: Hill Hedge Blue-India
Wingspan: 26-34mm
Worldwide Distribution: N.Africa : Europe : Siberia : Turkey : C.Asia : Japan : N.America
UK Distribution: Southern England : Wales : Ireland : Absent from Scotland
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: Europe-April-June : July-August : Bivoltine : Two broods per year : N.W Africa-March-May : June-August
Habitat: Woodland Margins : Gardens : Woodland Clearings : Parks : Urban & Suburban areas
Ovum: How often in early spring does one hear the non lep lover say "I saw a blue in my garden today" and usually it is a female searching out the Holly tree to deposit a single egg at the base of the flower bud,whereas in summer it is Ivy that is the commonest food plant.
In the wild I often find the most common host plant to be Dogwood although with a polyphagous larva a very wide range of plants is used.
Larva: The egg hatches after two weeks and the tiny caterpillar bores a hole in the skin of the flower bud before eating the contents.As the larva gets bigger it moves to berries where the tell tale signs are clear to see.
The latter stage larva has organs that produce ant attracting secretions although, unlike the ground dwellers, fewer ants are found in the tree so these organs are used intermittently.
Pupa: Spring pupa hatch in 2-3 weeks whereas summer brood individuals overwinter.The larva pupates on the ground.
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: The earliest of our "blue" butterflies to emerge in the spring, it is a common sight to find them congregating around gardens on Holly (Ilex aquifolium) the preferred early larval food plant, and around Ivy (Hedera helix)in churchyards in the summer,where the female deposits ova on the flowers buds of the plants.
The butterfly is susceptible to wide fluctuation in numbers year upon year,possibly related to the numbers of a parasitic wasp which attacks the Holly Blue larvae.
The female varies in coloration between the two broods with the second brood having a wider upper forewing black border ,blue basal flush darker toilet-blue and the upper hindwing black costal margin wider and hindwing marginal spots more pronounced.(See photos 11 & 12 below)
Although the Holly Blue is generally associated with Holly and Ivy in this country it is in fact polyphagous,choosing numerous larval food plants throughout its range as well as being a highly mobile species, all of which might explain why this beautiful butterfly is so successful and widely distributed throughout the world.
Wingspan: 26-34mm
Worldwide Distribution: N.Africa : Europe : Siberia : Turkey : C.Asia : Japan : N.America
UK Distribution: Southern England : Wales : Ireland : Absent from Scotland
UK Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Red List
- Least Concern
- Papilio argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Papilio argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- England
Flight Period: Europe-April-June : July-August : Bivoltine : Two broods per year : N.W Africa-March-May : June-August
Habitat: Woodland Margins : Gardens : Woodland Clearings : Parks : Urban & Suburban areas
Ovum: How often in early spring does one hear the non lep lover say "I saw a blue in my garden today" and usually it is a female searching out the Holly tree to deposit a single egg at the base of the flower bud,whereas in summer it is Ivy that is the commonest food plant.
In the wild I often find the most common host plant to be Dogwood although with a polyphagous larva a very wide range of plants is used.
Larva: The egg hatches after two weeks and the tiny caterpillar bores a hole in the skin of the flower bud before eating the contents.As the larva gets bigger it moves to berries where the tell tale signs are clear to see.
The latter stage larva has organs that produce ant attracting secretions although, unlike the ground dwellers, fewer ants are found in the tree so these organs are used intermittently.
Pupa: Spring pupa hatch in 2-3 weeks whereas summer brood individuals overwinter.The larva pupates on the ground.
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: The earliest of our "blue" butterflies to emerge in the spring, it is a common sight to find them congregating around gardens on Holly (Ilex aquifolium) the preferred early larval food plant, and around Ivy (Hedera helix)in churchyards in the summer,where the female deposits ova on the flowers buds of the plants.
The butterfly is susceptible to wide fluctuation in numbers year upon year,possibly related to the numbers of a parasitic wasp which attacks the Holly Blue larvae.
The female varies in coloration between the two broods with the second brood having a wider upper forewing black border ,blue basal flush darker toilet-blue and the upper hindwing black costal margin wider and hindwing marginal spots more pronounced.(See photos 11 & 12 below)
Although the Holly Blue is generally associated with Holly and Ivy in this country it is in fact polyphagous,choosing numerous larval food plants throughout its range as well as being a highly mobile species, all of which might explain why this beautiful butterfly is so successful and widely distributed throughout the world.
Subspecies
C. a.brittana Verity 1919-British Isles
C. a.brittana Verity 1919-British Isles
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Aquifoliaceae - Holly Family
- Ilex aquifolium - Holly
- Araliaceae - Aralia - Ivy Family
- Hedera helix - Ivy
- Betulaceae - The Birch Family
- Alnus glutinosa - Alder
- Cannabidaceae - Hemp/Hop Family
- Humulus lupulus - Hop
- Celastraceae - Bittersweet Family
- Alnus glutinosa - Alder
- Cornaceae - Dogwood Family
- Cornus sanguinea - Dogwood
- Ericaceae - Heather Family
- Arbutus unedo - Strawberry Tree
- Calluna vulgaris - Common Heather - Ling
- Erica arborea - Tree Heath
- Escalloniaceae - Escallonia Family
- Escallonia macrantha - Escallonia
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Family
- Astragalus glycphyllos - Milk Vetch - Wild Liquorice
- Colutea arborescens - Bladder Senna
- Dorycnium pentaffylum - Prostrate Canary Clover
- Galega officinalis - Goat's Rue - French Lilac - Italian Fitch - Professor-weed
- Genista tinctoria - Dyer's Greenweed
- Medicago saliva - Alfalfa - Lucerne
- Melilotus alba - Sweet Clover
- Melilotus officinalis - Yellow Sweet Clover - Yellow Melilot
- Robinia pseudoacacia - Black Locust
- Spertium junceum - Spanish Broom - Weavers Broom
- Ulex europaeus - Gorse - Furze - Whin
- Oleceae - Mesophytic Shrubs - Trees & Vines
- Lingustrum vulgare - Common Privet - European Privet
- Syringa vulgaris - Lilac
- Lythraceae - Loosestrife Family
- Lythrum salicaria - Purple Loosestrife
- Ranunculaceae - Buttercup - Crowfoots
- Clematis vitalba - Old Man's Beard
- Rhamnaceae - The Buckthorn Family
- Frangula alnus - Alder Buckthorn
- Rhamnus cathartica - Common Buckthorn
- Rosaceae - Rose Family
- Filipendula ulmaria - Meadowsweet
- Pyracantha coccinea - Firethorn
- Rubus armeniacus - Armenian Blackberry - Himalayan Blackberry
- Rubus fruticosus - Bramble - Blackberry
- Rubus idaeus - Raspberry - Framboise
- Sorbus aucuparia - Mountain Ash - Rowan
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Asteraceae - Compositae - Helianthus - Sunflower
- Caprifoliaceae - Viburnam
- Convolvulaceae - Cuscata - Dodder
- Ericaceae - Vaccinium - Blueberry,Bilberry etc
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - Amphicarpaea / Lespedeza - Bush Clovers
- Fagaceae - Oak
- Grossulariaceae - Ribes - Blackcurrants etc
- Oleceae - Ligustrum - Privet
- Rhamnaceae - Ceanothus - Calafornian Lilac
- Rosaceae - Holodiscus / Spirea
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species-CELASTRINA: Original Species Name: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Lycaenidae Polyommatinae Polyommatini CELASTRINA Tutt, 1907 Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Papilio argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) - PAPILIO argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) = Papilio cleobis Sulzer, 1776 = Papilio argalus Bergstrasser, 1779 = Papilio argrophontes Bergstrasser, 1779 = Papilio thersanon Bergstrasser, 1779 = Papilio marginatus Retzius, 1783 = Papilio acis Fabricius, 1787 = paraleuca Röber, 1897 = Celastrina kobei Tutt, 1908 = Lycaenopsis argiolus calidogenita Verity, 1919. = Lycaenopsis argiolus britanna Verity, 1919. - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.483 n.153 - England - C.a. antidisconulla Lempke, 1954 C.a. aquilana Grund, 1908 C.a. clara Tutt, 1896 C.a. lilacina-lata Tutt, 1908 C.a. lilacina-suffusa Tutt, 1908 C.a. minor Tutt, 1908 C.a. obsoleta Tutt, 1908 C.a. paucipuncta Courvoisier, 1912 C.a. punctata Tutt, 1908 - C.a.britanna Verity 1919-British Isles C.a.argiolus Linaeus,1758-Europe-excluding British Isles : Caucasus : Armenia : Talysh Mts. : Kazakhstan : Atai : Sayan : W.Siberia : C.Siberia C.a.mauretanica Rothchild,1925-Morocco : Algeria : Tunisia C.a.bieneri Forster,1941-Yakutia : Transbaikalia : Far East : Kamchatka |