Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae
Adonis Blue
POLYOMMATUS (Lysandra) bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775)
Adonis Blue
POLYOMMATUS (Lysandra) bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 30-40mm
Distribution Worldwide: Central Europe : Southern Europe : Southern Russia, : Iraq : Iran : Caucasus : Transcausus : Turkey
UK Distribution: Dry,warm chalk downs of Southern and South Eastern England,where its larval food plant Horseshoe Vetch grows.
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: May-June : Late July-Mid September : Bivoltine
Habitat: Dry chalk grassland with abundant food plant : Warm sheltered south facing hollows,quarries and chalk pits
Ovum: The Adonis Blue female is very selective when depositing her white disc shaped ovum,especially second brood individuals, as she choses a warm sheltered position with short growing Horseshoe Vetch where the single egg is deposited on the underside of terminal leaves, in order to give the emerging caterpillar a temperature advantage. The spring female can chose stronger growth as the ambient temperature at this time of the year is far greater.See the depositing female in the photos below taken in late August.
The ovum hatches after 7-14 days.
Larva: The early stage larva feeds on the underside of leaves which provide tell tale evidence of the tiny caterpillar, before feeding on the leaves & shoots as they get larger.
They are difficult to find at this stage being well camouflaged in their green and yellow colouration although the presence of numerous ants will provide evidence of the feeding larva.
Like many of the blues, the ants provide the necessary protection from predators in return for honeydew provided by the honey gland.
Pupa: The chrysalis,like the larva also attracts ants through sounds and secretions of amino acids.The pupa tends to hide in cracks in the ground where the ants will tend them by covering them with soil.Emergence of the imago usually takes three weeks.
Overwinters as: Early stage larva
Observations: The male Adonis Blue has metallic electric blue upper sides which shine in the sun,depending on angle of view and is unlike any of our other blues for brilliance,except possibly a newly emerged Common Blue male which makes identification between the two a little more difficult as they fly together.
The female which is chocolate brown is similar to the Chalkhill Blue female albeit that the coloration between the hindwing orange lunules and the white outer margin fringe is white with coridon and blue with the bellargus.
Adonis Blues need a warm sheltered site with a short sward, so controlled grazing is essential to create the appropriate conditions,failure to maintain this will result in the decline of the species from the site. The introduction of "Myxomatosis" with the resultant loss of rabbits in the 70's was a key factor in the decline of the Adonis Blue from many sites.
Although the Adonis Blue has suffered from decline over the years with many similarities to the Silver-spotted Skipper, there has been a partial recovery recently especially in its stronghold of Dorset.
Males spend most of their time flying low over the sward in search of females or feeding on nectar plants like Marjoram, Thyme, Knapweed, Birds-foot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch.
Females are seen far less frequently and are often mated immediately after emerging. Photo 17 & 18 below shows a mating pair where the female is still drying her wings following emergence.
Distribution Worldwide: Central Europe : Southern Europe : Southern Russia, : Iraq : Iran : Caucasus : Transcausus : Turkey
UK Distribution: Dry,warm chalk downs of Southern and South Eastern England,where its larval food plant Horseshoe Vetch grows.
UK Conservation Status -
- Notable ( Nb 1980/93 ) = 30 - 100 10Km Squares
- Near threatened - Red List
- Least Concern
- Least Concern
- Papilio bellargus (Rottemburg 1775)
- Papilio icarus (Rottemburg, 1775)
- W.Germany
Flight Period: May-June : Late July-Mid September : Bivoltine
Habitat: Dry chalk grassland with abundant food plant : Warm sheltered south facing hollows,quarries and chalk pits
Ovum: The Adonis Blue female is very selective when depositing her white disc shaped ovum,especially second brood individuals, as she choses a warm sheltered position with short growing Horseshoe Vetch where the single egg is deposited on the underside of terminal leaves, in order to give the emerging caterpillar a temperature advantage. The spring female can chose stronger growth as the ambient temperature at this time of the year is far greater.See the depositing female in the photos below taken in late August.
The ovum hatches after 7-14 days.
Larva: The early stage larva feeds on the underside of leaves which provide tell tale evidence of the tiny caterpillar, before feeding on the leaves & shoots as they get larger.
They are difficult to find at this stage being well camouflaged in their green and yellow colouration although the presence of numerous ants will provide evidence of the feeding larva.
Like many of the blues, the ants provide the necessary protection from predators in return for honeydew provided by the honey gland.
Pupa: The chrysalis,like the larva also attracts ants through sounds and secretions of amino acids.The pupa tends to hide in cracks in the ground where the ants will tend them by covering them with soil.Emergence of the imago usually takes three weeks.
Overwinters as: Early stage larva
Observations: The male Adonis Blue has metallic electric blue upper sides which shine in the sun,depending on angle of view and is unlike any of our other blues for brilliance,except possibly a newly emerged Common Blue male which makes identification between the two a little more difficult as they fly together.
The female which is chocolate brown is similar to the Chalkhill Blue female albeit that the coloration between the hindwing orange lunules and the white outer margin fringe is white with coridon and blue with the bellargus.
Adonis Blues need a warm sheltered site with a short sward, so controlled grazing is essential to create the appropriate conditions,failure to maintain this will result in the decline of the species from the site. The introduction of "Myxomatosis" with the resultant loss of rabbits in the 70's was a key factor in the decline of the Adonis Blue from many sites.
Although the Adonis Blue has suffered from decline over the years with many similarities to the Silver-spotted Skipper, there has been a partial recovery recently especially in its stronghold of Dorset.
Males spend most of their time flying low over the sward in search of females or feeding on nectar plants like Marjoram, Thyme, Knapweed, Birds-foot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch.
Females are seen far less frequently and are often mated immediately after emerging. Photo 17 & 18 below shows a mating pair where the female is still drying her wings following emergence.
Photo Gallery : Click photo for larger image
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.
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
- Coronilla varia - Crown Vetch
- Hippocrepis comosa - Horseshoe Vetch
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Subgenus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - POLYOMMATUS: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Lycaenidae Polyommatinae Polyommatini POLYOMMATUS Latreille 1804 Lysandra Hemming, 1933 Polyommatus ( Lysandra ) bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775) - Papilio icarus (Rottemburg, 1775) - PAPILIO bellargus (Rottemburg 1775) = Lysandra bellargus Rottemburg, 1775 = Papilio adonis Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 = Papilio thetis Rottemburg, 1775 = Papilio salacia Bergsträsser, 1779 = Papilio venilia Bergsträsser, 1779 = Papiliio oceanus Bergsträsser, 1779 = Papilio bell Bergstrasser, 1779 = Papilio hyacinthus Lewis, 1795 = Papilio argus Don., 1795 = Cupido improba Reed, 1877 = Meleageria bellargus - Anmerkungen zu den Hufnagelischen Tabellen der Schmetterlinge. Erste Abtheilung : Der Naturforscher 6: 1-34, Tab. I Halle. : Title Page : p.25 : n.12 - W Germany - L.b. albicincta Tutt, 1909 L.b. albofimbriata Gillmer, 1905 L.b. argentea Tutt, 1909 L.b. atrescens Tutt, 1909 L.b. caeruleo-cuneata Tutt, 1909 L.b. cinnides Staudinger, 1901 L.b. conjuncta Tutt, 1909 L.b. crassipuncta Courvoisier, 1903 L.b. czekelii Aigner, 1905 L.b. detersa Verity, 1911 L.b. disco-elongata Courvoisier, 1911 L.b. excelsia Tutt, 1909 L.b. flavescens Tutt, 1909 L.b. irregularis Tutt, 1909 L.b. krodeli Gillmer, 1900 L.b. marginata Tutt, 1896 L.b. minor Muschamp, 1908 L.b. nigra Cockerell, 1889 L.b. obsoleta Tutt, 1896 L.b. pallida Austin, 1890 L.b. puncta Tutt, 1896 L.b. purpurascens Tutt, 1909 L.b. rufescens Tutt, 1909 L.b. semiceronus Tutt, 1909 L.b. striata Tutt, 1896 L.b. subtus-partim-radiata Oberthür, 1896 L.b. suffusa Tutt, 1896 L.b. totonigra Lipscomb, 1966 L.b. urania Gerhard, 1853 L.b. venilia Bergstrasser, 1779 L.b. viridescens Tutt, 1909 |