[072] Celastrina argiolus, Holly Blue
Introduction
Celastrina argiolus, the Holly Blue is a small, light blue butterfly.
Taxonomy
Kingdom – Animals
Phylum – Arthropods
Class – Insects
Order – Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Family – Lycaenidae (Gossamer Winged Butterflies)
Subfamily – Polyommatinae (Blues)
Tribe – Polyommatini
Genus – Celastrina
Scientific Name – Celastrina argiolus
It has fourteen subspecies worldwide, some of which have their own local common names.
Name
Kelastros is Ancient Greek for holly. I can’t trace ‘argiolus.’
Description
We started with two of the larger colourful butterflies, familiar to most people and then the Orange Tip and Ringlet, still quite large. But butterflies can get small and the Holly Blue is much smaller than the ones we have met so far. It has a wingspan of about three centimetres and is smaller than some of the moths that fly into houses at night.
On a sunny day in flight its colour is almost white and it can look like a white petal fluttering in the wind.
Celastrina argiolus is very similar to the Small Blue, which is much rarer and localized in its distribution and is even smaller.
The undersides of the wings are very light silvery blue with a few small, dark spots.
They normally settle with the wings closed so I only have one picture of the upper wings. The female has the distinctive dark edges to her wings as shown.
Habitat
The Holly Blue has a wide distribution over the Northern Hemisphere. It is common throughout all of England and Wales, except for the far North of England. Its range does not include Scotland.
They have two generations each year. They emerge in April and May and the larvae then feed on [184] Holly. These pupate and emerge in July/ August and the second-generation larvae feed on ivy, bramble and other plants before hibernating as pupae. Adults feed on bramble and holly.
Other Notes
The tribe of Polyommatini were extensively studied by the Russian lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov, also known as a novelist.
The Holly Blue is probably the butterfly I see most in urban locations.
See also
There are several other blue butterflies, mostly much rarer. [275] The Common Blue is, aptly, much more common and is widespread over the UK including Scotland.
The Species of Britain 