Southern common blue

This is one of the commonest ‘blues’ and also one of the most abundant butterflies on Menorca. It normally first flies at the end of March or beginning of April. You’ll find it in fields and on the edges of paths and tracks, wherever the various food plants – e.g. clovers and alfalfa – of its caterpillars grow. Males are the typical electric blue of this family, while the females – always harder to see – are very similar to the southern brown argus (the main difference is that the latter species has an extra spot under the hindwing) and are brownish, sometimes with a blue suffusion. They take nectar readily from the flowers that the females lay their eggs on. It hibernates as a larva.
Scientific name: Polyommatus celina

See all butterflies of Menorca