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Scarce large blue (Phengaris teleius)
Note: Location somewhat obscured, since this is a strongly protected species according to the European Habitats Directive
German name: Heller Wiesenknopf-Ameisenbläuling
This is one of the type of Blue that depends on the presence of certain types of ants to complete its development. The larvae first feeds on great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), in German "Großer Wiesenknopf". Incidentally the very plant which this individual is sitting on.
After having fed on the flowers, the caterpillars let themselves be carried into an ants nest around the end of summer, where they are predators to the ant brood. Due to secretions produced by the caterpillar, the ants never suspect that they have a social parasite in their midst.
The scarce large blue is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, northern Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine and East across the Palearctic to Japan.
