Chalkhill blue

Polyommatus coridon

The chalkhill blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone
Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus coridon) I'm lucky enough to live in an area of chalk hills on the south coast of the UK where this delicate and beautiful small butterfly lives. It wasn't that long ago, a sighting seemed to be a bit of an occasion, but recent warmer and wet winters appears to have boosted numbers considerably.

As you can tell, I pretty much had to crawl very gently towards this one to get this shot.

For a better idea, watch this accompanying close-up video of a male: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmBgPu7Oe1M Chalkhill blue,Geotagged,Polyommatus coridon,Summer,United Kingdom

Appearance

Males have pale silvery-blue wings with black and white border . Females are dark brown, also with the black and white borders. As with many blue butterflies, separation from similar species in the field is on the underside markings.
chalkhill_blue_1on_devils_bit_scabious  Geotagged,Polyommatus coridon,Summer,United Kingdom,chalkhill blue

Naming

*''P. c. borussia'' Ural
⤷ ''P. c. asturiensis'' Sagarra, 1922 Pajares, Cantabrian
chalkhill_blue_1  Geotagged,Polyommatus coridon,Summer,United Kingdom,chalkhill blue

Behavior

''Note that information on this species applies to Great Britain and some details may not be consistent with the species in other parts of its range.''

In the UK, this is a species favouring unimproved chalk downland. Its larval foodplant is horseshoe vetch . It is usually seen on the wing for about 6–8 weeks, July to September.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyLycaenidae
GenusPolyommatus
SpeciesP. coridon