Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades) | Species | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Male. Taken at Irinovac, Croatia, on June 6th 2017. (1/320th sec at f14. © David Hastings)  Underside. Taken at Gorje Taboriste, Croatia, on June 5th 2017. (1/250th sec at f13. © David Hastings)  Mating pair. Taken at Irinovac, Croatia, on June 6th 2017. (1/640th sec at f14. © David Hastings) DescriptionFamily: Polyommatinae Wing span: 20 - 30mm The male Short-tailed Blue has a purplish-blue upper surface with two very fine short tails. The female is sooty brown. The orange spots on the underside of the hindwing are distinctive. It is found in central and southern Europe, but is generally sporadic and uncommon. It is a very rare vagrant in southern England. It is found in cultivated fields, bushy meadows and grasslands, open scrub and forst edges. It is bi-voltine, late April/mid-June and July/August The primary larval foodplants are Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Lucerne (Medicago sativa), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) and Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca). Sightings
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||