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Polyommatus coridon

(Chalkhill Blue)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Chalkhill Blue

Description

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Family Lycaenidae

'The Lycaenidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, this family has approximately 4,700 species that are unevenly distributed. Coppers are especially dominant in north temperate regions , blues are richest in the Old World tropics and north temperate zones, and hairstreaks are particularly abundant in New World tropics. The adults are typically small to tiny and often brilliantly colored--iridescent blues, bright reds, and oranges. Adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs , though most males have fused segments in their front legs. Most adults visit flowers for nectar, but some harvesters feed on wooly aphid honeydew and some hairstreaks feed on aphid honeydew or bird droppings. Females lay single, sea urchin shaped eggs on host leaves or flower buds; the resulting caterpillars are typically slug-shaped. In many species, caterpillars depend on ants for protection, so caterpillars produce sugary secretions that are collected by the ants. Most species overwinter in either the egg or pupal stage.

'[1]

Subfamily Polyommatinae

Blues are tiny to small butterflies of the Family Lycaenidae. Distributed worldwide, they are most diverse in Southeast Asia, tropical Africa, and northern temperate regions . Most of the nearly 50 North American species are found in the west. Adult males are predominantly blue above, due to reflected light rather than pigmentation . Some males and most females are largely brown above. Below, wings of both sexes are usually gray-white with black spots or streaks. Adults in some genera (Euphilotes, Lycaeides, Plebulina, and Icaricia) have more or less prominent orange submarginal bands on their hindwings . Most adults are found near their host plants , and they do not fly long distances , though some tropical and subtropical species undertake long migrations. Adults visit flowers for nectar. Males frequent moist sand and mud , and females lay eggs singly on host plant leaves or flowers. As caterpillars, they secrete sugary secretions that attract ants , and caterpillars of some species are raised in ant nests. Blues usually overwinter in the pupal stage.[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: The Chalkhill Blue occurs on calcareous soil in dry and flower-rich places with a short vegetation. They seem to prefer sheltered places. Sometimes, populations can be extremely large which is especially obvious in the late afternoon when the butterflies come together to roost. Hundreds of butterflies can be seen, their heads pointing downwards into the vegetation, wings upright, the light-coloured underwings gleaming in the evening sun. Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) is its only foodplant, the female laying her eggs on the leaves. The eggs hibernate. The caterpillars are attended by ants of the genera Myrmica, Lasius, Formica, Plagiolepis, Tetramorium, Aphaenogaster and Tapinoma. The Chalkhill Blue pupates in the litter layer. It usually only has one generation a year. Habitats : dry calcareous grasslands and steppes (35%), dry siliceous grasslands (13%), mesophile grasslands (13%), heath and scrub (5%), alpine and subalpine grasslands (5%), broad-leaved deciduous forests (5%).[3].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Similar Species

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Members of the genus Polyommatus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 17 species and subspecies in this genus:

P. aroaniensis (Grecian Anomalous Blue) · P. caelestissimus (Azure Chalkhill Blue) · P. coridon (Chalkhill Blue) · P. dama (Mesopotamian Blue) · P. dolus (Furry Blue) · P. eroides (False Eros Blue) · P. fabressei (Oberth?rs Anomalous Blue) · P. fulgens (Catalonian Furry Blue) · P. galloi (Higgin's Anomalous Blue) · P. golgus (Sierra Nevada Blue) · P. hispanus (Provence Chalkhill Blue) · P. humedasae (Piedmont Anomalous Blue) · P. icarus (Common Blue) · P. icarus icarus (Common Blue) · P. nephohiptamenos (Higginss Anomalous Blue) · P. nivescens (Mother-Of-Pearl Blue) · P. violetae (Andalusian Anomalous Blue)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 01, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=16&sci=Lycaenidae&com=Gossamer-wing Butterflies [back]
  2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Plebulina&search=Search [back]
  3. van Swaay, C., Wynhoff, I., Verovnik, R., Wiemers, M., López Munguira, M., Maes, D., Sasic, M., Verstrael, T., Warren, M. & Settele, J. 2010. Polyommatus coridon. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/25/2012