small blue butterfly (Cupido minimus) Description
Cupido minimus
Deutsch: Zwergbläuling, München, Riemer Park
English: Small Blue, Munich, Riemer Park
Date 27 May 2008
Author Harald Süpfle
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zwerg-Bl%C3%A4uling_(Cupido_minimus)_1_(HS).jpg
The small blue (Cupido minimus) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the female. The undersides are a silvery grey with small black dots. The male has a bluish tint at the base of its wings similar to the upper side. It is found in Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Tian-Shan, western Siberia, central Siberia, southern Siberia, the Russian Far East, Amur, Mongolia, Magadan and Kamchatka. Recorded larval food plants are Oxytropis campestris, Astragalus alpinus, Lotus corniculatus, Anthyllis vulneraria, Melilotus, Coronilla, Medicago, Anthyllis vulneraria, Astragalus glycyphyllos and Astragalus cicer. Order: Lepidoptera, Family: Lycaenidae, Genus: Cupido, Species: Cupido minimus (Fuessly, 1775).