Celastrina Argiolus

The holly blue (''Celastrina argiolus'') Retrieved April 20, 2018. is a butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family and is native to the Palearctic.

The holly blue has pale silver-blue wings spotted with pale ivory dots. Seitz describes it "Male above shining violet blue, only the apical portion of the costal margin being minutely edged with white. The female has both wings broadly bordered with dark, the margin of the hindwing bearing vestiges of ocelli. Underside silver-white, in the disc a row of black dots, some of which are elongate, and before the margin blackish shadowy dots. Egg very flat, whitish. Larva green or brown, marked with yellowish white, bearing catenulate stripes on the back, on segment 7 a gland to attract ants; head brown. On Ivy, ''Ilex'', ''Evonymus'', ''Rhamnus'', ''Robinia'', ''Genista'', ''Spartium'', ''Astragalus'', ''Rubus'', ''Erica'', ''Pyrus'' and many other plants; in Europe visited usually by ants of the genus ''Lasius''; in June and the autumn. Pupa mostly fastened to the underside of a leaf, ochreous with brown spots and markings. The butterflies in the spring and again in July, occasionally a third time at the end of August and in September, everywhere common, particularly at the flowers of ivy and brambles." In Europe, the first generation feeds mainly on the holly species ''Ilex aquifolium'' but the second generation uses a range of food plants.

The holly blue is the national butterfly of Finland.

Taxonomy

This species was originally described as ''Papilio argiolus'' by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, and refers to the examples flying in Europe. In their monograph on the ''Lycaenopsis'' group of polyommatine genera, Eliot & Kawazoe, 1983, list 14 taxa as valid subspecies names, plus many further synonyms to which they accord lesser status. According to Eliot & Kawazoe, 1983, these 14 subspecies are divided into four groups as follows:

;The ''argiolus'' group
Palaearctic & North African

*''C. a. argiolus''
*''C. a. bieneri''
*''C. a. hypoleuca''
:=''paraleuca'' Rober
*''C. a. mauretanica''
:=''algirica'' Oberthur

;The ''kollari'' group
South and South-East Asian

*''C. a. iynteana''
:=''sikkima'' Moore
:=''victoria'' Swinhoe
:=''herophilus'' Fruhstorfer
:=''cition'' Fruhstorfer
:=''bothrinoides'' Chapman
:=''puspargiolus'' Chapman
:=''albocaeruloides'' Chapman
*''C. a. kollari''
:=''kasmira'' Moore
:=''coelestina'' Kollar
:=''trita'' Swinhoe

;The ''ladonides'' group
Far Eastern

*''C. a. caphis''
:=''crimissa'' Fruhstorfer
*''C. a. ladonides''
:=''levettii'' Butler
:=''sachalinensis'' Esaki
:=''heringi'' Kardakoff
*''C. a. sugurui''

Common names

In India, ''C. argiolus'' is known as the hill hedge blue.

Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) female laying egg Bulgaria.jpg, female laying egg, Bulgaria
File:Celastrina argiolus egg.jpg, Egg
File:Lycaenidae - Celastrina argiolus-6.JPG, Imago
File:0 Azuré des nerpruns (♀) - Celastrina argiolus - Havré (1).JPG, Female
File:Celastrina Argiolus.jpg, Bottom sides of the wings
Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) male underside.jpg, Male

Range

Found in Eurasia. and South Asia, it occurs from Chitral in Pakistan to Kumaon in India.

See also

*List of butterflies of India
*List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)
*List of butterflies of Great Britain

References

*
*Eliot, J. N. and Kawazoe, A., 1983. ''Blue butterflies of the ''Lycaenopsis'' group'': 1–309, 6 pls. London.
*
*Willmott, Ken and Freed, Tim (1999). ''The Holly Blue Butterfly''. Butterfly Conservation, Colchester, UK, 20p. .
*

External links

*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q792871

Celastrina
Butterflies of Asia
Butterflies of Europe
Butterflies of North America
Butterflies described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
National symbols of Finland