''Cupido alcetas'', the Provençal short-tailed blue, is a small

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

that belongs to the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

Etymology

The Latin species name ''alcetas'' refers to Ἄλκηστις (

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from t ...

), in Greek mythology a princess daughter of

Pelias Pelias ( ; Ancient Greek: Πελίας) was king of Iolcus in Greek mythology. He was the one who sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Family Pelias was the son of Tyro and Poseidon. His wife is recorded as either Anaxibia, ...

, king of

Iolcus Iolcus (; also rendered ''Iolkos'' ; and Ἰαωλκός; ; ) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of Volos, of which it is a municipal un ...

Distribution

First described from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg Johann Centurius Hoffmann Graf von Hoffmannsegg (23 August 1766 – 13 December 1849) was a German botanist, entomologist and ornithologist. Hoffmannsegg was born at Rammenau and studied at Leipzig and Göttingen. He travelled through Europe a ...

in 1804, it occurs locally in southern and central Europe,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

, southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and northern

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

.Львовский А.Л., Моргун Д.В. 2007. Булавоусые чешуекрылые Восточной Европы. Москва: КМК. . p. 230Tolman, Tom & Richard Lewington. 1997. ''Butterflies of Britain and Europe. Field Guide.'' London: Collins. .Fauna europaea
/ref>

Habitat

This species lives in flowery grassy places, bushy and damp areas and woodland clearings at an elevation of above sea level.Eurobutterflies.com
/ref>Simon Coombe

Description

''Cupido alcetas'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of . In these small butterflies the upperside of the wings is blue-purple in males, brown in females (

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

). The wing edge is black, with a white fringe. The underface of the wings is pale blue-gray, with a series of small black spots encircled with clearer blue. On the underside hindwings usually there is no orange. Sometimes it is present a single orange-colored anal spot that does not reach the marginal black spot. Close to the anal angle usually is present a thin, very short tail. This species is similar to the Short-tailed blue ('' Cupido argiades'') and (less so) to the Holly blue (''

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. Description The holly blue has pale silver-blue wings spotted with pale ivory dots ...

''). The Eastern Short-tailed Blue ( '' Cupido decolorata'' ) can be differentiated by a black discoid spot on the upper surface of the forewings. However, a genital morphological examination is recommended for reliable identification . The short-tailed blue ( ''Everes argiades'' ) differs in that there are always two orange spots at the anal angle on the underside of the wings.

Biology

Adults fly from May to September. Depending on the location, the species produces two to three generations annually (in May–June, July–August and in warmer regions in late September). Larvae feed on leaves and inflorescences of various herbaceous plants of the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

(such as ''

Coronilla varia ''Securigera varia'' (synonym ''Coronilla varia''), commonly known as crownvetch or purple crown vetch, is a low-growing legume vine. It is native to Africa, Asia and Europe and is commonly used throughout the United States and Canada for erosion ...

'', ''

Galega officinalis ''Galega officinalis'', commonly known as galega or goat's-rue, is a herbaceous plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume Family (biology), family Fabaceae. It is native species, native to parts of northern Africa, western Asia and Europe, ...

'', ''

Trifolium Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity ...

'' sp., ''

Vicia ''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other g ...

'' sp., ''

Medicago lupulina ''Medicago lupulina'', commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus ''Medicago'', or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (''Tri ...

'' and ''

Securigera varia ''Securigera varia'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Coronilla varia''), commonly known as crownvetch or purple crown vetch, is a low-growing legume vine. It is native to Africa, Asia and Europe and is commonly used throughout the United States an ...

'').Pieris.ch
/ref> These larvae are

myrmecophile file:Panaphis juglandis.jpg , thumb , Myrmecophilous aphids being tended by ants Myrmecophily ( , ) consists of positive, Mutualism (biology), mutualistic, interspecies Association (ecology), associations between ants and a variety of other or ...

s, living in association with ants of the genus ''

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the subfamily Formicinae, including species commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type ...

''.

References

External links

''Cupido alcetas''
at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera * Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil

* ttp://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Cupido_Alcetas Lepiforum.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Cupido alcetas Cupido (butterfly) Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1804 Taxa named by Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg