''Polyommatus damon'', the Damon blue, is a
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 ...
of 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 ...
.
Subspecies
Subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
include:
[Funet]
/ref>
* ''Polyommatus damon damon'' – (Central and Southern Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
)
* ''Polyommatus damon kotshubeji'' (, 1915) – (Transcaucasia
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
)
* ''Polyommatus damon merzbacheri'' (, 1913) – (Dzungarian Alatau
The Dzungarian Alatau (, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; , ''Jetısu Alatauy''; , ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Jetisu, Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan. It has a length of ...
Mountains)
* ''Polyommatus damon mongolensis'' (, 1980) – (Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
, South 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 ...
, Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
)
* ''Polyommatus damon noguerae'' (, 1924) – (Central and Northern Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
)
* ''Polyommatus damon ultramarina'' (Schawerda, 1924) – (Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
)
* ''Polyommatus damon zhicharevi'' (, 1915) – (North Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, South East Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
)
Distribution and habitat
The ''Damon blue'' can be found in Central and Southern Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
(central Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
, Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
, Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
and the Carpathian
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at ...
s) and across the Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
to 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 ...
, Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and the Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
[ This mountain species inhabits dry bushy or light woodlands and open grassy places at an elevation of above sea level.][Matt Rowling]
Euro Butterflies
/ref>
Description
''Polyommatus damon'' 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 20–34 mm.[Simon Coomb]
Captain's European Butterfly Guide
These small butterflies present a 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 upperside of the wings is shining blue in males, with broad black borders and prominent veins. The upperside of the wings is brown in females. The underface of wings is ocher or pale grey-brown with a series of brown-black spots surrounded by white. Hindwings shows a white streak in both sexes. Both sexes have also a white fringe.[
]
Description in Seitz
''L. damon'' Schiff. (= ''biton'' Sulz.) (81 h). -male large, brilliant shy-blue with a greenish tinge, the margin broadly black, the bright brown underside with or without ocelli, but always with a sharply marked white mesial streak. Female dark brown, above sometimes without traces of reddish submarginal spots. Central and South Europe, throughout Anterior and Central Asia as far as the Tian-shan. – Specimens entirely without ocelli on the hindwing beneath are ab. ''gillmeri'' Krod. (= ''caeca'' Aign.) while individuals with the ocelli distorted into oval spots or streaks, produced by Krodel by low temperature, are ab. ''extensa'' Krod. In ab. ''agraphomaena'' Verity the white streak of the underside is obsolescent, while ab. ''ferreti'' Farre is a dwarfed form of the male with narrow border on the upperside. – Larva greenish yellow, finely and densely hairy, alternately striped with paler and darker green, the head being brownish and the side-line darker or paler ydlow; until June on Esparset. The ants are so much after it that the presence of some larvae in a breeding cage in a room is sufficient to bring into the house whole crowds of ants, which gather about the cages, sometimes as many as ten ants being found on one larva. Pupa ochreous, above greenish, darker along the back. The butterflies occur in July and August on fields of Sainfoin and do not venture far away from them. They are plentiful where they occur.
Biology
The butterfly flies from June to August. The larvae feed on Onobrychis
__NOTOC__
''Onobrychis'', the sainfoins, are a genus of Eurasian perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plants of the legume family (Fabaceae). About 206 species are presently accepted. The Flora Europaea lists 23 species of ''Onobrychis''; the m ...
species and ''Medicago falcata
''Medicago falcata'' is a plant species of the genus ''Medicago''. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, but is found throughout the world. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium ''Sinorhizobium meliloti'', which is capable of ni ...
''.[
Larvae are attended by ants ('']Lasius niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the north-east, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the south-west, Mali to the wes ...
'', ''Lasius alienus
''Lasius alienus'', or cornfield ant, is a species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae (family Formicidae). Workers have a length of about 2–4 mm, Queens are larger (7–9 mm).
Distribution
They live in Europe, from Spain to the Cauca ...
'', ''Formica pratensis
''Formica pratensis'', the black-backed meadow ant, is a species of European red wood ant in the family Formicidae.
Systematic
''Formica pratensis'' is divided into these subspecies:
*''Formica pratensis nuda'' Ruzsky, 1926
*''Formica pratensi ...
'').[Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord, Delachaux et Niestlé,Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington, ()]
Etymology
Named in the Classical tradition
The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritu ...
. Damon is a Pythagorean
Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras
* Ne ...
from Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
, whose history of relations with Phintias served as the plot of a number of poetic works.
Gallery
File: Lycaenidae - Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damon - mating pair.JPG, Mating pair
File: Lycaenidae - Agrodiaetus damon.JPG, Female, underface
File: Polyommatus damon.jpeg, Male, underface
File: Lycaenidae - Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damon-000.jpg, Feeding on nectar
References
External links
Lepidoptera Caucasi
Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1315003
Polyommatus
Butterflies of Europe
Butterflies of Asia
Butterflies described in 1775