Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 20.xii.2023

Celastrina argiolus / Holy Blue
Flatrabluja e mamaferës
Lycaenidae - Polyommatinae

Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758). TL: England.

1a. Celastrina argiolus, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Celastrina argiolus ♂ underside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Celastrina argiolus ♀ upperside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Celastrina argiolus ♂ upperside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Celastrina argiolus caterpillar. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Celastrina argiolus copula, harassed by a second male. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1g. Celastrina argiolus copula. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 13-17 mm.
Ups: shining pale sky blue (spring generation), darker blue (summer generation), fine black marginal line slightly larger at fw apex.
Uns: white gc with a faint basak blue shading, very small dots, sometimes some vestigial or lacking.
♀♀
Similar to slighte larger.
Ups: darker blue.
Upf: large black apical border extending along the costa and the outer margin.
Uph: small grey-black antemarginal dots often present.
Uns: simliar as ♂♂.

Similar species
None.

Life cycle
Adults: two generations from March to September.
Egg: 3-5 days.
Caterpillar: 15-27 days.
Pupa: 15-27 days after first generation, overwintering after second generation (31-47 weeks) on a withered leaf of the foodplant or in the litter layer.

Habitat
Celastrina argiolus inhabits light woodland, forest outskirts, gardens and parks from lowland up to 1500 m a.s.l. Nomadic butterflies can be found higher.
Spatial requirement low, population density can be high in gardens and parks, nomadic.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on a range of shrubs and perennials: Frangula alnus, Calluna sp., Rhamnus sp., Cornus sp. and Hedera helix. Also mentioned are Alnus glutinosa, Amorpha fruticosa, Arbutus unedo, Astragalus glycyphyllos, Buddleja davidii, Clematis vitalba, Colutea arborescens, Erica sp., Euonymus sp., Filipendula ulmaria, Galega officinalis, Genista sp., Humulus lupulus, Ilex aquifolium, Lathyrus pratensis, Ligustrum vulgare, Lotus sp., Lythrum salicaria, Medicago sp., Melilotus sp., Paliurus spina-christi, Philadelphus coronarius, Pyracantha coccinea, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rubus sp., Spartium junceum, Symphoricarpos albus, Tamarix sp., Vaccinium sp. and Viccia sp.
Butterflies feed on higher flowers and flowering trees.

Distribution
Albania: widespread.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK* - SCA - EEU
Asia Minor, Near East, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Celastrina argiolus is not endangered.
Albanian RedLlist: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

Contact