''Plebejus argyrognomon'', common name Reverdin's blue is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest 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 the known butterfl ...

. The species is named after

Jacques-Louis Reverdin Jaques-Louis Reverdin (28 August 1842 – 9 January 1929) was a Swiss surgeon who was a native of Cologny. He studied at the University of Paris, becoming an interne of hospitals in 1865. In 1869 he became an assistant to Jean Casimir Félix Guyo ...

Plebeius argyrognomon female Weinsberg 20080817

Subspecies

Subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

include: * ''Plebeius argyrognomon argyrognomon'' Korb & Bolshakov, 2011 – (South

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

, SW.

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

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 m ...

, Prisayanye) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon buchara'' (Forster, 1936) – (

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon caerulescens'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1893) – (South Western

) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon danapriensis'' (Stempfer-Schmidt, 1932) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon euergetes'' (Stauder, 1914) – (Western and Southern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon letitia'' (Hemming, 1934) (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon praeterinsularis'' (Verity, 1921) * ''Plebejus argyrognomon anceps'' Churkin, 2004 – (

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

)

Distribution

This species can be found in Central and Southern

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, in mountains of Southern

and

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

.Funet
/ref>

Habitat

These butterflies inhabit grassy flowery places at an elevation of above sea level.

Description

''Plebejus argyrognomon'' has a

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

of 28–34 mm. These small butterflies present a

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The upperside of the wings is violet-blue in males, with a narrow, black border and a white fringe, while in the females it is dark brown, with black bordered orange lunules at the outer edge, especially visible on the hindwings. The underside of the wings is light beige in both sexes, with several black spots surrounded by white, an orange stripe and a marginal series of black spots pupillated in silvery blue-green. Caterpillars are pale green with orange brown longitudinal stripes, up to 20 millimeters long. Lycaenidae - Plebejus argyrognomon-000

This species is similar to ''

Plebejus argus The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be ...

'', ''

Plebejus idas ''Plebejus idas'', the Idas blue or northern blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It belongs to the subfamily of Polyommatinae (Babendreier, 2003). Subspecies Subspecies include the following: * ''Plebejus idas acreon'' (Fabricius, ...

'', '' Plebejus pylaon'' and ''

Polyommatus escheri ''Polyommatus escheri'', Escher's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Southern Europe and Morocco. Description in Seitz L. ''escheri'' Hbn. (81 a, b). male and female above similar to '' icarus'', but much larger; the ...

''.Matt Rowling
Euro Butterflies
/ref> In ''Plebejus argyrognomon'' the underside of the wings is similar to ''

'' and ''

'', but the background color is more gray and the black spots are relatively smaller.

Biology

The species fly in two broods from May to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

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 eros ...

'', ''

Securigera 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 eros ...

'', ''

Trifolium repens ''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg., E.F. 1968. ''Excursio ...

'', ''

Melilotus officinalis ''Melilotus officinalis'', known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia. Description ''Melilotus officinalis'' c ...

'', ''

Medicago sativa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as we ...

'', ''

Lotus corniculatus ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to grasslands in temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoi ...

'', ''

Onobrychis viciifolia ''Onobrychis viciifolia'', also known as ''O. sativa'' or common sainfoin () has been an important forage legume in temperate regions until the 1950s. During the Green Revolution it was replaced by high yielding alfalfa and clover species. Due t ...

'', ''

Vicia sativa ''Vicia sativa'', known as the common vetch, garden vetch, tare or simply vetch, is a nitrogen-fixing leguminous plant in the family Fabaceae. It is likely native to North Africa, Western Asia and Europe, but is now naturalized in temperate and ...

'' and ''

Astragalus glycyphyllos ''Astragalus glycyphyllos'' (liquorice milkvetch, wild liquorice, wild licorice) is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Europe. It is a perennial herbaceous plant which is sometimes used for tea Tea is an aromatic beverag ...

''. Larvae are attended by ants ''

Lasius niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesLasius 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 ...

'', ''

Myrmica sabuleti ''Myrmica sabuleti'' is a species of ant in the genus ''Myrmica''. The species is indigenous to Europe, and most colonies are polygynous. Caterpillars of the large blue butterfly (''Phengaris arion'') parasitism, parasitically prey on this ant. T ...

'', '' Myrmica scabrinodis'' and ''

Camponotus vagus ''Camponotus vagus'' is a species of large, black, Palaearctic carpenter ant with a wide range that includes much of Europe, a large area of Asia, and part of Africa. Description ''Camponotus vagus'' is a relatively distinctive species that is ...

''.Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil
Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
/ref>Tom Tolman et Richard Lewington, Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord, Delachaux et Niestlé, 2010 ()

References

External links

Lepiforum.de

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1303617 Plebejus Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1779