''Plebejus idas'', the Idas blue or northern 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 ...

. It belongs to the subfamily of Polyommatinae (Babendreier, 2003).

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 the following: * ''Plebejus idas acreon'' (Fabricius, 1787) * ''Plebejus idas alaskensis'' F. Chermock, 1945 * ''Plebejus idas altarmenus'' (Forster, 1936) * ''Plebejus idas argulus'' (Frey, 1882) * ''Plebejus idas aster'' (Edwards, 1882) * ''Plebejus idas atrapraetextus'' Field, 1939 * ''Plebejus idas bavarica'' (Forster, 1936) * ''Plebejus idas bellieri'' (Oberthür, 1910) * ''Plebejus idas empetri'' Freeman, 1938 * ''Plebejus idas longinus'' (Nabokov, 1949) * ''Plebejus idas lotis'' Lintner, 1879 * ''Plebejus idas magnagraeta'' Verity, 1936 * ''Plebejus idas nabokovi'' (Masters, 1972) * ''Plebejus idas sareptensis'' Chapman, 1917 * ''Plebejus idas scudderi'' (Edwards, 1861) * ''Plebejus idas sublivens'' (Nabokov, 1949) * ''Plebejus idas tshimganus'' (Forster, 1936) ''Plebejus idas lotis'' (syn. ''Lycaeides idas lotis'', ''Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis'', ''Plebejus anna lotis'') - commonly known as ''lotis blue butterfly'' - is a critically endangered subspecies native to

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

,"Lotis Blue Butterfly"
Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office with sightings in Sonoma and

Marin Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to: People * Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname * MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 19 ...

counties. It has been listed as an endangered species since June 1, 1976,"Lotis Blue Butterfly"
, Xerxes society Profile but is believed to be extinct since it has not been seen in the wild since 1994. This butterfly is very rare with low population densities. This mainly due to human disturbance effecting and creating changes in vegetation. According to the Nature Conservancy, it is critically endangered. It is ranked as Ti, critically imperiled (Zverev, 2021). In the summer of 2014, a fire in Vastmanland in South Central Sweden affected an area of 13,100 ha. After the fire the Idas Blues along with other species increased in numbers. This is presumed to be because of an increase in larval host plant abundance.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe (except parts of Spain, southern Italy and the United Kingdom), in the northern regions of the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

(Siberia, mountains of South Siberia and Yakutia) and in the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

realms.

Habitat

It usually inhabits grassy flowery areas, mixed evergreen forests and wet meadows up to alpine levels, at an elevation of above sea level.

Description

''Plebejus idas'' 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 17–28 mm.Northern Blue
Butterflies of Canada This species is quite variable in colors and markings. The upperside of male's wings is iridescent blue, while it is brown with orange submarginal spots in the females. The underface of the wings is greyish with black spots and it shows a thin black line and small dots along outer margin. Along these margins are also present a rather large orange band with blue spots. This species is very similar to the Silver studded blue (''

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 ...

'') and to the Reverdin's blue (''

Plebejus argyrognomon ''Plebejus argyrognomon'', common name Reverdin's blue is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species is named after Jacques-Louis Reverdin. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Plebeius argyrognomon argyrognomon'' Korb & Bolshakov, 2011 ...

''). The forelegs of male of ''Plebejus idas'' lacks a hook which is present in ''Plebejus argus''.

Biology

The species flies in a single brood from June to August depending on location. The larvae feed on ''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wid ...

'', ''

Vaccinium uliginosum ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus ''Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native ...

'', ''

Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there ...

'' and various

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

species (mainly ''

Cercis siliquastrum ''Cercis siliquastrum'', commonly known as the Judas tree or Judas-tree, is a small deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae which is noted for its prolific display of deep pink flowers in spring. It is native to Southern Europe and ...

'', ''

Melilotus albus ''Melilotus albus'', known as honey clover, white melilot (UK), Bokhara clover (Australia), white sweetclover (USA), and sweet clover, is a nitrogen-fixing legume in the family Fabaceae. ''Melilotus albus'' is considered a valuable honey plan ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Cytisus ''Cytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites (typically scrub and heathland) in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Ge ...

'', ''

Genista tinctoria ''Genista tinctoria'', the dyer's greenweed or dyer's broom, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. Its other common names include dyer's whin, waxen woad and waxen wood. The Latin specific epithet ''tinctoria'' means "used as a ...

'', ''

Trifolium pratense ''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions. Description Red clove ...

'', '' Chrysaspis campestris'', ''

Astragalus alpinus ''Astragalus alpinus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name alpine milkvetch. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Distribution It is ...

'' and ''

Anthyllis ''Anthyllis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. This genus contains both herbaceous and shrubby species and is distributed in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The most widespread and familiar species is '' A. vulnera ...

''). They are usually attended by ants (''

Lasius ''Lasius'' is a genus of formicine ants. The type species for this genus is the black garden ant, ''Lasius niger''. Other major members, which live in drier heathland, are the cornfield ant, '' L. neoniger'', and '' L. alienus''. Other species i ...

'' and ''

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, 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 species of genus ''For ...

'' species). Second-stage of the caterpillars overwinter. Male butterflies will patrol and find plants to host the female butterflies. The female butterflies will lay the eggs on the host plant stems or debris (Bálint, 2020).

In culture

A character of

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

's '' MaddAddam'' book trilogy is named after the lotis blue butterfly.

Gallery

File: Lycaeidas idas 01 (HS).jpg, Mating pair File: Lycaeidas idas 03 (HS).jpg, Female, upperside File:Plebeius-idas-male-HH.jpg, Mounted specimen. Male, upperside File:Plebeius-idas-male-u-HH.jpg, Male, underside Idas blue (Plebejus idas baldur) female Bulgaria.jpg, ''P. i. baldur'',

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Idas blue (Plebejus idas baldur) female underside Bulgaria.jpg, ''P. i. baldur'',

References

Babendreier, Kuske, S., & Bigler, F. (2003). Non-target host acceptance and parasitism by Trichogramma brassicae Bezdenko (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in the laboratory. Biological Control, 26(2), 128–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1049-9644(02)00121-4 Bálint, & Karbalaye, A. (2020). Plebejus alizadehorum sp. n. from Western Iran (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae: Polyommatini). Caucasian Entomological Bulletin, 16(2), 329–334. https://doi.org/10.23885/181433262020162-329334 Zverev, & Kozlov, M. V. (2021). The Fluctuating Asymmetry of the Butterfly Wing Pattern Does Not Change along an Industrial Pollution Gradient. Symmetry (Basel), 13(4), 626–. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13040626

External links

Larvae of North-European Lepidoptera

Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1093306 Plebejus Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1761 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus