''Polyommatus dolus'', the furry 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 is found in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(from Huesca to Santander - Burgos), in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(Herault and from the Cevennes to the Maritime Alps) and

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 ...

(Central Italy and Maritime Alps). It is escribed in Seitz thus- L. ''dolus'' Hbn. (= ''lefebvrei'' Godt.) (81 f). male above with a light, silky, grey-blue gloss, nearly as in '' coridon'', but this gloss is restricted to the outer half of the wing, the proximal half being a dirty brown. Female above dark brown with darker veins, resembling almost exactly a male of '' ripartii'' on the upperside. Underside rather similar to that of '' admetus'', clearer, with smaller ocelli and without white mesial streak. In South France, and Northern and Central Italy. — ab. ''vittata'' Oberth. (81 f) ow ''P. d. vittata'' (Oberthür, 1892)are specimens with a whitish mesial streak on the hindwing beneath; from the Cevennes (Lozere). — ''menalcas'' Frr. (= ''epidolus'' Frr.) (81 g) is a form from Anterior Asia (or a distinct species?) ow full species ''Polyommatus menalcas'' (Freyer, 1837) which has a paler underside, smaller ocelli and a very distinct sharply defined mesial streak on the hindwing beneath. In the male the brown colour of the upperside is restricted to the forewing and here concentrated into a dirty brown patch. Turkey and Asia Minor to Turkestan. Larva green when young. later on violet; until June on ''Onobrychis'' and ''Medicago''. The butterflies from June till August, locally plentiful, especially flying on fields of Esparcet. Seitz, A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Biology

Habitats are dry acid grassland, dry calcareous grasslands and steppes and sclerophyllous scrub at 600-1800m. The butterfly flies from July to August. The larvae feed on ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Medicago ''Medicago'' is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover, in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains at least 87 species and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean basin. The best-known member of the genus is ...

'' species.

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, ritua ...

. In

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Dolos or Dolus (Ancient Greek: Δόλος "Deception") is the spirit of trickery

References

External links

Images representing ''Polyommatus dolus''
at Consortium for the Barcode of Life
Pyrgus.de
Photographs imago, larvae

dolus In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind () that must accompany the acts of certain crimes to constitute a violation. A more formal, generally synonymous legal term is : intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Definitions Intent is def ...

Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1823 {{Lycaenidae-stub