''Polyommatus (Plebicula) dorylas'', the turquoise 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 southern Europe,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

Ural Mountains 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 western ...

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 ...

and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. Its wingspan is 15–17 mm. The butterfly's common name comes from the dazzling bright blue colour of male's wings. The larvae feed on '' Anthyllis vulneraria'' (kidney vetch). The butterfly flies from May to September in two generations. Habitats include flowery meadows in rocky areas at 500–2000 m.

Description in Seitz

''L. hylas'' Esp. (= ''dorylas'' Hbn., ''argester'' Bgstr., ''thetis'' Esp. (female)) (80 i). Of the size of ''myrrhina'' ''Polyommatus myrrhina'' (Staudinger, 1901) male above of a very glossy and peculiar blue; the female often smaller than the male, black-brown, with or without reddish marginal spots. The underside is unmistakable, the ocelli being reduced to a very few so, that the white forewing is usually without markings from the base to the reddish yellow submarginal spots. Central and South Europe as far as Asia Minor, according to Sloper also obtained in England (at Dover). ab. ''obsoleta'' Gillm. (= ''glycera'' Schultz) are European specimens in which the sparse ocelli of the hindwing beneath are on the road of becoming obsolete. – There exists also a geographical race with obsolescent ocelli, which is distinguished by the fringes being longer and white above; this is ''armena'' Stgr. now ''P. d. armena'' (Staudinger, 1871) (81 a), from Asia Minor, of which identical specimens are said by Hormuzaki to occur also in the Bukovina. – Very conspicuous is ab. ''metallica'' Favre; this is the name for females whose upperside bears near the base of both wings or only on the forewing intensely bright metallic blue spots, whose glitter can be distinctly perceived even in the flying specimen and which gives the insect a very strange appearance, ab. ''nigropunctata'' Wheel, has black submarginal dots on the hindwing above. – ''nivescens'' Kef. (= ''albicans'' Dup. & Gerh.) now ''Polyommatus nivescens'' Keferstein, 1851 ">Polyommatus_nivescens.html" ;"title="now ''Polyommatus nivescens">now ''Polyommatus nivescens'' Keferstein, 1851 80 i) is a form flying in Spain on limestone. The upperside of the male is dull grey-violet with a white silky gloss, similar to dolus ,

menalcas and coridon albicans. – Larva very similar to that of ''Polyommatus icarus">icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; grc, Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, King Minos suspe ...

'', dark green, with black head, blackish dorsal line and yellow side-stripe; at each side of the dorsal line yellowish smears. In May and again in August on ''Thymus'', ''Trifolium'', ''Melilotus'', ''Medicago'', etc. The butterflies are partial to limestone soil and sand, and their occurrence is therefore rather sporadic, but they are plentiful in many districts. They fly in May and again in July, and like to drink on damp places on roads.Adalbert Seitz">Seitz, A. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) Subspecies are: *''Polyommatus dorylas magna'' Bálint, 1985 (Eastern Carpathians, Romania) *''Polyommatus dorylas castilla'' (Fruhstorfer, 1910) (Spain) *''Polyommatus dorylas armenus'' (Staudinger, 1871) (

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

)

References

External links

Euro Butterflies
{{Taxonbar, from=Q961170 Polyommatus Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1775