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The small blue (''Cupido minimus'') is a
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 ...
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 ...
in 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 ...
. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the female. The species can live in colonies of up to several hundred and in its caterpillar stage is
cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
.


Description

Small blue males are dark brown with a scattering of bright blue scales that speckle their wings. Females lack this blue speckling. Both males and females exhibit the characteristic silver underside with black spots. The male has a bluish tint at the base of its wings similar to the upper side. Their wingspan can fall anywhere from 16-27mm, but males tend to be the smaller sex. Small blues are often confused with the female Osiris Blue, whose coloring is similar to that of the male small blue.


Geographic range

''C. minimus'' is found in 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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Tian-Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
, western
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 ...
, central Siberia, southern Siberia, the
Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
,
Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...
,
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, ...
,
Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a port town and the administrative center of Magadan Oblast, Russia, located on the Sea of Okhotsk in Nagayev Bay (within Taui Bay) and serving as a gateway to the Kolyma region. History Maga ...
and
Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...
.


UK and Ireland

The small blue is known for being the smallest butterfly found in the United Kingdom. It has a very patchy distribution across the UK with its strongholds on the chalk and limestone grasslands of southern England such as the Cotswolds and
Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...
. Across the rest of Great Britain and Ireland it is often associated with coastal habitats with widely scattered colonies in northern England and the far north of Scotland. It is a Priority Species for conservation in Northern Ireland and under the
UK Biodiversity Action Plan The United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan or (UK BAP) was the UK government's response to the Convention on Biological Diversity, opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The UK was the first country to produce a national Biodiversi ...
.


Habitat

''C. minimus'' live in
calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...
grasslands, abandoned quarries, railway and embankments and woodland edges and clearings.


Food resources

Recorded larval food plants are ''
Oxytropis campestris ''Oxytropis campestris'', the field locoweed, is a plant native to Northern Europe, the mountains of Central & Southern Europe, the Northwestern United States and all of Canada, sometimes grown as an ornamental plant. It is found in prairies, w ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Anthyllis vulneraria ''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer". Description ''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches of height. The stem is simple or more ...
'', ''
Melilotus ''Melilotus'', known as melilot, sweet clover, and kumoniga (from the Cumans),Bulgarian Folk Customs, Mercia MacDermott, pg 27 is a genus in the family Fabaceae (the same family that also includes the ''Trifolium'' clovers). Members are known ...
'', ''
Coronilla The genus ''Coronilla'' contains 8 species of flowering plants native to Europe and North Africa. It cointained about 20 species before being split into ''Securigera''. Species include: * ''Coronilla coronata'' * ''Coronilla juncea'' * ''Coron ...
'', '' Medicago'', ''
Anthyllis vulneraria ''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer". Description ''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches of height. The stem is simple or more ...
'', ''
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 Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody ...
'' and ''
Astragalus cicer ''Astragalus cicer'', the chickpea milkvetch, chick-pea milk-vetch or cicer milkvetch, is a perennial flowering plant native to Eastern Europe, popularized and subsequently transported to areas in Southern Europe, North America, and South America ...
''. In the UK, small blues lay their eggs, live, and feed exclusively on the
kidney vetch ''Anthyllis vulneraria'', the common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch or woundwort is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name ''vulneraria'' means "wound healer". Description ''Anthyllis vulneraria'' reaches of height. The stem is simple or more ...
. While females obtain all of their nutrients from plants, males will extract salts and minerals from carrion, dung, and mud puddles.


Mating

When courting, males will find a perch on a covered piece of grass or shrub while waiting for females. During this period, males are very territorial of their perch. Virgin females flying by will mate with the males without elaborate courtship. Mated females will attempt to avoid other males by waiting in the grasses out of sight when a male is nearby.


Oviposition

After mating, the female will search for a suitable place to lay a single egg, such as a healthy food plant. Once found, she will lay it between two florets on the flower head in order to keep it mostly hidden, and secure the egg. In order to keep other females from laying eggs on the same flower, the female small blue will rub her abdomen against the florets before she leaves to leave a scent marker. The caterpillars are cannibalistic and will eat one another if multiple hatch on the same flower. However, this scent marker will not last more than a few days, so multiple eggs are often found on a plant.


Life cycle


Ovum

Eggs will typically hatch between one and three weeks, depending on location and temperature. They are .40mm in diameter and .2mm in height. The eggs are light green with white reticulations.


Larvae


First instar

Larvae in the 1st instar are typically very pale blue, almost white, with a black head. When the caterpillar first emerges from the egg, it is about .80mm long and will grow to 1.3 mm by the end of the first instar. They have several small hairs along the length of their bodies. Once hatched, the larvae will eat through the calyx of the plant as well as the young green legumes they are typically laid on. The first instar is also cannibalistic, and will feed on any smaller larvae that cross its path.


Second instar

During the second instar, the caterpillar will grow to about 4mm long. Hairs will begin to grow more densely packed. While the head is still black, the main color is very pale yellow. By this point, the larvae has developed a scent gland on the tenth segment that can be seen pulsing while it moves.


Third instar

In this stage, the caterpillars will attack and eat one another. It has more hairs even still and is deeper yellow in color.


Fourth instar

By the fourth instar, the caterpillar is about 1 cm long. They range from pale green to pale yellow, with a dorsal stripe. Come late summer, they will form small cocoons out of silk for hibernation, and will stay motionless for ten months. Their cocoons resemble dead calyces, and thus provide camouflage from predators.


Pupa

The pupa stage can last between 1 and 3 weeks, and is usually temperature dependent. Caterpillars will attach themselves, head up, to the underside of a leaf or blade of grass via a silk cincture that is in turn attached to a silk pad. The pupa is light green in color with brown specks and small hair like structures along the width


Imago

The adult small blue has a lifespan of about three months. In the southern United Kingdom, there are two broods a summer. One is in June, and the other in August with the second brood being smaller. However, in the northern part of the United Kingdom, only the June brood is present. The small blue is diurnal, and often lives in colonies. While most colonies consist of a few dozen individuals, colonies of several hundred have been recorded.


Subspecies

''Cupido minimus trinacriae''
Verity Verity (''alias'' Veretie, Verety, Verita, Veritie, etc.) is a female first name and a surname. As a first name it derives from the Latin feminine noun ''veritas'', meaning "truth". It is thus an equivalent of Alethea, a female first name first use ...
, 1919
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Conservation status

In recent years, the small blue has lost much of its habitat in the United Kingdom, thus making it a Priority Species for conservation in Northern Ireland and under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. It is listed under the 41 species of principal importance under the Schedule 5 of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and the 1985 Northern Ireland Wildlife Order.


See also

*
List of butterflies of Great Britain This is a list of butterflies of Great Britain, including extinct, naturalised species and those of dubious origin. The list comprises butterfly species listed in ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' by Emmet ''et al.'' and '' ...


References

*Jim Asher ''et al.'' ''The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies of Britain and Ireland''. Oxford University Press. {{Taxonbar, from=Q243913 Cupido (butterfly) Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Insects of Mongolia Butterflies described in 1775 Endangered biota of Asia Endangered biota of Europe