| Short-tailed Blue (Everes argiades (Pallas, 1771)) |
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Scientific name: Everes argiades (Pallas, 1771) Common name: Short-tailed Blue Other names: Other scientific name: Cupido argiades. French name: Azuré du trèfle, Petit Porte-queue, Argus mini-queue. Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Lycaenidae Subfamily: Polyommatinae Wingspan: 18-26 mm for the first brood, 24-30 mm for the second brood. Biotope: Wet meadows rich in Clover and Lucerne, especially in the neighbourhood of woodland areas. Geographic area: Northern Spain, France, almost all Italy, East to Greece and to the Balkans. Temperate Asia east to Japan, North America. Flight time: April to June for the first brood, July-August for the second brood. Number of generations : 2 Caterpillar: Green, mottled with white spots. Host plant: Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Lucerne (Medicago spp.) |
The Short-tailed Blue bears a short tail on the hindwing. The tail is about 1.5 mm long. The upper side of the male's wings is dark blue with a wide black border. Males of the second brood are a more intense blue colour. The upper side of the female's wings is dark brown with blue scaling near the base. On both sexes, the underside of the wings is pale whitish-blue with small black dots which are elongated under the forewing. The two orange patches at the base of the tail are a good identification key. |
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On a upper side view, the presence of short tails indicates that this may be a Short-tailed Blue. A view of the underside of the hindwing is needed to differentiate from the Provencal Short-tailed Blue (Everes alcetas), the Eastern Short-tailed blue (Everes decoloratus) is not found in France. Both species do not bear the orange patches. |
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I have observed different colours on the upper side of the wings from violet to deep blue. |
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The two orange patches near the tail are a good confirmation of the identification. |
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Here is a picture where you can see the pattern of the underside of the wings and the upper side colour. |
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I haven't observed any Short-tailed blue in my "hunting area" near Paris. However I can observe it rather easily each time I am back to my native Burgundy in summer. |
André Bon July 2009