Male, on right, with little blues, Switzerland, July 2013
Male, Switzerland, July 2019
Dark male, Switzerland,
July 2018
The same male as above
A striking aberration, Switzerland, July 2011
Mating Pair, Switzerland, June 2005
Female, Switzerland, June 2005
Male, Switzerland, June 2005
Switzerland, 2004
Female, Switzerland, June 2005
An egg, laid on a red clover petal, July 2011
Distribution
This is a common species in
much of
Europe, flying in a single brood from April or May to August in flowery
places where its foodplant, red clover, grows.
The male is a rather steely blue when fresh, with variably broad, dark
borders and dark etching along the lines of the veins. Occasionally
there is dark suffusion over the wings but more typically they are
clear and bright. The female is all brown above without orange lunules,
though in Greece there are subspecies, including ssp. helenus,
which do have orange on the hindwings and sometimes the forewings too.
The underside of the male is grey with arcs of postdiscal spots but no
submarginal markings. The female is similar but a deeper brown colour.
Again, there are orange spots near the anal angle of the hindwing in
some Balkan subspecies. Confusion is possible with the Osiris blue. The
male Osiris blue has a narrower marginal border on the upperside and
clearer wings but the female is superficially very similar. It is
useful to note the three uppermost spots in the postdiscal series of
the underside hindwing. In the mazarine blue these are aligned in a
broadly obtuse angle - more than 130°. In Osiris blue the angle is
typically closer to a right angle and always less than 120°.
Eggs are laid on flowers of red clover, where the caterpillars feed
prior to hibernation. After hibernation they feed on the fresh leaves.
The caterpillars have a relationship with ants.