Greenish Blue

Icaricia saepiolus

The Greenish Blue is a small butterfly with beautiful greenish-blue wings. It flutters around flowers and is often seen in sunny places, bringing joy to everyone who spots it.

Hábitat: Grasslands

Aspecto

The Greenish Blue male has brilliant, iridescent blue-green upper wings with narrow black edges. Females are duller blue or brown, sometimes with more extensive dark markings. Its underside is grayish-white with small black spots, each ringed with white, lacking any orange patches.

ReinoAnimaliaFiloArthropodaClaseInsectaOrdenLepidopteraFamiliaLycaenidaeGéneroIcaricia

Greenish Blue

Categoría

Insectos

Rareza

Common

Peligro

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Snaps

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Datos interesantes

During winter, its chrysalis hides perfectly, sometimes for months, until spring arrives.

Its caterpillars snack on tasty pea and clover plants, which are called legumes.

Male butterflies flash brilliant iridescent blue, while females are often duller with more brown.

Some Greenish Blues fly great distances seeking new fields of their favorite food plants!

Habilidades especiales

Greenish Blue has special wing scales that reflect light in shimmering blue-green, helping them attract mates.

Greenish Blue caterpillars secrete sweet honeydew, attracting ants that protect them from predators.

Greenish Blue has a long, straw-like proboscis that helps them sip sweet nectar from deep inside flowers.

Greenish Blue's gray-spotted underwings allow it to blend into its surroundings when resting, hiding from predators.

Medidas y detalles

Envergadura: 20-30 mm
Tamaño: 10-15 mm
Esperanza de vida: 5-15 días
Velocidad de vuelo: 10-20 km/h
Cantidad de patas: 6

Dieta y alimentación

Caterpillars munch on plants, while adult butterflies enjoy sweet flower nectar.

Diferencias por edad: Larvae (caterpillars) eat leaves of legume plants; adults drink flower nectar.

Alimentos principales

clover leaves
lupine leaves
vetch leaves
flower nectar
honeydew

Método de búsqueda

Foraging

Conexiones ecológicas

symbiotic with

Silky Ant

Formica fusca

Ants protect caterpillars in exchange for honeydew.

eats

Red Clover

Trifolium pratense

Caterpillars feed on the leaves of this host plant.

eats

Bigleaf Lupine

Lupinus polyphyllus

Larvae also consume leaves of this common plant.

eaten by

Blue Jay

Cyanocitta cristata

Adult butterflies are a food source for various birds.

pollinates

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

Adults visit these flowers for nectar, spreading pollen.

Rasgos

Social

Los animales sociales viven en grupos organizados, cooperando para obtener beneficios de supervivencia como la búsqueda de alimento, la defensa y la cría de descendencia.