Chequered blue

Pseudophilotes vicrama astabene

One of the small blues with a wingspan of 20-26 mm, males are a light shade of dusky blue with some silver while females are brownish, with conspicuous chequered fringes, hence the name. The chequered lives in many different types of habitats, including coasts, roadsides, thickets, scrubland, grassland, gullies, and dry stony slopes. Host plants include crown-vetch (Coronilla varia), melilot (Melilotus officinalis), mints (Mentha spp.), summer savory (Satureja thymbra), and thymes (Thymus spp.). It flies from April through August in several broods. This butterfly is considered near threatened.

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