Celastrina argiolus paraleuca

A small blue butterfly with a wingspan of 18-26 mm, females often being larger, the colouration an unmistakable silvery-blue and the undersides “snowy.” The holly blue lives in many different types of habitats, such as coasts, parks, gardens, thickets, forest clearings, damp meadows, and dry areas. Host plants are diverse and include plum (Prunus americana), firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), melilots (Melilotus spp.), Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba), English ivy (Hedera helix), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), dodder (Cuscuta spp.), and black elder (Sambucus nigra). It flies April through August.

Photographs

Attribution: Sharp Photography (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Sharp Photography (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Hectonichus (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: S Sepp (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: André Karwath aka Aka (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Loz (L.B. Tettenborn) (Wikipedia Creative Commons)

Attribution: Gilles San Martin (Wikipedia Creative Commons)