Long-tailed blue

Lampides boeticus boeticus

A tailed blue butterfly with a wingspan of 25-36 mm, females are typically larger and dark brownish with some bluish patches while males are light violet-blue and often confused with Lang’s short-tailed. The long-tailed lives in many different habitats, along the coastline, in farmland, gardens, waste ground, dry grassland, forest edges, alpine meadows, and semi-desert. Host plants are mainly legumes like purple lablab (Lablab purpurens), broad-leaved vetchling (Lathyrus latifolius), garden pea (Pisum sativum), Spanish broom (Spartium junceum), false acacia (Robinia pseudo-acacia), bladder sennas (Colutea spp.), mannas (Alhagi spp.), milk-vetches (Astragalus spp.), as well as the Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum). This migratory species flies February through November in several broods, the flight is fast and close to the ground.

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male