Northern blue

Plebejus idas selda

A commoner of the small blue butterflies with a wingspan of 25-34 mm. Males are typically silvery- to violet-blue with thin white and black borders, while females are a greyish-brown. Also called the “Idas blue,” the northern lives in a multitude of different habitats, especially along roadsides, and in thickets, evergreen forests, wet meadows, grassland, and mountains. Host plants include birdsfoot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), white melilot (Melilotus albus), red clover (Trifolium pratense), brooms (Cytisus spp.), greenweeds (Genista spp.), and the Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum). It flies late March through August.

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Photographs

male