Polyommatus icarus (Rottemburg, 1775)

common blue

mine

Young larvae of the common blue bite a hole in the lower epidermis and from there eat as much parenchymatous tissue as they can reach with their head and thorax (Emmet ao, 1996a).

host plants

Fabaceae, oligophagous

Lotus corniculatus, pedunculatus; Medicago; Ononis; Trifolium.

Lotus is the preferred host plant (Robbins, 1991a).

phenology

Larvae in the second half of April, sometimes a second generation in July (Bink, 1992a).

BENELUX

BE recorded (Phegea, 2009).

NE recorded (Kuchlein & de Vos, 1999a; Microlepidoptera.nl, 2009).

LUX recorded (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

distribution within Europe

Entire Europe (Fauna Europaea, 2009).

larva

Larvae green, squat, hairy (Carter & Hargreaves, 1987a).

references

Bink (1992a), Carter & Hargreaves, 1987a), Emmet ao (1996a), Kuchlein & de Vos (1999a), Robbins (1991a).