Osiris blue

The Osiris blue (Cupido osiris) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Europe, Asia Minor, southern Siberia, the Alay Mountains, Tian-Shan, Dzhungarsky Alatau, the Altai Region, the Sayan mountains, Lake Baikal and Mongolia. It is often confused with the small blue, a closely related species.

Osiris blue
Female Osiris blue
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cupido
Species:
C. osiris
Binomial name
Cupido osiris
Meigen, 1829
Synonyms
  • Polyommatus sebrus (Boisduval, 1832)

The larvae feed on Onobrychis and Leguminosae species.

Description from Seitz
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

L. sebrus Bdv. (82 c). Above dull violet-blue (male) or black-brown (female). with the markings of the underside feebly shining through, narrow black margin and white fringes; beneath light ashy grey, the base dusted with blue, the ocelli and the median spot being very delicate. In the Alps, locally plentiful, southwards to Italy, south-eastwards to Asia Minor and eastwards to the Altai. Specimens with the ocelli prolonged occur also in this species, as proved by a fine specimen in Courvoisier's collection: ab. elongata Courr. i. l. — Larva on Onobrychis and Orobus, until April and again in June. The butterflies in the mountains, sporadic, in May and again from the end of June onwards.[1]

References
  1. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.