Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)

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2024 photographs highlighted in yellow. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.

31562_male_Var_1Sep12 44174_male_Aude_14Jul17 39242_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_29Aug15 44186_male_Aude_14Jul17
31558_male_Var_1Sep12 18111_male_Isère_12Jul09 31596_female_Var_26Sep12 39245_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_29Aug15
 
46318_female_Hautes-Pyrénées_7Jul19 53279_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_1Sep24 31567_larval hostplant_Var_9Sep12  

Boeticus is a migratory species and seems to be quite widespread, although before 2012 I had never seen more than one specimen in any given place. It could be confused with the Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous) on the basis of the underside patterning, but boeticus is generally much larger and more triangular, and the continuous post-discal unh white band is definitive. The marginal markings in s1 and s2 (more so in s2) are beautifully edged in silver scales and internally edged in orange.

 

It can use a variety of different plants of the Fabaceae (Pea) genus as larval hostplants, possibly the most frequent being Bladder Senna (Colutea arborescens) but the ones I saw in 2012 were using Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius) (31567)

It seemed to be more numerous in 2009, turning up in several localities, and this impression was reinforced by other observers. Maybe 2009, the year of the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) migration, was a good year for migrants generally.

 

In 2015 and subsequent years, I encountered this species in numerous locations, so perhaps it is becoming more common, maybe just spreading northward.

 

 

ref sex

observations

alt. m
31562 M a male upperside, something I rarely see, given the relative scarcity of boeticus and the fact that it usually settles with closed wings, hence this rather poor photograph. 31558 is the underside. 20
44174 M at last, an opportunity for a half-decent photograph of a male, taken at the edge of a lake in Aude, south-western France. There were a group of three males puddling together. 44186 is the underside. 370
39242 F a female upperside, as rarely seen as the male upperside in my experience. 39245 is the underside. 640
44186 M a male, the underside of 44174. 370
31558 M a male, the underside of 31562. 20
18111 M

I am assuming that this is a male, despite my doubts about the quite strongly brown colouring, and to some extent the wing shape, both of which suggest female. Maybe it is a female just taking moisture, as other species - clearly females - were doing at this same location.

1120
31596 F a female, which I only know for certain as I saw it in flight, the females having very few blue scales. The undersides of the male and female seem indistinguishable. 0
39245 F a female, the underside of 39242. 640
46318 F a female, very strikingly marked and at a much higher altitude than normal. 1600
53279 F a very fresh female with the darker brown ground colour giving a strong contrast to the white band. A very appealing specimen. 640
31567   The larval hostplant being used by the females seen in 2012, Lathyrus latifolius 20

 

31562_male_Var_1Sep12

 

44174_male_Aude_14Jul17

 

39242_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_29Aug15

 

44186_male_Aude_14Jul17

 

31558_male_Var_1Sep12

 

18111_male_Isère_12Jul09

 

31596_female_Var_26Sep12

 

39245_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_29Aug15

 

46318_female_Hautes-Pyrénées_7Jul19

 

53279_female_Bouches-du-Rhône_1Sep24

 

31567_larval hostplant_Var_9Sep12