4.6 (245) In stock
A small, widespread butterfly that occasionally visits gardens. Females are similar to Brown Argus, which lack blue dusting near the body, and to female Adonis Blue, which have dark veins extending into white fringe on wing edges. The male Chalk Hill Blue is paler and, apart from the Large Blue, larger than other blue butterflies seen in Britain and Ireland. At some sites many hundreds may be seen in August, flying just above the vegetation, searching for females. Large numbers of males may also congregate on animal dung and other sources of moisture and minerals. Females are much less conspicuous, being duller in colour, more secretive in their habits, and spending less time than the males in flight. The butterfly is confined to calcareous grassland in southern England and has declined in some areas during recent decades. Size and Family Family: Blues Size: Small/Medium Wing Span Range (male to female): 38mm Conservation Status Butterfly Conservation Priority: Medium European status: Not threatened Protected in Great Britain for sale only Caterpillar Foodplant The sole foodplant is Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa). Lifecycle Habitat The foodplant and the butterfly are restricted to chalk and limestone grassland. Distribution Countries: England Restricted to southern England, but not in the far south-west Distribution Trend Since 1970’s = -50%.
Sussex Butterfly Atlas: South Downs Blues
Chalkhill Blue Dorset Butterflies
Polyommatus bellargus
Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire - Saving butterflies, moths
Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly Conservation
Male and female butterfly hi-res stock photography and images
Wiltshire Butterfly Conservation — Chalkhill Blue
Magdalen Hill Down Nature Reserve - Butterfly Conservation
Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly Conservation
Chalkhill Blue Butterfly, Polyommatus coridon, identification guide
Cambridgeshire and Essex Branch of Butterfly Conservation
Blue Butterflies of the South Downs 2001
Country diary: lured by a love for elusive butterflies
Chalk Hill Blue – Aberration
The hidden history in the genes of an endangered blue butterfly
