Lycaenids (Hairstreaks, Coppers & Blues)
This family contains some of our smallest and most brightly coloured butterflies. Sexes are often dissimilar with brightly adorned males upstaging the duller, often brown, females. Intricately patterned eggs are laid singly and resemble tiny pieces of sculptured porcelain. Woodlouse-shaped caterpillars are relatively inactive and often live in close association with ants for protection, for which they reciprocate by exuding a sugary meal from a gland on their back.
The Large Blue butterfly, however, is less symbiotic, exhibiting a form of parasitism of a specific species of the Myrmica ant. The caterpillars, being similar to Myrmica ants physically and chemically and possibly using other forms of mimicry, trick the ants into taking them back to the ant nest, where they either become a predator of the ants larvae or beg for food by acting like an ant larvae in what is known as a “cuckoo” strategy
Small Blue (Cupido minimus)
Small Blue (Cupido minimus)

Small Blue (Cupido minimus)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Tribe: Polyommatini
Genus: Cupidus
Subgenus: Cupidus
Species: minimus

Key ID Features:
The brown upperside of both sexes differs only by the blue scaling near the male's body.
The underside is a relatively plain light tan with a row of black spots, looking like a dull Holly Blue.
It has a rather weak flight as it flits between flowers, favouring Kidney Vetch which is the only food plant for the caterpillar

Seen in UK: Late May-September

This is our smallest resident butterfly with a wing span that can be a little as 16mm. The sexes are similar in appearance, although the male upperside is almost black with a dusting of blue scales, whereas the female is more dark brown in colour. Both sexes have an underside that is silvery-grey in colour, and not unlike that of the Holly Blue. This butterfly has a large distribition, being found from northern Scotland to the south of England, with colonies also in Wales and Ireland. However, outside of its strongholds in the south of England, colonies are often isolated pockets, typically in coastal locations.

Text (c) UK Butterflies, used with permission
For more information click here

Location: Salisbury Plain

Photographer: Tim Tapley

Small Blue (Cupido minimus)

Small Blue (Cupido minimus)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Tribe: Polyommatini
Genus: Cupidus
Subgenus: Cupidus
Species: minimus

Key ID Features:
The brown upperside of both sexes differs only by the blue scaling near the male's body.
The underside is a relatively plain light tan with a row of black spots, looking like a dull Holly Blue.
It has a rather weak flight as it flits between flowers, favouring Kidney Vetch which is the only food plant for the caterpillar

Seen in UK: Late May-September

This is our smallest resident butterfly with a wing span that can be a little as 16mm. The sexes are similar in appearance, although the male upperside is almost black with a dusting of blue scales, whereas the female is more dark brown in colour. Both sexes have an underside that is silvery-grey in colour, and not unlike that of the Holly Blue. This butterfly has a large distribition, being found from northern Scotland to the south of England, with colonies also in Wales and Ireland. However, outside of its strongholds in the south of England, colonies are often isolated pockets, typically in coastal locations.

Text (c) UK Butterflies, used with permission
For more information click here

Location: Salisbury Plain

Photographer: Tim Tapley