Common blue butterfly
Polyommatus icarus
Habitat
The Common blue butterfly is a common resident butterfly that lives throughout the Netherlands. This butterfly species occurs in all kinds of herb-rich grasslands. The Common blue butterfly flies out in 2 and sometimes in 3 generations. The first generation flies between mid-May and the end of June. The second generation can be spotted from the end of July to the end of August. The third generation flies from the beginning of September to mid-October.
Appearance
Life cycle
The Common blue butterfly remains in the egg for 5 to 7 days. When the Common blue butterfly hatches from the egg, this butterfly species is still a caterpillar. The first generation remains a caterpillar for 21 to 34 days. The second generation is a caterpillar for 250 to 320 days. After this, the caterpillar pupates. The pupation lasts 9 to 15 days. The Common blue butterfly then lives as a butterfly for 13 to 26 days.
Host plants and nectar plants
Host plants are special plants on which butterflies, such as the Common blue butterfly, lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat from those plants. In this way, the caterpillars grow until they are large and strong enough to change into butterflies. This is why host plants are essential for the survival of butterfly species, because without host plants there are no caterpillars and therefore ultimately no butterflies.
Each butterfly species has its own favourite plants. The Common blue butterfly feeds on Lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium), Common bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Black medick (Medicago lupulina), Spiny restharrow (Ononis spinosa), White clover (Trifolium repens) and Alfalfa (Medicago sativa).
Most butterfly species, such as the Common blue butterfly, need nectar to survive. Butterflies get nectar from nectar plants. Nectar is a viscous fluid that comes from flowers. This liquid contains a lot of sugar, small amounts of proteins and vitamins. Nectar provides the energy that the Common blue butterfly needs to fly.
The Common blue butterfly feeds on various nectar plants, such as Eupatorium (Eupatorium), Lavender (Lavandula), Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris), Ragged-robin (Silene flos-cuculi), Cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis), White clover (Trifolium repens), Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Field thistle (Cirsium arvense), Brown knapweed (Centaurea jacea), Field scabious (Knautia arvensis), Aster (Aster), Common fleabane (Publicaria dysenterica) and various types of Clovers (Trifolium).
Make your garden a paradise for butterflies too. Plant host and nectar plants in the garden and give these beautiful butterflies a place to live, eat and reproduce.
Caution with some plant species
The Lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium) is poisonous in the wild. In the cultivated form of the clover, the glycoids have been bred out, so that no cyanide occurs in the body.
Eupatorium (Eupatorium) is used in natural medicine. This plant has a medicinal effect on the liver, urinary tract, kidneys, bones, joints and the digestive system. This plant is poisonous when whole plants are ingested in large quantities.
The Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) is slightly poisonous.
All parts of the Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) are poisonous to humans.
