Cupido alcetas

Provençal short-tailed blue
C. alcetas in Italy
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cupido
Species: C. alcetas
Binomial name
Cupido alcetas
(Hoffmannsegg, 1804)
Synonyms

Everes alcetas

Cupido alcetas, the Provençal short-tailed blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the family Lycaenidae. First described from Austria by Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg in 1804, it occurs locally in Southern and Central Europe, Turkey, the Urals, Southern Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan.[1][2] Larvae feed on leaves and inflorescences of various herbaceous plants of the family Fabaceae (such as Coronilla sp.,[1] Galega sp.,[1][2] Trifolium sp.,[1] Vicia sp.[1]) and are myrmecophiles, living in association with ants of the genus Formica.[1] Depending on the location, the species produces two to three generations annually (in May–June, July–August and in warmer regions in late September).[1][2]

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Львовский А.Л., Моргун Д.В. 2007. Булавоусые чешуекрылые Восточной Европы. Москва: КМК. ISBN 978-5-87317-362-4. p. 230
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tolman, Tom & Richard Lewington. 1997. Butterflies of Britain and Europe. Field Guide. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-219992-0.