Cupido decolorata, the Eastern short-tailed blue, is a small butterfly found in the Palearctic (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Romania, Slovakia and the Soviet Union - the European part, the Czech Republic, Yugoslavia, Russian Federation) that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Description

It is a small butterfly with a sexual dimorphism, the upperside of the male is dull blue bordered with grey, that of the female is brown, both with a white fringe. The underside is pale grey a little suffused with blue and decorated with lines of small black dots.This species is similar to the Short-tailed blue (Everes argiades) and to Cupido alcetas.

Cupido decolorata

Biology

The larva on feeds on Medicago sativa, Medicago lupulina

See also

List of butterflies of Russia

Images representing Cupido decoloratus at Consortium for the Barcode of Life

References

decolorata

Butterflies described in 1886

Cupido decolorata