Phengaris arion (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomy

class Insecta → subclass Pterygota → infraclass Neoptera → superorder Holometabola → order Lepidoptera → superfamily Papilionoidea → family Lycaenidae → subfamily Polyommatinae → tribe Polyommatini → genus Phengaris → species Phengaris arion

Species name(s)

Phengaris arion (Linnaeus, 1758) = Maculinea arion (Linnaeus, 1758) = Papilio arion Linnaeus, 1758 = Papilio telegone Bergsträsser, [1779] = Papilio varietas Bergsträsser, [1779] = Lycaena arthurus Melvill, 1873 = obscura (Christ, 1878) = Glaucopsyche arion. [3, 9, 10]

Large Blue.

urn:lsid:insecta.pro:taxonomy:8454

Expansion

This species marks on the maps: 1.

Zoogeographical regions

Palaearctic.

Russia regions

#1. Kaliningradsky; #4. Evropeisky Severo-Zapadny; #7. Evropeisky yuzhno-tayozhny; #8. Evropeisky Tsentralny; #9. Evropeisky Tsentralno-Chernozyomny; #10. Sredne-Volzhsky; #11. Volgo-Donsky; #12. Nizhnevolzhsky; #13. Zapadno-Kavkazsky; #14. Vostochno-Kavkazsky; #16. Sredne-Uralsky*; #17. Yuzhno-Uralsky; #20. Yuzhno-Zapadnosibirsky; #22. Krasnoyarsky; #23. Predaltaisky; #24. Gorno-Altaisky; #25. Tuvinsky; #26. Predbaikalsky; #27. Pribaikalsky; #28. Zabaikalsky.

* An asterisk denotes a region for which the species is listed as an migrant or information that requires additional checking.

Forewing length

14—20 mm.

Primary colors

Blue, Brown/Gray/Black.

Flight time

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Larva lifespan

 					January 					February 					March 					April 					May 					June 					July 					August 					September 					October 					November 					December 			

Over-wintering stage

Larva.

Detailed information with references

Taxonomy, synonyms and combinations

Maculinea arion. [3].

Distribution

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Italy, Corsica, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the Soviet Union - the European part of Turkey - European part, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, Yugoslavia. [1].
Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the British Isles, France, Germany, Greece (mainland), Denmark (mainland), Spain (mainland), Italy (mainland), Corsica, Latvia , Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia,Turkey (European part), Ukraine, Finland, France (mainland), Croatia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, Yugoslavia. [10].
Regions of the Russian Federation: the Volga-Don, East Caucasus, Gorno-Altaisk, the European North-West, the European Central Black Earth, the European Central European South taiga, Transbaikalia, Western Caucasus, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Lower Volga, Prealtay, of Baikal, Pribaikalskiy , Mid-Volzhsky,Average Urals (?), Tuva, South West Siberian, South Ural. [3].
Area - From Europe to Asia to the east. [5].

Imago Habitus and Differences from alike species

The length of the forewing can vary from 1.4 to 2 cm. Wings: on a bright blue background scattered black spots on the edge of a brown border. [5].

General info about Imago

Habitats: Dry terrain with low vegetation. [5].

Imago lifespan

Large blue flies in one generation - from June to July. [5].

General info about Larva

Guests of the time in an anthill, emit a special secret that ants can be used for food. [5].

Larva food plants / other food objects

Thymus, indifferent to the caterpillars and ants Myrmica sabuleti Myrmica scabrinodis. [28].
First caterpillars live on the thyme (Thymus serpyllum), then move to the nests, where they feed on eggs and pupae of ants. [5].

Larva lifespan

Larvae found from August to May (winters). [5].

Overwintering stage

Caterpillar. [5].

Subspecies of Phengaris arion

Maculinea arion aglaophon Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. alcon Stephens, 1828. [187]
P. a. animula Szabó, 1956. [187]
P. a. antesion Fruhstorfer, 1917. [187]
P. a. arcina Fruhstorfer, 1910. [187]
P. a. arion. [9]
P. a. australpina Verity, 1924. [187]
P. a. buholzeri Rezbanyai, 1978. [9]
P. a. delphinatus (Fruhstorfer, 1910). [9]
P. a. eutyphron Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. inferna Sibatani, Saigusa & Hirowatari, 1994. [9]
P. a. insubrica Vorbrodt, 1912. [187]
P. a. jasilkowskii Hormuzaki, 1897. [187]
P. a. laranda Fruhstorfer, 1910. [187]
P. a. ligurica Wagner, 1904. [187]
P. a. lutshniki Krulikovski, 1927. [187]
P. a. major Oberthür, 1916. [187]
P. a. microarion Beuret, 1964. [187]
P. a. naruena Courvoisier, 1911. [187]
P. a. naryoniensis Beuret, 1938. [187]
P. a. nepete Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. obscura Christ., 1890. [187]
P. a. ofenia Tutt, 1909. [187]
P. a. rühli Krulikovski, 1892. [187]
P. a. sabinorum Dannehl, 1933. [187]
P. a. sergeji Obraztsov, 1936. [187]
P. a. shiranensis Scriba, 1921. [187]
P. a. sosinomos Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. subtusbrunea Beuret, 1964. [187]
P. a. supraddenda Verity, 1943. [187]
P. a. tainaron Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. taras Fruhstorfer, 1934. [187]
P. a. tatsienlouica Oberthür, 1912. [187]
P. a. unicolor Hormuzaki, 1892. [187]
P. a. uralensis Elwes, 1899. [187]
P. a. vagula Szabó, 1956. [187]
P. a. vernetensis Oberthür, 1916. [187]
P. a. vesubia Fruhstorfer, 1917. [187]
P. a. zara Jachontov, 1935. [9]

Authors

Initial species uploading to the site: Peter Khramov.

Photos: Andrej Makara, Maxim Klepikov.

Text data: Peter Khramov.

The species characteristics formalization: Peter Khramov, Sergei Kotov.

References

[1] O. Karsholt, J. Razowski (eds.), 1996. The Lepidoptera of Europe: a distributional checklist
[3] Каталог чешуекрылых (Lepidoptera) России. Под ред. С. Ю. Синёва. СПб.; М.: Товарищество научных изданий КМК, 2008
[5] Райххолф-Рим Х. Бабочки. М.: Астрель, 2002
[9] Tree of Life (funet.fi), 2012
[10] de Jong, Y.S.D.M. (ed.) (2011) Fauna Europaea version 2.4 (faunaeur.org)
[28] Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (leps.it), 2012
[187] Species 2000, http://www.sp2000.org