Lang's short-tailed Blue

Leptotes pirithous (Linnaeus, 1767)

Status

Description

A small butterfly with light brown underside with variable pale transverse stripes, and a tail on the hindwing, with two blue spots. The males upperside are blue with a black border, whilst the female is grey brown with a blue suffusion. The underside is distinctive, with possible confusion with Lampides boeticus, which has a browner underside and is slightly larger. 

Habitat Requirements

Most commonly encountered in gardens and scrubby sites.

Larval Foodplants

Sambucus ebulus, Broom Cytisus scoparius - not on Corfu, Lucerne Medicago sativa, Yellow Sweet Clover Melilotus officinalis, Purple-loosestrife Lythrum salicaria. Anne Sordinas has found ovae and reared larvae on Plumbago spp. possibly auriculata.

Observations

Best observed later in the year when it is particularily easy to photograph on the blooms of Aromatic Inula Dittrichia vicosa.

*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Lang's short-tailed Blue submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.

First and Last Sightings

Year First Last/latest # Days
2023 04/01/2023 27/11/2023 327 days
2022 26/04/2022 24/12/2022 242 days
2021 10/05/2021 01/12/2021 205 days

Number of Observations

Year Number of observations
2023 1160
2022 848
2021 299
Grand Total 2307

Distribution Map

Distribution maps for this species are currently unavailable.

Flight Times for the Lang's short-tailed Blue (2023)

The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023

Flight Times for the Lang's short-tailed Blue (All Data)

The chart below shows flight data by month since 1st January 2021

Taxonomy

  • Vernacular/Common Name: Lang's short-tailed Blue
  • Family: Lycaenidae (Leach, 1815)
  • Sub-family: Polyommatinae (Swainson 1831)
  • Tribe: Polyommatini (Swainson 1831)
  • Sub-tribe: Leptotina ()
  • Genus: Leptotes (Scudder, 1876)
  • Species: pirithous (Linnaeus, 1767)

References

For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.