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                                          Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)

 

 

 

             

  

 

       

 

               

 

Despite all of the Holly and Ivy present on this site, I have only ever seen the occasional solitary Holly Blue until now (Aug 2008), This is a bit unusual in itself as this butterfly requires plenty of sunlight and it has not been very sunny so far this year. The Holly Blue pictured is nectaring on Snowberry flowers (Symphoricarpus alba).

 

Apparently the larvae of the Holly Blue are parasitised by several wasps and flies (Revels: British Wildlife: Volume 17:No. 6: page 419). The number of butterflies varies considerably in a cycle depending on the level of parasitisation of the larvae.  Parasetoid wasps lay their eggs into the larvae of the Holly Blue. These wasps' larvae reside within that of the butterfly, eventially killing the host whilst it is pupating.