This species gets its name from two tiny ‘tails’ on its hindwings. It is an attractive continental species with the male processing violet-blue uppersides and both sexes having a silver-grey underside. The orange spots on the hindwing are a diagnostic feature as they are absent or vestigial in the otherwise similar Provencal and Eastern Short-tailed Blues. In my experience it is quite a common late spring/early summer species of meadows and fields; I observed several dozen of them in northern Spain in June 2017 and again in Romania in May 2019.
Distribution: Much of Europe. Absent from Portugal, southern Spain, most of Italy and Greece, Britain, Fennoscandia and the Mediterranean islands.
Flight Period: Late April-August in 2 broods.
Habitat: Flowery meadows, scrub, woodland clearings and field margins up to 1000m.
Foodplants: Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), but sometimes Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), Lucerne (Medicago sativa)and other vetches.
Nectar Sources: Clovers (Trifolium), bramble (Rubus), Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).
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- Short-tailed Blue, Apuseni Mts, Romania, May 2019
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- Short-tailed Blue, Portomarin, Spain, June 2017
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- Short-tailed Blue, Portomarin, Spain, June 2017
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- Short-tailed Blue, Portomarin, Spain, June 2017
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- Red Clover, Trifolium pratense.
