Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

First common Blue male gathering nectar of flowers (buttercup and speedwell) in my wet meadow.

First common Blue male gathering nectar of flowers (buttercup and speedwell) in my wet meadow.

Common blue male resting at the edge of a path.

Common blue male resting at the edge of a path.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of a fielf eryngo, in a mountain grassland. Catalan Pyrenees, France.

Common Blue male gathering nectar, in the company of an hoverfly, of a fielf eryngo, in a mountain grassland. Catalan Pyrenees, France.

Common Blue male resting in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting in a mountain grassland. Catalan Pyrenees, France.

Common Blue male resting on a apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting on a apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of bird's-foot trefoil flowers in the Butterflies area of the Musée Promenade in Digne-les-Bains.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of bird's-foot trefoil flowers in the Butterflies area of the Musée Promenade in Digne-les-Bains.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of sainfoins flowers at the edge of a path near the ammonite slab of Digne-les-Bains.

Common Blue female resting in a calcareous meadow.

Common Blue female gathering nectar of a knapweed flower in a meadow.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of a common starwort flower in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting on a apple mint in a wet meadow.

It's the blue suffusion on the top of the wings that sets it apart from other females who are brown. She gathering nectar of potentilla and mint flowers in my wet meadow.

It's the blue suffusion on the top of the wings that sets it apart from other females who are brown. She gathering nectar of potentilla and mint flowers in my wet meadow.

Common Blue paire mating on a nettle leaf in my garden.

Common Blue female resting on a apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of a flower of marigold in my garden.

Common Blue male taking a sunbath on a flower of marigold in my garden.

Common Blue male resting on a zinnia flower in my garden.

Common Blue male resting on a apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting on a leaf in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of a cornflower in my garden.

Common Blue male gathering nectar of a bugle flower in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting on a sedge in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male resting in a meadow. Diois, France.

Common blue male gathering nectar of alfafa flowers. Pyrenees Orientales, France.

Common blue female resting on a faded viper's bugloss. Pyrenees Orientales, France.

Common blue female resting on a faded viper's bugloss. Pyrenees Orientales, France.

A Common blue male not so common because it lacks an eye spot in the forewing cell. This ocelle is used to differentiate several Blue species, it can be difficult not to confuse this form with other species.

A Common blue male not so common because it lacks an eye spot in the forewing cell. This ocelle is used to differentiate several Blue species, it can be difficult not to confuse this form with other species.

Common blue male exposing its wings in the sun, resting on a dewy apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common blue male exposing its wings in the sun, resting on a dewy apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common blue male exposing its wings in the sun, resting on a dewy apple mint in a wet meadow.

Common Blue male aberration. The series of postdical spots of the forewing has transformed into light traces and the cell spot misses. The spots of hindwind are also deformed and one is missing.

Common Blue male aberration. The series of postdical spots of the forewing has transformed into light traces and the cell spot misses. The spots of hindwind are also deformed and one is missing.

Common Blue paire mating on a knapweed in a wet meadow.

Common Blue paire mating on a knapweed in a wet meadow.

Common Blue paire mating on a knapweed in a wet meadow.

Common blue male enjoying the last rays of sunlight of a late afternoon in a calcareous meadow.