A-Z of butterflies

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Common Blue - Photograph by Gary RichardsonNBN Map - Common Blue Map courtesy of National Biodiversity Network (NBN)View full NBN Gateway profile

Common Blue (Female)

A small, widespread butterfly. Female brown, similar to Brown Argus, but with blue dusting near body. Male has blue wings with black-brown border and thin white fringe. Unlike Adonis and Chalkhill Blues, the dark veins do not extend into white fringes of wing margins.

ResidentCommon Blue - Photograph by Jim Asher

Range stable.

The Common Blue is the most widespread blue butterfly in Britain and Ireland and is found in a variety of grassy habitats.

The brightly coloured males are conspicuous but females are more secretive. The colour of the upperwings of females varies from almost completely brown in southern England to predominantly blue in western Ireland and Scotland, but the colour is variable within local populations with some striking examples.

It remains widespread but there have been local declines within its range.

Conservation status

  • UK Biodiversity Action Plan: not listed
  • Butterfly Conservation priority: low
  • European threat status: not threatened

European/world range

Occurs widely throughout Europe and in North Africa and temperate Asia. It appears to be stable in most European countries, but there have been some declines and expansions.

Foodplants

Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is the main foodplant. Other plants used include: Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil (L. pedunculatus), Black Medick (Medicago lupulina), Common Restharrow (Ononis repens), White Clover (Trifolium repens), and Lesser Trefoil (T. dubium).

Habitat

It occurs in a range of grassy places where its foodplants grow in sunny, sheltered situations on downland, coastal dunes and undercliffs, road verges, acid grassland, and woodland clearings. It is also found in waste ground, disused pits and quarries, golf courses, and urban habitats such as cemeteries