Cyaniris bellis, the Greek mazarine blue, is a butterfly found in the Palearctic (Asia Minor, South Europe, North Africa, Transcaucasia, Iran) that belongs to the blues family.

Greek mazarine blue
Cyaniris bellis in Seitz 80 g
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Cyaniris
Species:
C. bellis
Binomial name
Cyaniris bellis
(Freyer, [1842]) [1]
Synonyms
  • Lycaena bellis Freyer, 1845
  • Polyommatus bellis (Freyer, 1845)
  • Lycaena helena Staudinger, 1862
  • Lycaena semiargus v. parnassia Staudinger, 1870
  • Cyaniris semiargus var. balcanica Tutt, 1909

Taxonomy

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The subspecies C. b. antiochena (Lederer, 1861) is found in Caucasus Minor, Armenia (highlands) and the Talysh Mountains.

Description from Seitz

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bellis Frr. (82 e, f) is above like montana . [preceding text — montana M.-Dur (82 e) is an alpine form [of semiargus] which occurs in the higher Alps and the mountains of South-East Europe; smaller, the male bright blue above, with broader black distal border] but the hindwing beneath bears traces of yellowish red spots in anal area. In helena Stgr. (82 f), a small form from the mountains of Southern Greece, the reddish yellow spots of the underside form a continuous chain and some of them appear in the female also on the upperside, which is quite generally the case in the still more southern form antiochena Led.[2]

Biology

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The larva feeds on Anthyllis vulneraria , Trifolium pratense, Melilotus officinalis, Lotus corniculatus.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Freyer, 1842 Neuere Beiträge zur Schmetterlingskunde mit Abbildungen nach der Natur. (65-80) Neuere Beitr. Schmett. 5 : 1-40 (1842)
  2. ^ Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.