Holly Blue - Holly Blue

This butterfly belongs to the order Lepidoptera and the family Lycaenidae. It is commonly seen in various places from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and is the most common species of Lycaenidae in Japan. However, it is not found in the Nansei Islands south of the Tokara Islands. Outside of Japan, it is widely distributed in Eurasia from Far East Asia to Europe, and in North America. The wingspan is about 27 to 33 mm. The upper part of the male's wings is pale lapis lazuli with thin, linear black borders, but the black borders of the female are enlarged, and in summer-bearing females, which are strongly melanized, the hind wings are uniformly black-brown. The undersides of the wings are the same for both sexes, with small black-brown spots on a white or grayish-white background. It is one of the species that appears earliest in spring, and in southwestern Japan, the first generation of spring-type insects appears from mid-to-late March, and the second generation appears from late May to early June, with subsequent emergence continuing into autumn. The larvae mainly feed on the flower buds and new leaves of various legume plants, but they are known to sometimes develop on plants of the Rosaceae, Polygonaceae, Cornaceae, Trifolium, Convolvulaceae, Fagaceae, Rutaceae, and Lamiaceae families. They spend the winter as pupae.

[Takashi Shiramizu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昆虫綱鱗翅(りんし)目シジミチョウ科に属するチョウ。北海道より九州にわたり各地に普通にみられ、日本ではシジミチョウ科のもっとも普通の種。しかし、吐噶喇(とから)列島以南の南西諸島には分布しない。国外では極東アジアからヨーロッパまでのユーラシア大陸、および北アメリカに広く分布する。はねの開張は27～33ミリ程度。雄のはねの表は淡い瑠璃(るり)色で、黒い縁どりは細く線状であるが、雌は黒色の縁どりが拡大し、黒化の強い夏生の雌では後ろばねは一様に黒褐色となる。はねの裏は雌雄同様で、白色ないし灰白色の地に黒褐色の小斑点(はんてん)がある。春季もっとも早くから現れる種の一つで、日本西南部では第一化の春型は3月中・下旬から、第二化は5月下旬から6月上旬より、以後引き続き発生を繰り返して秋季に及ぶ。幼虫のおもな食草は各種のマメ科植物の花蕾(からい)・新葉であるが、ときにバラ科、タデ科、ミズキ科、ミツバウツギ科、ヒルガオ科、ブナ科、ミカン科、シソ科などでも幼虫が成育することが知られている。蛹(さなぎ)の状態で冬を越す。

［白水　隆］

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