Celastrina argiolus

Hostplant: The larva feeds on different kinds of plants and bushes, especially Frangula alnus and Vaccinium myrtillus. I used both in my breeding, but got a feeling that they grew better on the V.myrtillus than on the F.alnus.

Lifecycle and behaviour: In captivity the female laid her eggs in clusters almost exclusively on the flowers and flowerbuds of the hostplant. In the wild its probably more normal for the female to lay her eggs singularily. The eggs used 5 days to hatch. The young larva exibited a rather tedious eating behaviour where they would dig in and eat some parts of a proximal stem, causing the distal parts of the plant to die. As such i had to change hostplant very frequently! As they grew bigger they started targeting the developing berries, often leaving only a hole and an empty interior of the berry. They also fed on the leaves, but prefered the developing berries. The whole larval stage lasted 14-16 days, and they molted 3 times. The larva showed a big variety in appearance, ranging from all green to all red in color. Pupal stages lasted about 8-9 days. These timings are based on indoor captive breeding and may differ from natural outdoor conditions. The adult butterfly is on the wing usually from April until August. It flies in 1-2 generations, depending on the weather conditons. In my personal experience i found the 2nd generation to have become much more common in recent years. The pupa hibernates.

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