Polyommatus icarus

Hostplant: Plants within Fabaceae, in Norway main hostplants are Trifolium spp. and Lotus spp. I used Lotus pedunculatus in my breeding.

Lifecycle and behavior: In captivity, the female laid eggs on all parts of the plant, but seemed to prefer the leaves. The eggs used 5-6 days to hatch. The newly hatched larva dug its head in between the outermost layers of the leaves and ate the leaf pulp inside, leaving small transparent windows in the leaf surface. As they grew bigger, they started eating the whole leaves and flower buds/flowers. Larval stages lasted about 3 weeks and they molted 3 times. Pre-pupal stages last 3-4 days and pupal stages another 10-12 days. The adults are on the wing usually from late May until September. It flies in at least two generations in Norway.