Polyommatus icarus

Hostplant: Plants within Fabaceae, in Norway main hostplants are Trifolium spp. and Lotus spp., especially Lotus corniculatus. In my breeding efforts i used Lotus pedunculatus.

Lifecycle and behaviour: In captvity 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 inbetween the outermost layers of the leaves and ate the leafpulp inside, leaving small transparent windows in the leaf surface. As they grew bigger they started eating the whole leaves and flowerbuds/flowers. Larval stages lasted about 3 weeks and they molted 3 times. Prepupal stages last 3-4 days and pupal stages another 10-12 days. These timings are based on indoor captive breeding and may differ from natural outdoor conditions. The adults are on the wing usually from late May until September. It flies in atleast two generations in Norway. Further climate change with hotter tempratures might bring a 3rd generation in the future.

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