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Butterfly populations are a very good indicator of the health of an area's ecosystem !!
Image contributed by U.K.
photographer Mike Young
   Glaucopsyche alexis flies from April to July depending on the location, lingering in warm, lush meadows with plenty of Vetch, its host plant. They are also drawn to dry and open landscapes with stones, gravel and sand.
   Gossamer winged butterflies the second largest butterfly family in the world with over 6,000 species. Only the Brushfoot family is larger.
   The very rare green ventral side blue can be found in southern and especially southeastern Finland, and has good distinguishing marks that set it apart from other Blues. 
   It has a shiny blue upper side of its wings, it has black blotches on the underside of the forewing that grow larger towards the hind wing, and it has a shiny greenish turquoise basal area of the hind wing.
   
Males fly around looking for females, but they also defend their mating territory in bushes, where they wait for females, who lay their eggs in the foodplant’s buds.
   The color of the larvae can change according to the foodplant. The larvae have a gland that secretes a sweet, nourishing liquid that ants love to lick, so ants sometimes hang around and protect the larvae.

   They are almost never seen at elevations above 1,100meters.

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Diet: caterpillars eat a variety of Pea family plants, (Fabaceae) such as genus Lotus, Vetch, Vicia and clover, Trifolium.
Avg. wingspan: 2.6 – 3.4 cm / 1.01–1.33 ".
 Family: Lycaenidae
Green underside blue caterpillar.jpg
Green underside blue caterpillar1.jpg
The single biggest threat to butterfly survival is habitat destruction!!
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