| Family | Lycaenidae |
|---|---|
| Subfamily | Polyommatinae |
| Genus | Cupido |
| Species | argiades |
| Authority | (Pallas, 1771) |
| English Name | Short-tailed Blue |
| European Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
|---|---|
| EU 27 Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
| European Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| EU 27 Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| Habitats Directive | |
| Bern Convention | |
| CITES |
Although the Short-tailed Blue looks rather like the Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus), it has very fine, small tails and prominent eye-spots on the hindwings. The Short-tailed Blue occurs in local populations on damp grassland, heathland and flower-rich verges. It lays its eggs on Lucerne (Medicago sativa) and various clovers (Trifolium spp.), vetches (Vicia spp.), birdsfoot-trefoils (Lotus spp.) and melilots (Melilotus spp.). When the caterpillars are fully-grown, they leave the foodplant, overwinter, and then pupate in the litter layer. This butterfly species has two to three generations a year.
Albania / Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czechia / Estonia / Finland / France / France: Mainland / Germany / Greece / Greece: Mainland / Hungary / Italy / Italy: Mainland / Latvia / Liechtenstein (Regular Migrant) / Lithuania / Luxembourg / North Macedonia / Moldova / Montenegro / Netherlands / Poland / Romania / European Russia / Serbia / Serbia: Serbia / Serbia: Kosovo / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Spain: Mainland / Sweden (Irregular Vagrant) / Switzerland / European Türkiye / Ukraine / United Kingdom (Irregular Vagrant) / United Kingdom: Great Britain (Irregular Vagrant) / United Kingdom: Jersey (Irregular Vagrant) /