Black-eyed Blue

Glaucopsyche melanops

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Glaucopsyche melanops

Male, Málaga, March 2013

Glaucopsyche melanops

Male, Málaga, April 2019

Glaucopsyche melanops

Male, Málaga, April 2019



Male, Málaga, March 2011



Male, Málaga, March 2011



Male, Málaga, March 2011



Male, Málaga, March 2011



Male, Málaga, March 2011

Glaucopsyche melanops

Female, Málaga, March 2013



Dark female, Málaga, March 2011

Glaucopsyche melanops

Female, Málaga, April 2019



Blue female, Málaga, March 2011

Glaucopsyche melanops distribution

Distribution

This is a spring butterfly of  Iberia and the south of France. I see it every time I visit Málaga in March and April, flying over maquis in the hills near the town. It is closely related to the green-underside blue and superficially similar, but quite different in spirit. The black-eyed blue is an insect of hot, dry, bushy places, while the green-underside blue is typical of flowery tracks and verges.

The male upperside is a bright, reflective but rather slaty blue, rather than a sky blue. The borders are wide and usually broader towards the apex. The female is brown above, with varying amounts of blue. She lacks the orange spots of many blue females. The forewing underside sports the large, black spots that give the species its name. These arch first outwards then inwards again as they come down the wing, distinguishing this species from the green-underside blue. In that species, the spots tend outwards towards the outer margin. There are always at least the shadows of submarginal markings on the underside of this species, again distinguishing it from the green-underside blue.

There is a single brood, flying from February in early years (in Spain) through until early June. The larvae feed on various species of Fabiaceae and are fully mature in their first season. They hibernate as pupae, ready to emerge early the following year. According to Tolman they are reported as spending two seasonal cycles in hibernation in captivity but I have no idea if this happens in the wild.