Lycaena bleusei (Oberthür, 1884)

Host plants:
The larvae feed on Rumex species, especially R. acetosella agg., R. acetosa and R. thyrsiflorus.

Habitat:
Lycaena bleusei inhabits not too intense used pastures, open scrub, broad road side verges, rocky slopes and clearings most often on acidic ground. In winter these sites are usually quite humid, but may desiccate heavily in summer.

Life cycle:
The adults occur in several generations between April and October. I recorded fresh specimens in altitudes between 400 and 800m on the southern slope of Sierra de Gredos (central Spain) in late April 2024. This first generation still flies until mid-June in cool years or in higher altitudes. Supposedly the second generation can be then found from late June to August so that a partial third generation should follow in early autumn. In higher altitudes (above 1700m) I think that only a single generation should be on the wing between June and early August, perhaps with a very partial second generation later on. But this all has to be checked in the field. Complicating factors are that in all generations some larvae start hibernation (so that already the second generation is not complete) and larvae show variable development speeds.

Oviposition takes place singly on especially basal parts of the host plant. The larva has 4 instars (3 larval moults) and pupates on the ground. The half-grown larva hibernates.

Remarks:
The taxon is closely related to L. tityrus and had formerly been considered a subspecies. Today, due to clear genetical differences, Lycaena bleusei is considered a species of its own by most authors. Crossing experiments obviously have never been executed - as so often. It is clear that the taxon had an own glacial refugium in Iberia and that L. tityrus, coming across the Pyrenees and also from an own NW-Iberian refugium, could only conquer the Pyrenees and N-Iberia (in the west southward to central Portugal, in the east much more northerly). Both taxa seem to come in contact in N-Portugal and N-Spain. I think it is interesting that these contact zones are not so large and broad as one might think after this long time and no geographical expansion borders. So there are most probably factors that impede syntopic occurrence to some degree. But these factors are not yet understood. There is still a large need for further research.

The known distribution ranges from NE-Portugal (e.g. Serra da Estrela and nortwards) across the mountain ranges of central Spain (Sierra de Guardarrama, Sierra de Guadalupe, Sierra de Gredos, to the north up to the Sierra del Moncayo near Soria and soutward to the province of Toledo and locally also Ciudad Real etc.). I recorded a female ovipositing in the Sierra de Albarracin in late August 2013, where the eastern limit of Lycaena bleusei should be reached.

Literature:
Marabuto E., Nunes MS., Martins R., Mendes R., Moreira-Pinhal TC., Raimundo J., Seabra SG. & Paulo OS. (2023): Integrative analysis reveals the divergence and speciation between sister Sooty Copper butterflies Lycaena bleusei and L. tityrus. — Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 180: 107699, 16pp.

Asal, J. (2008): Beitrag zur Biologie und Ökologie von Lycaena tityrus bleusei (Oberthür, 1884) aus Spanien (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). — Nachrichten des entomologischen Vereins Apollo, Neue Folge 29 (1/2): 15-18.