Polyommatus admetus (Esper, 1783)

Host plants:
Onobrychis species. The larvae prefer flowers in the time when they are available.

Habitat:
Polyommatus admetus inhabits steppe slopes, extensive grazing land and other nutrient-poor grasslands up to medium-high altitudes.

Life cycle:
The young caterpillar overwinters within the egg shell. It hatches in spring and is mature between late April and June (according to altitude). I recorded mature larvae and still some half-grown ones on the mountain pass of Katara (N-Greece) in early June 2021. I met adults in Northern Greece in the area of the Prespa Lakes quite common in mid-July. Oviposition occurs singly in small stipulae of the desiccated inflorescences.

Endangerment factors:
Polyommatus admetus is in decline due to cultivation, overgrazing and overbuilding of its habitats.

Remarks:
Polyommatus admetus is found in the Balkans from Hungary and Croatia to Greece and Turkey.