EASY GARDEN BUTTERFLIES
Pea BlueLampides boeticus
The Pea Blue (which is also known as ‘Long-tailed Blue’) is one of the Lycaenidae (Gossamer-winged Butterflies), subfamily Polyommatinae (Blues, Bronzes, Hairstreaks etc.). Blues are tiny to small butterflies, many of which have brilliant blue uppersides (although some are dull grey or brown).
The male Pea Blue’s wingspan is 24-32 mm, the female’s, 24-34mm.
Males choose a perch on a tall herb or on a prominent rock and fly off to chase other butterflies. They fly extremely fast but settle often and readily open their wings to reveal the upper side. Males are bright blue above with patches of darker blue which are visible in flight, making them unmistakable to the trained eye. Females are a duller shade of blue with wide grey-brown borders and white marks around the edges of the hindwings. They are more often found on flowers and around their host plants.
The underside of both sexes’ wings is warm grey crossed by fine white bands and a thicker band along the outer edge of the hindwing. Each hindwing carries a short tail close to two black spots on both wing surfaces, that give the impression of a ‘false head’ as do many other ‘Blues’.
Distribution
Pea Blues are extremely widespread, being found nearly all over South Africa. They are found across the ‘Old World’ (Africa and Eurasia), Australia and New Zealand. They have also reached the Hawaiian Islands. They may have followed man and his crops around the globe. Cultivated peas – Pisum sativum – are a listed host plant.
Egg
Pea Blue
Lampides boeticus
The female Pea Blue lays her tiny, pale blue-green eggs singly or in small groups on buds, leaves, or seed pods of the host plant. They are about 0.5mm diameter by 0.3mm high. They are flattened discs ornamented with a pattern of white moles, connected by tiny ribs in a pattern of triangles and a prominent dark mark at the centre of the top. The egg stage lasts about five to eight days.
Caterpillar
Pea Blue
Lampides boeticus
Pea Blue caterpillars are small, and slug-shaped, as are most caterpillars of the Lycaenidae. This species’ fully-grown caterpillars vary in colour depending on the colour of the plant they are eating. Common colours are pea green, olive green, dirty white or pale brown. The markings vary from darker green to pink or brown. There is a dark line along the back, a pale line along the sides, and oblique pale lines in between. The skin is covered in tiny bristles. They feed on flower buds, flowers, and seeds of the host plants. They grow from 1mm to 20mm long in four moults over a month to six weeks. They have a ‘honey gland’ on their rear segments like many other Lycaenidae, which attracts the attentions of ants. Image © John Joannou♱
Pupa/Chrysalis
Pea Blue
Lampides boeticus
Pea Blue pupae are smooth-skinned and vary in colour from cream to brown with a varying amount of black or brown speckling and a dark line runs along the back. The caterpillars pupate near the host plant but generally crawl out of a seed pod or away from a leaf and move into the debris at the base of the plant. They are attached by an adhesive smeared by the larva on a stem, twig, dead leaf, or piece of debris with a silken girdle around their ‘waist’. They are about 10-13mm long, and of a similar shape to those of the Geranium Bronze, but lack hairs. The adult normally emerges in about two to three weeks. Image © John Joannou♱
Host plant
Pea Blue caterpillars feed on many species of leguminous plant, not only cultivated peas. These include Rattle-pods (Crotolaria), Indigos (Indigofera), Lucerne (Medicago sativa), Sweet-peas (Tephrosia), Milkworts (Polygala) and Cow-peas (Vigna), many of which are popular garden plants.
Rattle-pod
Crotolaria macrocarpa
Red bush indigo
Indigofera hilaris
Pink Bush-pea
Tephrosia grandiflora
Myrtle-leaf Milkwort
Polygala myrtifolia
How to attract them
Gardeners can encourage the presence of this butterfly by planting any of its host plants, which is quite easy to do as there are so many of them and they are good garden subjects in themselves.
It’s important to also have nectar plants in your garden, as well as open sunny areas with structure like prominent rocks and trees or shrubs that the males can use as territorial markers.