Vinu Mathew found and photographed a Pea Blue Lampides boeticus recently near Dhahran and kindly snet me his
photos and has allowed me to use them on my website. The Peablue, Pea Blue, or
Long-tailed Blue is one of the most widely distributed lycaenids and is a small
butterfly found in Europe, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia that
belongs to the lycaenids or gossamer-winged family. Due to its utilization of
pea spp. as host plants, it is considered as a pest of pea crops in certain
places. The adults are strong flyers with a jerky and rapid flight. The
wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 24–34 mm for females. The larval foodplants
include cultivated legumes such as Broad-leaved Everlasting-pea, Narrow-leaved
Everlasting-pea and also Broom and Lucerne.
