Monday 15 January 2007

Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus)

OTHER NAMES: Long-tailed Blue
Latin Etymology: Lampides (?) boeticus (a province of the Iberian peninsula)
Adult Pea Blue (subspecies P. t. brittaniae) at Kamakura, Japan - November 2014

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Length: ?  /  Wingspan: 24-34mm
NOT UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Not Yet Evaluated

The Pea Blue is a widespread species found broadly across much of the Old World.  I spotted this species in Kamakura on an unusually warm day in late November on a headland overlooking Mount Fuji.  I had seen some small blue species in Kyoto the previous year too which may have also been this species.  In the UK it is a vagrant species in some years and has even bred, although it is apparently unable to survive our Winters and thus has not become established.

Related Species:
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Lampides
Subspecies: N/A

 - Sighting Locations -
JAPAN - Japanese ウラナミシジミ  /  Uranami shijimi ("Wave-patterned Butterfly")
Locally common resident
 - TOKYO/HOKKAIDO 2014 TRIP: Several on the outskirts of Kamakura 

Further Notes: BirdGuides, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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