Template:POTD/2020-08-23

Picture of the day

The common blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has a wingspan of 28 to 36 millimetres (1.1 to 1.4 in); the upper surface of the male's wings is an iridescent blue with a thin black border, while the female's wings are primarily brown, with a variable amount of blue. The underside has a greyish base colour in males and a more brownish hue in females. Common blues sequester flavonoids from their host plants and allocate these ultraviolet-absorbing pigments into their wings. Females do this more efficiently than males, and it is these pigments that attract males. This photograph shows a pair of mating common blues (male on the left, female on the right) in Yoesden, a nature reserve in Buckinghamshire, England.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp