Holly Blue
Holly Blue
Insect
A pale, silvery-blue butterfly that flies high around holly and ivy. Its spring brood feeds on holly and its summer brood on ivy, giving it two generations each year.
💡 Fun Facts
- The Holly Blue is often the first blue butterfly of the year, flitting high around gardens and hedges.
- It has a clever two-brood habit: spring caterpillars feed on holly, and summer ones feed on ivy.
- Its numbers rise and fall in cycles, partly controlled by a tiny parasitic wasp that hunts its caterpillars.
📅 Through the Year
- Active:April to September
Name Story
Celastrina argiolus
means “little Argus”
likely meaningScholars don't fully agree on the first part of the name, Celastrina — some think it means 'sky-blue' for the wing colour, others that it points to an evergreen plant.
What does its name mean?
- argiolus — little Argus — Argus was a giant in Greek myth with a hundred eyesLatin / Greek myth
- Celastrina — perhaps 'sky-blue', or perhaps named after an evergreen plantLatin or Greek (uncertain)
Turn this little blue butterfly over and its pale underwings are dotted with small dark spots — just like the hundred watchful eyes of Argus, a giant from Greek myth. That's why its name means 'little Argus'.