The large blue is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first defined in 1758 and first recorded in Britain in 1795. In 1979 the species became extinct in Britain but has been successfully reintroduced with new conservation methods. Currently large blue is classified as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Today P. arion can be found in Europe, the Caucasus, Armenia, western Siberia, Altai, north-western Kazakhstan and Sichuan.
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies, with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.
Phengaris alcon, the Alcon blue or Alcon large blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae and is found in Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia and Mongolia.
Tarucus is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as blue Pierrots or simply Pierrots. The latter name is often used for the closely related genus Castalius. The delimitation of Castalius versus Tarucus is not yet fully resolved, with some species, such as the dark Pierrot, having been moved between the two genera repeatedly. It may even be that they are eventually regarded as synonymous, and in that case the older name Castalius would supersede Tarucus by the Principle of Priority.
Phengaris atroguttata, the great spotted blue, is a small butterfly found in India, Myanmar, and China that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
The Eumaeini are a tribe of gossamer-winged butterflies. They are typically placed in the subfamily Theclinae, but sometimes considered a separate subfamily Eumaeinae. Over 1,000 species are found in the Neotropical realm
Phengaris rebeli, common name mountain Alcon blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It was first found and described in Styria, Austria, on Mount Hochschwab around 1700. Although it was initially classified as a subspecies of P. alcon, a European researcher, Lucien A. Berger, designated it as a separate species in 1946. Genetic similarities between P. rebeli and P. alcon have led many researchers to argue that the two are the same species and differences are due to intraspecific variation.
The scarce large blue is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, northern Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine and East across the Palearctic to Japan. The species was first described by Johann Andreas Benignus Bergsträsser in 1779.
Arhopala is a very large genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). They are the type genus of the tribe Arhopalini. In the relatively wide circumscription used here, it contains over 200 species collectively known as oakblues. They occur from Japan throughout temperate to tropical Asia south and east of the Himalayas to Australia and the Solomon Islands of Melanesia. Like many of their relatives, their caterpillars are attended and protected by ants (myrmecophily). Sexual dichromatism is often prominent in adult oakblues.
The Mesosemiini are one of the tribes of metalmark butterflies. They are the basalmost living tribe of the Riodininae, outside the main radiation together with the slightly more advanced Eurybiini.
Castalius is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as Pierrots. This name is also often used for the very closely related genus Tarucus.
Glaucopsyche, commonly called blues, is a Holarctic genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, found mainly in Palearctic Asia. For other species called "blues" see subfamily Polyommatinae and genus Plebejus.
Leptotes is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as zebra blues in reference to their zebra-striped undersides.
Otnjukovia is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is monotypic containing only Otnjukovia tatjana from Kazakhstan.
Theritas is a genus of gossamer-winged butterflies found in the Neotropics. Among the tribe Eumaeini of its subfamily Theclinae, it is usually placed in the group around the genus Atlides. In particular, it seems most closely related to Arcas.
Tuxentius is a butterfly genus in the family Lycaenidae. They are commonly known as pied Pierrots or pies. Contained in this genus are the African species formerly placed in Castalius, except the blue-eyed Pierrot which is separated in Zintha.
The Achlyodidini are a tribe in the skipper butterfly subfamily Pyrginae. Many species of them are notable for their gaudy colors and the unusually-shaped wings, which look as if the forewing tips have been squarely cut off. They are only found in the Americas, with few occurring out of tropical areas.
Phengaris xiushani is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is only known from Yunnan in China.
Ichneumon eumerus is a species of parasitic wasp belonging to the family Ichneumonidae, subfamily Ichneumoninae. It is a specialist parasite of the larva of the mountain Alcon blue butterfly.
