Wingspan: 22–26 mm
Flight period: in several generations from March to October
Host plants of caterpillars: species from the legume family (Fabaceae)
Blue marogarček (Leptotes pirithous) is a small butterfly that migrates to our lands from the Mediterranean. It is not known whether it also breeds in the Slovenian Littoral, and in Notranjska it arrives only exceptionally on hot summer days. The upperside of its wings is dark brown with a delicate pattern of spots, lines and specks. The brown color of the upperside appears washed out and blends into purple hues. The underside of the wings is marbled, with a brown-gray background adorned with white swirls and spots; in the outer lower corner it has two conspicuous blue-black eyespots with an orange border. Beside the eyespots are two slender straight tails.
Blue marogarček lives in dry and hot shrubby areas and near cultivated lands in the Mediterranean. It thrives particularly well in alfalfa fields, and from its Mediterranean homeland it occasionally arrives here with a favorable wind.
