Cyaniris bellis
# Cyaniris bellis

Cyaniris bellis, the Greek mazarine blue, is a butterfly found in the Palearctic (Asia Minor, South Europe, North Africa, Transcaucasia, Iran) that belongs to the blues family.

## Taxonomy

The subspecies C. b. antiochena (Lederer, 1861) is found in Caucasus Minor, Armenia (highlands) and the Talysh Mountains.

## Description from Seitz

bellis Frr. (82 e, f) is above like montana . [preceding text — montana M.-Dur (82 e) is an alpine form [of semiargus] which occurs in the higher Alps and the mountains of South-East Europe; smaller, the male bright blue above, with broader black distal border] but the hindwing beneath bears traces of yellowish red spots in anal area. In helena Stgr. (82 f), a small form from the mountains of Southern Greece, the reddish yellow spots of the underside form a continuous chain and some of them appear in the female also on the upperside, which is quite generally the case in the still more southern form antiochena Led.

## Biology

The larva feeds on Anthyllis vulneraria , Trifolium pratense, Melilotus officinalis, Lotus corniculatus.

