Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) Holly Blue, Faulbaum-Blauling, Azure des nerpruns ou Argus a bande noire, Голубянка весенняя, Գարնանային կապտաթիթեռ
Distribution and biological peculiarities in Armenia: The species is native to almost entire Eurasia. Armenia is inhabited by nominate subspecies, which occupies almost entire country, occurring in wide variety of habitats from 400 to 2000 m a.s.l. The species is polyphage and lays down eggs on various Rosaceae and some Fabaceae (such as Vicia spp., Astragalus spp., Melilotus spp., and others. In Armenia the species gives up to four generations per year, having butterflies on wing from early April (and sometimes even late May) till end of September.
Population dynamics: The species is slightly uncommon within typical habitat, but shows stable population trend in 2003-2013 (p>0.05). Its high level adaptability allows the species to survive under habitat transformation conditions and to continue occupation of orchards and gardens.
Conservation measures: The species is not included in the Global and National Red Lists as well as in CITES and Bern Conventions. However the Holly Blue is evaluated for the European Red Lists as a Least Concern, and obviously deserves the same status for the Red Book of Armenia. Its distribution is covered by almost all the protected areas, Emerald Sites and Prime Butterfly Areas, and at current there is no need for special conservation measures. However, it is important to remember that the Holly Blue is one of the main inhabitants of orchards and therefore can support pollination. Thus its monitoring remains important for tracking its further population trends.