Arctic Blue vs

Agriades aquilo compared with Colacium sideropus

Key Differences

Arctic Blue is Near Threatened while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Arctic Blue
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Protozoa (protozoa)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Euglenozoa (Euglenozoa)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Euglenoidea (Euglenoidea)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Euglenida (Euglenida)
Family	Lycaenidae	Euglenaceae
Genus	Agriades	Colacium
Species	Agriades aquilo	Colacium sideropus

Conservation Status

Arctic Blue

NT — Near Threatened

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Arctic Blue
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Arctic Blue

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil and Sweden.

Arctic Blue

The Arctic Blue (Agriades aquilo) is a species in the genus Agriades. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Colacium sideropus is a microscopic euglenoid protist belonging to the family Euglenaceae, characterized by its sessile, colonial lifestyle attaching to aquatic invertebrates and zooplankton. Members of the genus Colacium are distinguished from free-swimming euglenoids by their stalked or clustered growth form, anchoring to the bodies of crustaceans such as copepods and cladocerans in freshwater environments. Like other photosynthetic euglenoids, Colacium possesses chloroplasts derived from secondary endosymbiosis with a green alga, allowing it to perform photosynthesis under favorable light conditions. The relationship with host invertebrates is generally considered epibiotic rather than parasitic, with the protist colonizing the external surfaces of its host without causing significant harm. Colacium sideropus occurs in freshwater lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams where its zooplankton hosts are abundant. Its ecological role includes contributing to microbial food webs and nutrient cycling within freshwater ecosystems. As with many microscopic protists, its true distribution and abundance are difficult to assess from macroscopic surveys, and it is likely globally distributed wherever suitable hosts exist in freshwater habitats.