Common Blue vs Mother-of-pearl Blue

Polyommatus icarus compared with Polyommatus nivescens

Key Differences

• Common Blue is Least Concern while Mother-of-pearl Blue is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Blue	Mother-of-pearl Blue
Kingdom same	Animalia (животные)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (членистоногие)	Arthropoda (членистоногие)
Class same	Insecta (насекомые)	Insecta (насекомые)
Order same	Lepidoptera (чешуекрылые)	Lepidoptera (чешуекрылые)
Family same	Lycaenidae	Lycaenidae
Genus same	Polyommatus	Polyommatus
Species	Polyommatus icarus	Polyommatus nivescens

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Blue and Mother-of-pearl Blue share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Polyommatus.

Conservation Status

Common Blue

LC — Least Concern

Mother-of-pearl Blue

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Blue	Mother-of-pearl Blue
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Blue

Habitat

Inhabits Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Cyprus), Europe (40 countries), and North America (United States).

Mother-of-pearl Blue

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found in Spain. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Common Blue

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇪🇸 Spain