Balkan Blue - Deffi Park

 The Balkan Bluea Tarucus balkanicus is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It is found in Mauritania, Niger (the Aïr region), Sudan (Khartoum), Uganda, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, North Africa, the Balkans, western Asia, parts of central Asia and in India. The habitat consists of very arid savanna. The larvae feed on Ziziphus species. It is tailed with its underside white with a prominent black streak from the base of both wings. Markings normally black. Continuous sub marginal bands of connected black streaks.

Balkan Blue in Dhahran - Reacirds by Vinu Mathew

The Balkan Blue butterfly is distributed across the northern part of Saudi Arabia at least with the photographs below taken in Dhahran in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom by Vinu Mathew who kindly sent me the photos and has given his permission for me to use them on my website. The Balkan Blue is a very small and inconspicuous butterfly that flies low over the ground stopping frequently on rocks or to take nectar from low plants.

Balkan Blue Butterfly near Riyadh – Record by Mansur Al Fahad

Mansur Al Fahad took a few macro photographs of some Bulkan Blue Butterflies at Heet village south of Riyadh in early May. Identification was confirmed by looking at the uppersides of the butterflies. The area has some farms and semi-desert land and these butterflies are plentiful this year, as the good rains have helped the emergence of good vegetarian cover.