---
title: "Small Blue"
description: "Cupido minimus — Insects & spiders. The small blue (Cupido minimus) is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/small-blue
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Small Blue

> Cupido minimus — Insects & spiders. The small blue (Cupido minimus) is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

- Scientific name: *Cupido minimus*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 10470
- Wikidata: [Q243913](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q243913)
- iNaturalist taxon: [129126](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/129126)

## Names

- en: Small Blue
- de: Zwerg-Bläuling
- es: Duende Oscuro
- fr: Argus frêle
- nl: Dwergblauwtje
- pl: Modraszek malczyk

## Countries with the most observations

FR (889), GB (834), RU (812), AT (790), IT (771), DE (740), CH (448), DK (375), ES (253), LT (167), CZ (140), UA (99)

## Summary

The small blue (Cupido minimus) is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the female. The species can live in colonies of up to several hundred and in its caterpillar stage is cannibalistic.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_blue

## Photo

![Small Blue](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/small-blue/medium.jpg)

Photo: Simon Tonge · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132622201

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/small-blue?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).