Polyommatus damon meinsii
Polyommatus damon meinsii, or the meinsii, is a butterfly subspecies in the Lycaenidae family. It is part of the species Polyommatus damon.
It was found in 1971 by the German engineer Horst Meins Rugenstein and Dr. Miguel R. Gomez-Bustillo, and described in 1974 in the work Mariposas de la Peninsula Ibérica, Ropaloceros (II).
Meinsii is larger than the related Noguerae and Cabrerae subspecies. In males, the front wings are bright blue with black edges, and the outer margin is almost twice as wide as in Polyommatus damon. The hind wings are cream-gray with a white line and spots outlined in white. Females have darker hind wings.
The caterpillars eat several legume plants: alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Medicago lupulina, Medicago media, Medicago arborea, and lupin (Lupinus albus). The species overwinters as a larva.
Meinsii is found near Castejón de Sos in the Huesca province in the central Pyrenees of Spain, at elevations around 900–1000 meters. They typically inhabit mountain slopes sheltered from wind, from about 800 to 2000 meters high, and are usually seen in July and August.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:47 (CET).