Holly Blue - Celastrina argiolus

Christmas in August with a 'holly and ivy' butterfly . Its first brood of caterpillars in the Spring feeds on holly flower buds and the soft terminal leaves and the next brood in late summer eats the insides out of ivy blossoms.  In Cumberland it's at the very edge of its Northern Range, which is probably why I've never seen it here before. This one's a female. It seems she has the good taste to like gardens (even ones without any jolly holly and lively ivy) so it was a bit of a blue sky moment when she landed on my blackcurrant today.