Description
Holly blue butterfly postcard
This unique Holly blue butterfly postcard has been hand-illustrated and designed from a visual study of insects by Debbie Knight. The reverse of this A6 holly blue butterfly postcard has been left blank so you can write your own message to send to wildlife fans, entomologists and nature lovers. Why not collect all 12 insect postcards and frame them as mini insect art prints.
Have you seen the other insect postcards in the range? These include the following insect postcards: 7-spot ladybird postcard, Azure damselfly postcard, Elephant hawk-moth postcard, Honey bee postcard, Jersey tiger moth postcard, Norfolk hawker dragonfly postcard, Peacock butterfly postcard, Rose chafer postcard, Stag beetle postcard, Tawny mining bee postcard and Violet ground beetle postcard.
All 12 insect postcards are also available to buy in a set which is ideal for gifting or collecting. Take a look at the illustrated insect postcard set
The Holly blue butterfly also appears in the illustrated insects calendar 2025
About the Holly blue butterfly
The holly blue butterfly is a small, striking species that emerges well before other blue butterflies. Its wings are pale blue with darker edges and it often flutters around holly and ivy plants, which are its primary larval food sources. These butterflies are known for their graceful flight and are an important indicator of environmental health.
How to spot the Holly blue
Holly blues have dusty-blue wing uppersides and pale grey undersides decorated with a smattering of small, unringed black spots. The wings of females have deeper margins of black around their edges.
At a glance holly blues are very similar to other blue butterflies; particularly easily mistaken for the common blue, Polyommatus icarus. However, other blue butterflies generally fly close to the ground, while the holly blue will fly at head height or higher, gathering around host plants.
There are also subtle differences in colouration, wing spot pattern and wing margins, but this is usually not possible to discern when in flight. More information like this on the Holly Blue
