What Are the Predators for a Common Blue Butterfly?

Birds

• Both pied and spotted flycatchers habitually predate on common blue butterflies. The spotted flycatcher will perch in a quiet spot and wait for a butterfly to go by. It will then dart out and snap the butterfly up in its beak and return to its previous spot to wait for another. Opportunistic feeders such as the blue tits will capture and eat common blue butterflies if they chance upon them.

Dragonflies and Spiders

• A huge variety of wildflowers grow in floodplain meadows. Bees and butterflies are attracted to the nectar in these wildflowers, and dragonflies are attracted by the large numbers of insects. Dragonflies frequently catch common blue butterflies around these meadows. Butterflies can also fall prey to the untidy webs of a theridiid spider. This spider spins its webs on wild flowers and grass heads.

Humans

• While humans don't actively kill or eat butterflies in large numbers, they do pose a significant threat to the survival of butterflies. Between 1984 and 2009, the populations of 21 species of British butterflies, dropped by 30 percent. The causes of this decline are varied, but habitat degradation and loss due to agriculture and the intensification of forestry is a major reason. Since the 1940s, 50 percent of woodlands, 97 percent of lowland-grasslands and 80 percent of limestone grasslands have been lost. The indiscriminate use of insecticides and pesticides also contributes to the loss of common blue butterflies.

Predators of Caterpillars

• In their caterpillar stage, common blue butterflies are preyed upon by small insectivorous mammals, such as hedgehogs, birds, toads and lizards. Hedgehogs will commonly eat the butterflies in their caterpillar stage too, and they will eagerly predate on adult lycaenid butterflies whenever the opportunity arises.