Polyommatus icarus "The Trefoil Blue"

[PhilBJohnson]

Vernacular name (the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region).
In Pete Eeles' book:
Life Cycles of British and Irish Butterflies P377
“The first vernacular name was given to this species by James Petiver in his Musei Petiveriani of 1699 was The Little Blew Argus"
"Moses Harris providing the name we use today in his The English Lepidoptera of 1775"
And from ukbutterflies.co.uk
"Living up to its name, this butterfly is the commonest blue found in the British Isles"
and
"Despite a general decline in distribution, this butterfly remains widespread and is not currently a species of conservation concern."
From Charts:
Occurrence (distribution) Change -17% 1976-2014
Abundance (population) Change -17% 1976-2014

Here were the primary larval food plants as quoted from this website:
Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). Black Medick (Medicago lupulina), Common Restharrow (Ononis repens), Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus) and Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium) are also used.

My thoughts
Polyommatus icarus "The Trefoil Blue" might remain the commonest blue butterfly species in the British Isles, as others had evolved more habitat specific requirements and dependance on other species, even specific species of ants!
For this butterfly to remain locally common, one must promote or popularise it's primary larval food plants and express this species through them (which was why I titled this "The Trefoil Blue" (Using and locally dependant on, at least three species of trefoil).
In our wild flower meadows, one needed to understand the primary food source requirements (mowing rotations and height of cut). My lawn mower cuts on it's lowest setting 25mm and highest setting 65mm. I would suggest that 25mm or 35mm might be devastating for a primary food plant growth.
I thought, something more needed to be communicated with a growing UK human population, less wild spaces, more garden space and many people interested but not necessarily UK educated in Native Wildlife Gardening or arable farming field margins, with best practice for wildlife.
In Lincolnshire I was lucky to have three species of Blue Butterfly and possibly a few more scarce re-introductions,

Kind regards