[6] It has a very patchy distribution across the UK with its strongholds on the chalk and limestone grasslands of southern England such as the Cotswolds and Salisbury Plain.

Across the rest of Great Britain and Ireland it is often associated with coastal habitats with widely scattered colonies in northern England and the far north of Scotland.

[6] It is a Priority Species for conservation in Northern Ireland and under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

C. minimus live in calcareous grasslands, abandoned quarries, railway and embankments and woodland edges and clearings.

[6] In the UK, small blues lay their eggs, live, and feed exclusively on the kidney vetch.

While females obtain all of their nutrients from plants, males will extract salts and minerals from carrion, dung, and mud puddles.

[6] When courting, males will find a perch on a covered piece of grass or shrub while waiting for females.

[5] After mating, the female will search for a suitable place to lay a single egg, such as a healthy food plant.

Once hatched, the larvae will eat through the calyx of the plant as well as the young green legumes they are typically laid on.

Come late summer, they will form small cocoons out of silk for hibernation, and will stay motionless for ten months.

[7] Cupido minimus trinacriae Verity, 1919 Sicily[6] In recent years, the small blue has lost much of its habitat in the United Kingdom, thus making it a Priority Species for conservation in Northern Ireland and under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.