Taevastiiva (taevastiib)
Butterflies of the Lycaenidae family (lit. heaven‑, celestial‑ or sky‑wing, see Taevakivi and Tiiva), of which 2 species are common in Estonia: harilik taevastiib, the Amanda’s blue, Polyommatus amandus, whose caterpillars secrete a sugary substance that attracts ants and thus puts predators off; and ristikheina-taevastiib, the common blue, P. icarus; and 2 are rare, with 1 observation per wing over the past 80-odd years: ere-taevastiib, the Adonis blue, Lysandra bellargus, which is in decline elsewhere too: in Britain their numbers have dropped by over 90% since 1950; and rohekas taevastiib, the chalkhill blue, L. coridon, which is univoltine, a word you can look up yourself. Taevas (sky) is a loan from Baltic, cf. Dievas and Dievs, ‘God’ in Lithuanian and Latvian and hence related to Latin deus, Greek Zeus, ‘Scandinavian’ Týr, and French dieu.







