Blue Butterflies
| Blue Butterflies Cupido Western and Eastern Tailed-Blue Euphilotes Euphilotes (Dotted/Spotted Blues) Glaucopsyche Glaucopsyche Icaricia Fender's Blue Butterfly Plebejus Plebejus Types of Butterflies |
North American hosts approximately fifty blue butterfly species, a subfamily (Polyommatinae) of butterflies in the larger Lycaenidae family.
Generally small in size, with at least the males of the species having blue wings, most Polyommatinae species tend to live in limited ranges.
Polyommatinae diversity continues to the genera level, with the fifty or so North American species categorized into thirteen genera.
Changing human demographic and development patterns over time placed stress on North American blue butterfly diversity. In fact, of the nineteen different butterfly species listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, seven of those species are blue butterflies, including the Fender's Blue butterfly.
Some genera, such as Hemiargus, get represented by only one species, the Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus), pictured at the top of the page.
Fairly common in the south, it flies wherever legumes, the larval host plant, grow. Its small size makes it easy to miss in the field.
The underside of the wings, shown above, may or may not have an orange border around the black spots on the hind wing.
Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola), another of the single species genera, inhabits grasslands, riparian areas and desert regions of the Midwest, south through Texas, and the lower Rocky Mountain states.
Picture two highlights some small characteristic black spots on the bottom of the wings.
Unlike some of the endangered blue butterflies, Reakirt's are a fairly adaptable species. The caterpillars feed on a variety of plants in the pea family, making it easier for them to move, if change comes to any one particular ecosystem hosting their food sources.
The Cassius Blue (Leptotes cassius), one of two native Leptotes species, inhabits Southeast grasslands.
Smaller than average for a blue, with two brightly colored eye spots on the wing's edge, their quick and erratic flight pattern provides the first field identification clue of its presence.
The Larvae feed on a variety of plants including members of the pea and leadwort families. Adults nectar on a variety of flowers.
Polyommatinae genera need not contain a small number of species. Native North American Euphilotes and Plebejus species each number in the dozen range.
Approximately eight Azure butterflies (genus Celastrina) also fly in most of North America. Picture four highlights the superficial chevron mark on the wing edges.
The links in the box on the right connect to articles provides more detailed coverage of five additional Polyommatinae genera.
© 2007-2011. Patricia A. Michaels