Mexican Bluewing

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The ubiquity of the small blue butterflies in the Lycaenidae family across the United States, can be matched by the rarity of large blue butterflies in that same space.

The Mexican Bluewing (Myscelia ethusa), a large, blue striped neotropical butterfly found in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, is always a crowd pleaser.

Males and females look similar, however, male wings tend to be a darker color with less white spots at the wing edges. The top picture shows a male basking in the sun at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.

In their territory, Mexican Bluewings normally can be found perching, head down, on the bottom of tree trunks in the vacinity of Wild Lime shrubs (Adelia vaseyi), the Caterpillar host plant. Getting a picture of one basking in the sun is a treat.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels