Western Tailed Blue Butterfly

The Western Tailed-blue (Cupido amyntula) is a failry common resident of the Western States. The Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) is one of the most widespreak blue butterflies in the United States. Abundant throughout the East, a small population also lives in California, Oregon and Washington State.

Identifying a Tailed-blue butterfly is fairly easy. Both species share the characteristic of small tails (hair-like protrusions) on the bottom of their wings, a physical trail they share with the hairstreaks.

Because both species look very similar, differentiating between the Eastern and Western species in the West is problematic at best.

The top picture shows a pair of tailed-blue butterflies with the characteristic double orange markings on the bottom of the wing edges.

Typically Western Tailed-blues are characterized by a single orange marking, however, the BugGuide images of Cupidos clearly shows both species having double orange marks on the underside of the wings.

Males of both species have a blue color on the top of the wings and females of both species have a darker brown or gray color on the top of the wings. The absence of orange border spots on the wings of the male in the second picture suggests it is a Western Tailed-blue.

The third picture shows a female tailed-blue with no suggestion on whether it is the East or West Coast species.

Spring Azure Butterfly

The Spring Azure butterfly provides another good example of the difficulties associated with identifying blue butterflies.

This is a very common species across the United States. Most accounts of the Spring Azure start with the fact that it is one of the first spring butterflies.

More advanced accounts of the species add that lepidopterists currently disagree on whether to split the species into two different groups, depending on seasonality, spring azure and summer azure.

The above picture shows the basic Spring Azure characteristics from a size view. There is a superficial chevron mark on each wing that sits below a pattern of small dark spots.

The dark pattern above the spots is also an identifying clue that differentiates it from the Silvery Blue.

Silvery Blue

The silvery blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) is a member of the Lycaenidae family.

The side view picture shows black dots encircled by white, the key identification pattern. It has no tail.

The Spring Azure looks similar, however it also has an additional dark pattern or spots along the borders of the wings.

The top view of the butterfly, below, shows dark blue wings with a white border. This is a female. The top side of the male silvery blue's wings show a lighter shade of blue surrounded by a dark border.

Reakirt's Blue Butterfly

Unlike the orange spotted butterflies described in the Blue Butterflies article, the Reakirt's Blue is characterized by dark black spots on the top and bottom of the wings. It is a very common butterfly, inhabiting grasslands, riparian areas and desert regions of the Midwest, south through Texas, and the lower Rocky Mountain states. Like other blue butterflies, you can often see them puddling along wet terrain on sunny days.

The top picture shows some small characteristic black spots on the bottom of the wings.

The side view of the Reakirt's Blue shows the black dots with white circle borders. The larger black spot on the bottom wing sometimes has an orange patch on it.

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.

Northern Blue Butterfly

he Northern Blue (Plebejus idas), is what lepidopterists refer to as a complex, or group of butterflies, with about a dozen different subspecies found in northern parts of the United States, including Alaska.

The subspecies in the Great Lakes region, especially those living in Wisconsin and Michigan are considered endangered or threatened.

The top picture shows a side view of the male with the characteristic dark spots on the wings (smaller on the bottom wing). Both the top and bottom borders of the wings have orange marks.

The female in the bottom picture shows the characteristic brown wings with orange marks on both the top and bottom wing borders. The top of the male's wings are blue without the orange marks.

Lupine Blue

Acmon and Lupine Blue butterflies belong to the same genus of Lycaenidae butterflies (Plebejus).

Of the two species, Lupine Blues have the larger range, extending from the Pacific Coast through the Rocky Mountain states.

Both species, especially the females, look very similar, making identification in areas of their overlapping habitat problematic.

For convenience sake, Lupine Blue (Plebejus lupini) represents the title of this article. However, both butterflies overlap in the territory the picture was taken, so the possibility exists that the pictures show the Acmon rather than Lupine Blue.

Identifying either butterfly is a realtively straight forward task. The ring of orange and black marks around the border of the lower wings represents the basic field identification mark.The orange spots are larger than the comparable orange spots on species in the Euphilotes genus.

The top pictures shows a side view of the butterfly with prominant orange and black markings along the wing border.

The bottom picture shows a top view of the female with the orange and black markings also appearing on the border of the top of the wings.

Males have blue color wings on the top. The Acmon Blue article shows the distinguishing characteristics of male on the bottom side of the wings.

Greenish Blue Butterfly

The Greenish Blue butterfly (Plebejus saepiolus) is a common butterfly of the Western United States.

In many ways it also defies the logic of blue butterflies.

The top picture, for example, shows that the female Greenish Blue has brown wings. The wing color and pattern gives the female Greenish Blue a look more similar to a copper butterfly than a blue butterfly.

The second picture shows the male Greenish Blue. Assuming color variations based on location, it still stretches the imagination to conceptualize the wing color as having a green tint.

The picture shows also shows the butterfly's characteristic dark border around the wings.

Also consider the third picture. It shows a side view of a Greenish Blue with orange spots on the edges of the wings. Commonly, blue butterflies with orange spots on the underside of the wings also have orange spots on the top side of the wings. Only the female Greenish Blue follows this pattern.

While defying most blue butterfly logic, the Greenish Blue does present itself as a very stylish butterfly.

Fender's Blue Butterfly

Female Fender's

Once thought extinct, the Fender's Blue butterfly was rediscovered in 1989, and in January 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it as endangered, under the United States Endangered Species Act.

It is a prairie (grassland) resident, with populations in both upland and wet prairies of the Willamette Valley, OR.

Traditionally, these grasslands hosted a variety of native plants and wildlife, including the primary host plant for Fender's blue larvae, the Kincaid's lupine (also listed as endangered), and the adult food source, native nectar producing flowers.

Male Fender's

The prairie ecosystem began its transition to farmland in the mid-nineteenth century with the arrival of American settlers. Today prairies represent less than one percent of their original expanse.

Because habitat destruction is the source of the problem, habitat restoration will ultimately be the answer to maintaining stability in the current population and enabling their numbers to grow.

State and federal agencies are working to improve prairie habitat on a myriad of wildlife refuges in the area. Private groups are also participating in restoration programs.

Scientific research into breeding both Kincaid's lupine and the Fender's Blue butterfly (for the purpose of restoring them in the wild) are also ongoing.

The top picture shows the male, with black borders around blue wings. The bottom picture shows the female, from a side view.

Ceraunus Blue

The Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) is the sole representative of the Hemiargus genus in the United States.

It's a fairly common southern species, found wherever, legumes, the larval host plant, grow. Its small size makes it easy to miss in the field.

The top of the wings are a solid blue color with a slight dark spot on the botttom of the hindwings.

The underside of the wings, shown above, may or may not have an orange border around the black spots on the hindwing.

Boisduval's Blue

Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides) is a common butterfly of the American West, with a few different supspecies recognized.

The top picture shows a mating pair, and it highlights white spots with small black dots on the bottom of the wings.

While the basic underwing pattern changes, it represents the best field identification clue for the species. Typically blue butterflies have larger black dots encircled by smaller white borders.

Acmon Blue

The Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon), a small, West Coast butterfly, looks similar to the Lupine Blue.

Its range is more limited than the Lupine Blue, extending only along the West Cost, west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada.

In areas where the two species share overlapping territory, field identification can be difficult.

The top picture shows a side view of the male. The iridescent marks encircling the black spots on top of the orange marks represent the best field identification marks.

With their wings folded, Acmon Blue butterflies are about the size of a dime, so getting a close-up view is the only way to properly identify one.