Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies, with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.
Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Prunus. Despite being called black cherry, it is not very closely related to the commonly cultivated cherries such as sweet cherry, sour cherry and Japanese flowering cherries which belong to Prunus subg. Cerasus. Instead, P. serotina belongs to Prunus subg. Padus, a subgenus also including Eurasian bird cherry and chokecherry. The species is widespread and common in North America and South America.
Echinacea purpurea, the eastern purple coneflower, purple coneflower, hedgehog coneflower, or echinacea, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to parts of eastern North America and present to some extent in the wild in much of the eastern, southeastern and midwestern United States as well as in the Canadian Province of Ontario. It is most common in the Ozarks and in the Mississippi/Ohio Valley. Its habitats include dry open woods, prairies and barrens.
Celastrina is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae found in the Palearctic, Nearctic, Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
Feniseca tarquinius, the harvester, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae, and the only member of the monotypic genus Feniseca. It is found in eastern North America.
Papilio canadensis, the Canadian tiger swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It was once classified as a subspecies of Papilio glaucus.
The Appalachian azure is a butterfly in the gossamer wings family Lycaenidae. The male is light blue on the upperwing with a narrow, dark line running along the edge of the forewing. The underwing is chalky white and is dotted with small, pale dark spots. The very back of the hindwing has a row of dark spots running along the edge and contained by a faint zigzagging band. Females are similar to the males but have broad dark wing borders instead of the male's narrow ones. The adult butterfly has a 1.1–1.4-inch (2.8–3.6 cm) wingspan. It is the largest azure in the area.
Celastrina ladon, the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and peninsula Florida; south in the mountains to Colombia. Also on Molokai island, Hawaii.
Celastrina neglecta, the summer azure, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America. Layberry, Hall, and Lafontaine, in The Butterflies of Canada, describe the species:
The upper surface is pale blue with an extensive dusting of white scales, especially on the hindwing. In some females the blue is almost entirely replaced by white with a small amount of blue near the wing bases. Females have a broad blackish-grey band on the outer third and costa of the forewing. The underside is chalky white to pale grey with tiny dark grey spots and a zigzagged submarginal line on the hindwing.
Leptotes cassius, the Cassius blue or tropical striped blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America in Florida including the Keys, Texas south through the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America to South America. Strays have been found in New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Eriophyes is a genus of acari that forms galls, specially on trees of the family Rosaceae. Some are called blister mites. The blue butterfly Celastrina serotina has been reported to feed on these galls and also on the mites, making it one of the uncommon carnivorous Lepidoptera.
Ceanothus americanus is a species of Ceanothus shrub native to North America. Common names include New Jersey tea, Jersey tea ceanothus, variations of red root, mountain sweet, and wild snowball. New Jersey tea was a name coined during the American Revolution, because its leaves were used as a substitute for imported tea.
Celastrina lucia, the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the Maritimes south through the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia.
Celastrina idella, the American holly azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found on the east coast of the United States.
Euphilotes enoptes, the dotted blue, is a species of blue (Polyommatinae) butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America.
Celastrina humulus, the hops azure, is a species of blue in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America. The main host plant is wild hops. They can change their body temperature by behaviors like basking or sitting in shade.
Celastrina echo, known generally as the echo azure or western azure, is a species of blue in the butterfly family Lycaenidae.
Celastrina nigra, the dusky azure, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by William Trowbridge Merrifield Forbes in 1960. It resides in the extreme northeast corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. The larval host plant is Aruncus dioicus.
