Eastern tailed-blue | |
---|---|
Male | |
Female | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Cupido |
Species: | C. comyntas |
Binomial name | |
Cupido comyntas (Godart, [1824]) | |
Synonyms [2] | |
|
The eastern tailed-blue or eastern tailed blue (Cupido comyntas), also known as Everes comyntas, [3] is a common butterfly of eastern North America. It is a small butterfly that is distinguished from other blues in its range by the small thin tail. [4]
Males are blue on the upperside of their wings while females are lighter blue to brown or charcoal in coloring, but there are also varieties of purple and pink found in both sexes. [5] The underside coloration ranges from bluish white to tan. There are two or three (outermost one often faint) black to orange chevron-shaped spots on the rear of the hindwings and a trailing tail off the innermost of the spots. The butterfly is 21 to 29 mm (0.83 to 1.14 in) wide with wings outstretched and slightly shorter in length. [6]
Eastern tailed-blue larvae feed on various legumes and are known to secrete a substance which is favored by some ant species. The ant in turn protects the larva of the butterfly from other predators.
The butterfly is common across eastern North America, and is found as far south as Central America. The Great Plains form a habitat boundary between the eastern and the much less common but similar western tailed-blue butterfly. The central section of California and portions of the states of Oregon and Washington also has eastern tailed blues, which likely adapted to the habitat after being brought there inadvertently by man. The species is virtually absent from the Rocky Mountain region. It is often found in sunny open habitat. [5]
The caterpillars feed on the seeds and flowers, and sometimes the leaves, of various legumes, including vetches and clover. [4]
Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, ranging north to southern Ontario, Canada, and is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring until fall, during which it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers, mostly from those of the families Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae. P. glaucus has a wingspan measuring 7.9 to 14 cm. The male is yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each forewing. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black.
Phoebis sennae, the cloudless sulphur, is a mid-sized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the Americas. There are several similar species such as the yellow angled-sulphur, which has angled wings, statira sulphur, and other sulphurs, which are much smaller.
The common blue butterfly or European common blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic. Butterflies in the Polyommatinae are collectively called blues, from the coloring of the wings. Common blue males usually have wings that are blue above with a black-brown border and a white fringe. The females are usually brown above with a blue dusting and orange spots.
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.
The great purple hairstreak, also called the great blue hairstreak, is a common gossamer-winged butterfly species in parts of the United States. It is actually a Neotropical species; its North American range only includes the warm-temperate and subtropical parts of that continent, and it ranges southwards almost to the Isthmus of Panama. The type specimen, however, was shipped to Europe from the Colony of Virginia, probably around the time of the United States Declaration of Independence.
The small blue is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the female. The species can live in colonies of up to several hundred and in its caterpillar stage is cannibalistic.
The short-tailed blue or tailed Cupid is a butterfly that forms part of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Europe to Japan and in India.
The gray hairstreak is also called the bean lycaenid or cotton square borer. It is a member of the Lycaenidae family, known as the gossamer-winged butterflies and the second-largest family of butterflies. It is one of the most common hairstreaks in North America, ranging over nearly the entire continent. It also occurs throughout Central America and in northern South America.
Anthene emolus, the ciliate blue, is a small butterfly found in India and southeast Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1823.
The long-tailed skipper is a spread-winged skipper butterfly found throughout tropical and subtropical South America, south to Argentina and north into the Eastern United States and southern Ontario. It cannot live in areas with prolonged frost. It is a showy butterfly, with wings of light brown tinted with iridescent blue, and two long tails extending from the hindwings. The robust body is light blue dorsally. It has a large head, prominent eyes, and a wingspan between 4.5 and 6 centimeters.
Lupinus perennis is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is widespread in the eastern part of the USA and Minnesota, Canada, and on the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, where it grows in sandy areas such as dunes and savannas.
Cupido lacturnus, the Indian Cupid, is a small butterfly found in the Australasian and Indomalayan realms that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Zizina labradus, the common grass blue, grass blue, or clover blue, is a small Australian butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
Cupido is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. The subgenus Everes is included here.
Cupido alcetas, the Provençal short-tailed blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the family Lycaenidae.
Glaucopsyche lygdamus, the silvery blue, is a small butterfly native to North America. Its upperside is a light blue in males and a dull grayish blue in females. The underside is gray with a single row of round spots of differing sizes depending upon the region.
The western tailed-blue is a Nearctic non-migratory butterfly that commonly takes flight during the spring and summer seasons of March–July. They can be best classified as having a presence of a tail on their hindwing, an upper surface that's bluish while the under surface is chalky-white with occasional black spots, and an orange spot toward the base of their tail. Their wingspan ranges from 0.875 to 1.125 inches. Larvae feed on various plant species including Astragalus, Lathyrus, Oxytropis, and Vicia. Adults feed on various things such as flower nectar, horse and coyote manure, urine, and mud.
Satyrium liparops, the striped hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae described by John Eatton Le Conte in 1833. It is found in North America, from the Rocky Mountains south from southern Canada to Colorado, east to Maine and south to Florida.
Hemiargus ceraunus, the Ceraunus blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in the southwestern United States, southern Texas, Florida and the Florida Keys south through the West Indies, Mexico and Central America to South America. Strays may be found in North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas and Nevada. The habitat consists of open woodland, desert scrub, dunes, pastures, road edges and vacant lots.
Satyrium caryaevorus, the hickory hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in eastern North America, from southern Ontario west to Minnesota and Iowa, south in the Appalachian Mountains to eastern Tennessee.