Glaucopsyche lygdamus

Last updated

Silvery blue
Silvery Blue-underside.jpg
G. l. couperi, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Glaucopsyche
Species:
G. lygdamus
Binomial name
Glaucopsyche lygdamus
Subspecies

See text

Glaucopsyche lygdamus, the silvery blue, is a small butterfly native to North America.

Contents

Description

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.

Distribution and habitat

G. lygdamus is found over much of the western United States and most of Canada extending north excepting most of Nunavut and the high Arctic islands. Wingspan is from 18 to 28 mm. [2] [3] It occurs in a variety of habitats including alpine meadows, shale barrens, dunes, and wooded areas. [4] It feeds on Lupinus plants. [5]

Taxonomy

The extinct Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces) was once thought to be a subspecies of the silvery blue.

Subspecies

G. l. couperii on tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), Calgary, Alberta, Canada Silvery Blue, Nose Hill, Calgary.jpg
G. l. couperii on tufted vetch (Vicia cracca), Calgary, Alberta, Canada
G. l. palosverdesensis Endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (5170035465).jpg
G. l. palosverdesensis

Listed alphabetically: [6]

Visually similar species

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  2. Jim P. Brock and K. Kaufman. (2003). Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. New York, NY:Houghton Mifflin, p.124.
  3. 1 2 3 Silvery Blue, Butterflies of Canada
  4. "Glaucopsyche lygdamus". explorer.natureserve.org.
  5. Mitten, J. B.; Sturgeon, K. B. (1982). "1. Biotic Interactions and Evolutionary Change". Bark Beetles in North American Conifers. University of Texas Press. p. 14. ISBN   0292707444.
  6. Glaucopsyche at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera