Top Results for Lycaenidae

The Xerces blue, Glaucopsyche xerces, was a small butterfly native to coastal sand dunes on the San Francisco Peninsula in California. It had blue wings in males and browner coloration in females, with distinctive pale spots on the hindwing undersides. Habitat destruction associated with urban devel...

The Atala butterfly is a small, colorful lepidopteran native to Florida and the Caribbean, including Cuba and the Bahamas. The species was once believed to be extinct in the United States during the 1930s due to the overharvesting of its sole host plant, the coontie palm. However, it has since exper...

The Large Blue is a species of butterfly native to Europe and parts of Asia, recognized for its complex and highly specialized parasitic lifecycle. The caterpillars initially feed on wild thyme before dropping to the ground, where they use chemical mimicry to be carried into the nests of specific re...

Lycaena dispar, commonly called the Large Copper, is a butterfly species in the family Lycaenidae. The nominate British subspecies became extinct in England around 1851, primarily due to the drainage of East Anglian fens that eliminated its wetland habitat. The continental European subspecies surviv...

The Palos Verdes blue is an endangered butterfly associated with the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California. It is treated as a subspecies of the silvery blue and depends on particular local food plants used by its larvae, including deerweed and locoweed. After being considered extinct, it wa...

The Chalkhill Blue (Polyommatus coridon) is a butterfly found across parts of Europe, primarily on chalk and limestone grasslands. Its caterpillars feed on horseshoe vetch and are attended by ants, a relationship common in the family Lycaenidae. Adults display pale blue upperwings in males and brown...

Lycaena alciphron, commonly known as the Purple-shot Copper, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Lycaenidae. It is found across Europe and parts of Asia, typically inhabiting grasslands, meadows, and clearings. The upper side of the male's wings is predominantly orange-red, overlaid with...

The Great Copper (Lycaena dispar) is a large butterfly species belonging to the family Lycaenidae, characterized by its bright orange upperwings marked with dark spots. The nominate British subspecies, L. d. dispar, went extinct around 1848 due to the extensive drainage of its fenland habitats in Ea...

The Karner Blue (Plebejus melissa samuelis) is a small butterfly native to North America, notable for its strict dependence on wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) as the sole food source for its caterpillars. The species was classified by novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov in 1944. It is federal...

Despite its name, the Great Purple Hairstreak is a large North American butterfly lacking actual purple coloration, instead shimmering in metallic blue on its upper wings. The butterfly belongs to the gossamer-winged butterfly family Lycaenidae and has a wingspan ranging from 1.25 to 1.5 inches. Gre...

The Mission Blue (Icaricia icarioides missionensis) is an endangered butterfly subspecies native to the San Francisco Bay Area, discovered in 1937. The butterfly has a wingspan of approximately 1 to 1.4 inches and features blue-violet upper wing surfaces in males and brownish-blue in females. Missio...

The Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus) is a butterfly species belonging to the Lycaenidae family, widely distributed across heathlands and grasslands in Europe. It derives its common name from the distinct metallic silver spots found on the underside of its hindwings. The larvae possess a speciali...

The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a small butterfly belonging to the Lycaenidae family, predominantly found across Europe and temperate Asia. It exhibits significant sexual dimorphism; males possess vivid violet-blue upper wings, whereas females are primarily brown with a variable amount of bl...

The Miami blue (*Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri*) is an endangered butterfly species native to Florida, primarily found in the southern coastal regions and the Florida Keys. It is a small lepidopteran distinguished by the bright, metallic blue coloration on the upper side of its wings, contrasted b...

The holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) is a small butterfly found across Europe and temperate Asia, easily recognized by the pale silvery-blue upperwings of the male. It is one of the most familiar blue butterflies in the Lycaenidae family and frequently appears in gardens and woodland edges. Females...

The olive hairstreak, Callophrys gryneus, is a small North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is also widely known as the juniper hairstreak because its larvae feed on junipers, including eastern red cedar, while adults visit flowers for nectar. The underside of the wings is typically g...

The El Segundo blue, Euphilotes battoides allyni, is a small butterfly restricted to coastal sand dune habitat in and near El Segundo in Los Angeles County, California. Its larvae depend on coast buckwheat as their principal host plant, closely linking the butterfly's survival to intact dune vegetat...

The Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus, formerly classified under Polyommatus) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae native to much of Europe and temperate Asia, with populations extending into North Africa. The upper surfaces of the male's wings are a vivid blue, while females are generally...

Parrhasius m-album, commonly called the White-M Hairstreak, is a tailed butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Theclinae. It occurs across much of the eastern and southern United States, from Connecticut and Iowa southward to Texas, the Gulf Coast, and Florida, with rare records farther no...

The Harvester, Feniseca tarquinius, is a small butterfly of eastern and central North America whose larvae feed on other insects rather than plants. Its caterpillars prey on woolly aphids, especially those living on alder, willow, and related trees, while adults consume liquids such as nectar or tre...

The Spring Azure is a small blue butterfly associated with the Celastrina ladon group in North America. It occurs across much of the eastern and central continent, with related populations showing differences in size, flight period, habitat, and wing coloration. Males are typically blue above, while...

The Bronze Copper (Lycaena hyllus) is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a relatively large copper, with orange-copper upper wings and a patterned underside; males commonly show the bronze coloration that gives the species its English name. The species is associated with wet...

The Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus) is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Unlike most related hairstreaks, it lacks tails on the hindwings, while the underside has a row of coral-colored spots and white-ringed black markings. Adults occur in brushlands, woodland openings, fields,...

The Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, described by William Henry Edwards in 1862. Males are usually blue on the upper wings, while females often have broader dark margins; both sexes have pale undersides with small dark spots and no hindwing t...

Western Pygmy-Blue is a very small butterfly of the family Lycaenidae and the subfamily Polyommatinae. The species, Brephidium exilis, is commonly described as one of the smallest butterflies in North America, with a wingspan of about 1.2 to 2 cm. It occurs in western habitats that include salt mars...

The American Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It occurs across much of the northern United States and is also native to parts of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The upper side of the wings is orange with dark spots and borders, while the underside is more subdu...

The Brown Hairstreak, Thecla betulae, is a European butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is difficult to observe because adults spend much of their time in tree canopies, while the brown upperwings provide effective camouflage. Females have prominent orange patches, and the undersides carry pale b...

The Echo Azure, Celastrina echo, is a small blue butterfly found in western North America. It belongs to the lycaenid group commonly known as azures, whose similar appearance has led to taxonomic study and changes in how some populations are classified. Adults have blue upperwings and paler, spotted...

Calycopis cecrops, the Red-banded Hairstreak, is a small hairstreak butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It occurs across much of the eastern and southeastern United States and is identified by the red-orange band and paired tails on the underside of the hindwing. Its caterpillars are unusual among m...