Best Lycaenidae

The Atala Butterfly is a small, brightly colored species native to Florida and the Caribbean, once believed extinct in the 1930s before making a significant recovery.

The Large Blue is a European butterfly famous for its unique parasitic lifecycle and was successfully reintroduced to the United Kingdom in 1983.

The Palos Verdes Blue is an extremely rare butterfly subspecies discovered in California in 1977 and once considered North America's rarest.

The Karner Blue is an endangered butterfly named by novelist Vladimir Nabokov in 1944, noted for its strict dependence on wild lupine plants.

Despite its name, the Great Purple Hairstreak is a large North American butterfly lacking actual purple coloration, instead shimmering in blue.

The Mission Blue (Icaricia icarioides missionensis) is an endangered butterfly subspecies native to the San Francisco Bay Area, discovered in 1937.

The Miami blue is an endangered butterfly native to Florida, noted for its vivid blue wing coloration and its severe population decline due to coastal habitat loss.

The El Segundo Blue (Euphilotes battoides allyni) is an endangered butterfly endemic to coastal dunes in Los Angeles County, California.

The Harvester is a notable North American butterfly distinguished as the continent's only strictly carnivorous species, feeding on woolly aphids.

The Spring Azure is a small, widespread butterfly found across North America, notable for its extreme geographical and seasonal wing color variations.

The Bronze Copper is a North American butterfly commonly found in wetland habitats, noted for the striking metallic bronze hue of the males.

The Coral Hairstreak is a North American butterfly uniquely lacking the hindwing tails common to its relatives, featuring vibrant coral spots.

The Summer Azure is a North American butterfly scientifically described by William Henry Edwards in 1862 and distinguished by its pale blue wings.

The American Copper is an abundant butterfly across the northern United States, recognized by its bright orange forewings with dark grey borders.

The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive European butterfly notable for the striking golden-orange stripes found on the undersides of its wings.

The Echo Azure is a small butterfly native to the western United States, recognized as a distinct species by lepidopterists in the late 20th century.

The Purplish Copper is a widespread North American butterfly distinguished by the vibrant, iridescent purplish sheen on the males' upper wings.

The White-letter Hairstreak is a European butterfly whose populations suffered severe declines during the 1970s outbreak of Dutch elm disease.

The Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) is a widespread butterfly native to North America, distinguished by the metallic sheen on its hindwings.

The Bog Copper is a small North American butterfly specially adapted to acidic wetlands, where females lay eggs exclusively on cranberry leaves.

The Banded Hairstreak is an eastern North American butterfly recognized by the prominent dark bands traversing the underside of its wings.

The Black Hairstreak is a rare British butterfly noted for its dark wings and its restriction to dense, mature stands of blackthorn bushes.

The Striped Hairstreak is a North American butterfly identified by the distinct alternating white and dark brown stripes on its hindwings.

The Eastern Tailed-Blue is a small butterfly prevalent across eastern North America, easily recognized by the tiny hair-like tails on its hindwings.

The Edwards' Hairstreak is an eastern North American butterfly noted for its intricate mutualistic relationship with Allegheny mound ants.

The Western Tailed-Blue is a North American butterfly found west of the Rocky Mountains, known for the distinct hair-like tails on its hindwings.

The Gray Hairstreak is the most widespread hairstreak butterfly in North America, distinguished by a small orange spot near its tiny hindwing tails.

The Small Blue (Cupido minimus) is Britain's smallest native butterfly, recognized by its dusky brown wings and strict reliance on kidney vetch.