Hodges#4372

Glaucopsyche lygdamus

Classification

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Genus: Glaucopsyche
Species: lygdamus

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Glaucopsyche lygdamus: //ˌɡlɔːkəˈsaɪki ˈlɪɡdəməs//

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Images

Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) (8937100711) by Aaron Carlson from Menomonie, WI, USA. Used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

Glaucopsyche lygdamus by Jacy Lucier. Used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) on Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum) (8936456781) by Aaron Carlson from Menomonie, WI, USA. Used under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

Palos verdes blue butterfly insect glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis by Hendron Jane, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Used under a Public domain license.

Glaucopsyche lygdamus NB by Jacy Lucier. Used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Glaucopsyche lygdamus female by Jacy Lucier. Used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Summary

Glaucopsyche lygdamus, the silvery blue, is a small butterfly native to North America with an iridescent silvery blue appearance in males and has been affected by habitat loss leading to the endangerment of certain subspecies.

Physical Characteristics

Wing span: 7/8 - 1 1/4 inches (2.2 - 3.2 cm). Upperside of male iridescent silvery blue with narrow dark borders; female darker blue with wide borders. Both sexes have white fringe. Underside gray-brown; both wings with row of white-ringed, round black spots.

Identification Tips

Males are light blue while females are a dull grayish blue; the underside has a single row of round spots of differing sizes depending upon the region.

Habitat

G. lygdamus occurs in open woods, coastal dunes, prairies, meadows, road edges, rocky moist woods, and brushy fields. It is also found in alpine meadows, shale barrens, dunes, and wooded areas.

Distribution

Found from central Alaska south to southern California, Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Kansas. It also extends along the northern United States east to Nova Scotia and south to Georgia.

Diet

Caterpillars feed on flowers, seedpods, and young leaves of host plants in the pea family such as Astragalus, Lotus, Lupinus, Melilotus, Oxytropis, Lathyrus, and Vicia. Adults feed on nectar from flowers including Asteraceae.

Life Cycle

One flight from March-June at low elevations, June-August at high elevations. Males patrol near host plants for females. Eggs are laid singly on flower buds and young leaves of host plants. Chrysalids hibernate.

Reproduction

Males patrol near the host plants for females. Eggs are laid singly on flower buds and young leaves of the host plants.

Conservation Status

Subspecies palosverdesensis is thought to be extinct and has been ranked as T1 - Critically imperiled globally due to extreme rarity. Subspecies xerces is presumed extinct. Subspecies pseudoxerces is ranked T2.

Ecosystem Role

Caterpillars are tended by ants, indicating a mutualistic relationship.

Evolution

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