Glaucopsyche lygdamus

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

Silvery blue
G. l. couperi, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Glaucopsyche
Species:
G. lygdamus
Binomial name
Glaucopsyche lygdamus
Subspecies

See text

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
G. l. palosverdesensis

Listed alphabetically:[6]

  • G. l. afra (W. H. Edwards, 1884) Afra (silvery) blue
  • G. l. arizonensis McDunnough, 1934 Arizona silvery blue
  • G. l. australis (F. Grinnell, 1917) southern (silvery) blue
  • G. l. columbia (Skinner, 1917) Columbia blue or Skinner's (silvery) blue
  • G. l. couperi Grote, 1873 Couper's silvery blue
  • G. l. deserticola (Austin & J. Emmel, 1998) Mojave silvery blue
  • G. l. incognitus Tilden, 1974 Behr's silvery blue
  • G. l. jacki Stallings & Turner, 1947 Jack's (silvery) blue
  • G. l. lygdamus (Edward Doubleday, 1841) (Georgian) silvery blue
  • G. l. mildredae F. Chermock, 1944 Mildred's silvery blue
  • G. l. minipunctum (Austin, 1998) mini-spotted silvery blue
  • G. l. nittanyensis (F. Chermock, 1944) Appalachian silvery blue
  • G. l. oro Scudder, 1876 oro (silvery) blue
  • G. l. palosverdesensis (E. Perkins & J. Emmel, 1977) Palos Verdes blue
  • G. l. pseudoxerces (Emmel & Emmel, 1998) false Xerces (silvery) blue
  • G. l. sabulosa (Emmel, Emmel & Mattoon, 1998) sand dune silvery blue

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. 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
  • Darby, Gene (1958). What is a Butterfly. Chicago: Benefic Press. p. 36.
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