Glaucopsyche lygdamus
| Silvery Blue | |
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| G. l. couperi, Ottawa, Ontario | |
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| Species: | G. lygamus
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| Binomial name | |
| Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Edward Doubleday, 1841)
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The Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) is a small butterfly native to North America. Upperside is a light blue in males, a dull grayish blue in females. Underside is gray with single row of round spots of differing sizes depending upon region.
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.[1][2]
Similar Species
- Eastern Tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas) has small 'tails' on hindwings
- Western Tailed-blue (Cupido amyntula) has small 'tails' on hindwings
- Arrowhead Blue (Cupido piasus)
- Greenish Blue (Plebejus saepiolus) has two rows of small black spots on the underside of both wings[2]
- Boisduval's Blue (Icaricia icarioides) has two rows of small black spots on the underside of both wings[2]
Subspecies[3][4]
- G. l. afra (W. H. Edwards, 1884) – Afra (Silvery) Blue
- G. l. arizonensis McDunnough, 1934 – Arizona Silver 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
- †G. l. xerces (Boisduval, 1852) – Xerces Blue (extinct)
References links
- ^ Jim P. Brock and K. Kaufman. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, New York, NY:Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
- ^ a b c Silvery Blue, Butterflies of Canada
- ^ Glaucopsyche, funet.fi
- ^ Blues
- Darby, Gene (1958). What is a Butterfly. Chicago: Benefic Press. p. 36.
External links
Media related to Glaucopsyche lygdamus at Wikimedia Commons
- Silvery Blue, Talk about Wildlife
- Silvery Blue, Massachusetts Butterfly Club