Every spring, I find myself having to go back to school. Butterfly school that is.
In the gossamer-winged butterfly family (Lycaenidae, the second largest butterfly family) there is one group that is problematic and that’s those LBJs: Little Blue Jerks! Don’t get me wrong: I am very fond of butterflies! But when I’m trying to photograph them, many colorful epithets come to mind.
The subfamily Polymmatinae, known as the blue butterflies, is comprised of small sized individuals that have some amount of iridescent blue color on the upper wings (visible when wings are open). The undersides of the wings are usually grayish or tan with a series of black spots, brown spots, or streaks. Sometimes orange spots or streaks are also present, depending on the species. Many of the species are sexually dimorphic (females and males have different patterns or colors), which can further complicate the identification process.
Many of the blues are lookalikes and require shots of the under wings and upper wings to make an accurate ID. Still a few species are impossible to tell apart from photographs. At any rate, one needs full cooperation from a blue butterfly to keep world peace.
Unfortunately, it’s often not the case. Here are a few nicknames I use in the field:
1. The Never-Landers: those are butterflies that roam around you or a patch of plants near you, but they never land, making photography or identification nearly impossible.
2. The Zoomers: “What’s this??”, followed by “now it’s gone” is usually what comes out of my mouth. The occasional “there it is again!”, “and…it’s gone!” trail behind.
3. The Shy Ones: the butterflies that keep their wings closed at all times.
4. The Show-Offs: the butterflies that keep their wings open at all times.
5. The Perfect Ones: these are our best friends. They land nearby, open and close their wings (so we can take shots of both upper and under wings), they even circle on the flower so we can catch different angles!
Our observation of the month is this Silvery Blue – inaturalist.org/observations/107236156 photographed in the park by iNaturalist user ltbloomer. Fortunately, the Silvery Blue is one of the blues that is more easily recognizable (unless it is exhibiting behaviors #1 or #2 in the list above). At Mission Trails, the month of March is peak season for the Silvery Blue. Here is a good physical description from butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Glaucopsyche-lygdamus: 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.
The host plants for the caterpillar are in the pea family (Fabaceae) and include MTRP favorites such as Locoweed (Astragalus trichopodus), Deerweed (Acmispon glaber) and Lupines (Lupinus sp.).
If you see one of these plants, make sure to keep your eyes open for LBJs. One of them could very well be a Silvery Blue!
Photo credit: ltbloomer, CC-by-NC license
