Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Names:Cushion-Plant
Blue, Alpine Blue.
Range:
This species ranges from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan south through Montana
to Colorado and Utah, and from central Oregon south to central California and
Nevada. It occurs in Idaho in the
southcentral and southeastern portions of the state.
Habitat:
It typically occurs at higher elevations on rocky slopes, in meadows, forest openings, sagebrush steppe, and prairie hills.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves and flowers of various members of the pea
family (Fabaceae), including lupine (Lupinus spp.), clover (Trifolium
spp.), and milkvetch (Astragalus spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
Each caterpillar is equipped with a honey gland, also known as a dorsal nectary
organ, which emits a sugary solution agreeable to ants. The ants feed on
the solution and in turn protect the caterpillar from predators. Also for protection,
the caterpillar bears a pair of everscible tubercles or tentacles
on the eighth segment.
These tubercles are usually housed within the body, but when the caterpillar
feels threatened by the approach of a potential predator, they can be pushed
out to release a chemical which mimics an ant alarm pheromone. This scent causes the ants to become
frenzied and aggressive, and the potential predator takes leave or is eaten
by the ants. There is one generation of caterpillars each year throughout its
range. Each caterpillar undergoes four stages of growth, or instars. In much of its range, it is a biennial species requiring
two years to complete its life cycle. Eggs laid in the summer overwinter and
hatch in the spring. The caterpillars then feed and molt during the following summer and overwinter
in a physiological state called diapause, emerging in spring to pupate. Adults generally
fly from June through
July, sometimes flying into September. The butteflies generally fly only a few
inches above the ground.
Reproduction:
Males actively patrol
in search of receptive females. Females lay their eggs singly primarily on the
leaves of host plants
.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Ferris, C. D. and F. M. Brown. (eds.) 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 442 pp.
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.