Butterflies of the Mojave Desert

The Mojave Dotted-Blue

• The Mojave dotted-blue, or Euphilotes Mojave, is a member of the Lycaenidae family. This butterfly is a light blue color, with wings between 19 and 23 mm. Male dotted-blue butterflies have black-bordered light blue upper wings and orange-banded hind wings. Female dotted-blue butterflies have dark brown to black upper wings with blue bases and orange-banded hind wings. The dotted-blue lives in sandy desert and dried-out washes, and it feeds on buckwheat nectar. Between March and June, male dotted-blues fly out to look for females.

The Painted Lady

• The painted lady, or Vanessa Cardui, is closely related to the West Coast lady or Vanessa Annabella, which is sometimes also called the painted lady. Both species of butterfly have orange wings with black tips, and the black tips have white dots inside them. The hindwings have little black circles known as eyespots. The difference between the two species is that the painted lady has a white bar running along the forewing, while the West Coast lady has an orange bar in the same place.

The Mojave Sootywing

• The Mojave sootywing, or Hesperopsis Pholisora Libya, is a dark-colored butterfly with a wingspan of 25 to 35 mm. The upper wings are dark brown or black with white spots, and the white spots are larger on the females than on the males. The lower wings are brown or golden brown, and the hind wings are a soot-like color with white spots arranged in rows. When found in the Mojave, the sootywing lives in stands of saltbush. Despite being called the Mojave sootywing, they are found more commonly in the Great Basin.

Threats to the Mojave Butterflies

• As the suburbs surrounding Los Angeles and Las Vegas grow bigger and push further out into the desert, the Mojave and the species that live in it come under threat. The plants in the desert (on which the butterflies depend) can be damaged by people in off-road vehicles, and the water table has also been depleted. Although the Mojave ecosystem is doing relatively well compared to other areas, the habitat of the Mojave butterfly species is under increasing pressure.