Information on the Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly

Description

• The top sides of the wings are usually a brown to copper color towards the outer edges, which fades into a deep blue closer to the body. The fringes of the wings are white on both the upper and lower sides of the wings. The undersides of the wing are a copper color also near the outer edges. Closer to the body, however, the color fades to gray. On the hind wing the color fades to white with three black circles (or dots), at the base. The bodies of both male and female are a blue/green color and are slightly iridescent. The wings of the female tend to be paler blue, but the female is usually larger than the male.

Diet

• Like other moths and butterflies, the Western Pygmy-Blue has a long thin proboscis which acts like a straw with which it sucks up its food. Butterflies have no mouth or teeth so instead they curl up their proboscis until it is needed and then extend it into their food. As an adult butterfly the Western Pygmy-Blue eats flower nectar but as a caterpillar its choice of foods includes plants of the goosefoot family such as saltbush, pigweed and pickleweed.

Habitat

• This butterfly spends a lot of time flying over the food plants of its larvae in order to lay or fertilize eggs. These plant foods tend to be weeds so the Western Pygmy-Blue butterfly is often seen in vacant lots, around old railroads and anywhere that has been disturbed by humans. They also prefer the coastlines but have been spotted inland as far as Orange County. Sightings have been reported in marshlands and lowlands and especially in alkali flats.

Reproduction

• The male spends most of his time hovering over the food plants of its larvae trying to find a compatible female to mate with. Once one has been found the two will mate and the female will lay her fertilized eggs on the upper side of the leaves of their larvae's food. The eggs are a pale green in color and when they hatch, a white or light green caterpillar with orange to brown bumps all over it and yellow stripe down its back and sides, will emerge. This caterpillar will eat continuously until it is ready to cocoon itself and reemerges as the Western Pygmy-Blue butterfly.

Range

• This species is seen from Nebraska and the plains states to Texas, from the Great Basin through California to Oregon, and even into South America. Each year this tiny butterfly flies northward for hundreds of miles to emigrate to the northern coastal regions for the summer.