Silvery Blue
Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Doubleday, 1841)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Identification: 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. Subspecies xerces (Boisduval) and pseudoxerces Emmel and Emmel have large white spots with or without black centers.
Wing Span: 7/8 - 1 1/4 inches (2.2 - 3.2 cm).
Life History: Males patrol near the host plants for females. Eggs are laid singly on flower buds and young leaves of the host plants. Caterpillars feed on flowers, seedpods, and young leaves and are tended by ants. Chrysalids hibernate.
Flight: One flight from March-June at low elevations, June-August at high elevations.
Caterpillar Hosts: Astragalus, Lotus, Lupinus, Melilotus, Oxytropis, Lathyrus, Vicia, and other species in the pea family.
Adult Food: Nectar from flowers including Asteraceae.
Habitat: A variety of locations including open woods, coastal dunes, prairies, meadows, road edges, rocky moist woods, and brushy fields.
Range: Central Alaska south to southern California, Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Kansas. Along northern United States east to Nova Scotia and south to Georgia.
Conservation: Subspecies palosverdesensis is thought to be extinct. Its historic range and its hostplant Astragalus leucopsis in the Palos Verdes Hills in Los Angeles County, California is largely extirpated, but an additional population was discovered in nearby San Pedro. This subspecies has The Nature Conservancy rank of T1 - Critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range). Subspecies xerces is TX - Presumed extinct. Subspecies pseudoxerces is rank T2.
NCGR:
Management Needs: Conserve all remaining habitat for the Palos Verdes Blue. Investigate status and conservation needs of subspecies pseudoxerces.
Comments: NULL
Verified Sightings
Displaying 1 - 24 of 2401 verified sightings
Observation date: Mar 21, 2019
Submitted by: Lisahug
Region: Sonoma County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Mar 21, 2019
Observation date: Jun 09, 2018
Submitted by: aarongunnar
Region: Marquette County, Wisconsin, United States
Verified by: Tom Middagh
Verified date: Feb 26, 2019
Observation date: May 30, 2015
Submitted by: hydapse
Region: Carbon County, Montana, United States
Verified by: J_Martineau
Verified date: Feb 07, 2019
Observation date: Jun 05, 2017
Submitted by: Tim Shortell
Region: Gunnison County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: A_baldini
Verified date: Jan 06, 2019
Observation date: Jun 05, 2017
Submitted by: Tim Shortell
Region: Gunnison County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: A_baldini
Verified date: Jan 06, 2019
Observation date: May 23, 2018
Submitted by: sgguthart
Region: Larimer County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: A_baldini
Verified date: Dec 29, 2018
Observation date: May 19, 2018
Submitted by: Paul Prappas
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: May 27, 2018
Submitted by: Paul Prappas
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: May 30, 2018
Submitted by: Paul Prappas
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Jun 15, 2018
Submitted by: RobertWeeden
Region: Fairbanks North Star, Alaska, United States
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Jun 17, 2017
Submitted by: b.cn.u
Region: Alberta, Canada
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Jun 24, 2018
Submitted by: JKlodzen
Region: North Slope, Alaska, United States
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Jun 16, 2018
Submitted by: Doug Bruce
Region: Denali, Alaska, United States
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Jun 24, 2018
Submitted by: Doug Bruce
Region: Nome, Alaska, United States
Verified by: Norbert Kondla
Verified date: Nov 24, 2018
Observation date: Aug 02, 2018
Submitted by: ncrosbyrd
Region: Greenlee County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 19, 2018
Observation date: Jun 22, 2017
Submitted by: crjenkins
Region: Ontario, Canada
Verified by: rosslayberry
Verified date: Sep 11, 2018
Observation date: May 22, 2018
Submitted by: L Reid
Region: La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States
Verified by: Tom Middagh
Verified date: Aug 28, 2018
Observation date: Aug 02, 2018
Submitted by: prairie fairie
Region: Big Stone County, Minnesota, United States
Verified by: Tom Middagh
Verified date: Aug 28, 2018
Observation date: May 25, 2018
Submitted by: BugBrit
Region: Penobscot County, Maine, United States
Verified by: rosslayberry
Verified date: Aug 18, 2018
Observation date: Jun 28, 2018
Submitted by: taogirl
Region: Mesa County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: mikefisher
Verified date: Aug 10, 2018
Observation date: May 10, 2018
Submitted by: sandyleapt
Region: Clackamas County, Oregon, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Aug 05, 2018
Observation date: Jun 18, 2018
Submitted by: John Terpstra
Region: Ontario, Canada
Verified by: rosslayberry
Verified date: Jul 25, 2018
Observation date: Apr 02, 2017
Submitted by: Team Kweeper
Region: El Dorado County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Jul 22, 2018
Observation date: May 22, 2017
Submitted by: jani
Region: Manitoba, Canada
Verified by: chalicerae
Verified date: Jul 22, 2018
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