The western pygmy blue (''Brephidium exilis'' or ''Brephidium exile'') is one of the smallest

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the world and the smallest in North America. It has reached

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, as well as the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

, including eastern

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Description

The upperside is copper brown with dull blue at the bases of both wings. The underside of the hindwing is copper brown with white at the base; the fringe mostly white, with 3 small black spots near base, and a row of black spots at outer margin. The wingspan is 12–20 mm.

Biology

Males establish a territory in which they look for receptive females to mate with. After mating, females lay eggs on all parts of the host plant, oftenmost on the uppersides of leaves. The caterpillars eat all parts of the plant; host species include Pigweed (''

Chenopodium album ''Chenopodium album'' is a fast-growing weedy annual plant in the genus ''Chenopodium''. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, wild spinach and fat-h ...

''), saltbush species (''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and w ...

''), and others in the goosefoot family (

Chenopodiaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

). Adult imagos appear in July–September in the north, while it appears year round in South Texas. Adults feed on nectar only.

Distribution and habitat

This butterfly can be found in alkaline areas such as

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es, and barren areas. They are common across their natural range, which includes the Southwestern United States from California eastwards to west Texas, and from Mexico to Venezuela. It may migrate to Arkansas, Nebraska, and Oregon. Its introduced range includes the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and eastern Saudi Arabia along the Persian Gulf coast up to Kuwait.

Subspecies

There are four subspecies: *''Brephidium exilis exilis'' (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico, New Orleans to Florida, Georgia) *''Brephidium exilis isophthalma'' (Herrich-Schäffer, 1862) (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Bahamas) *''Brephidium exilis thompsoni'' (Carpenter & Lewis, 1943) (Grand Cayman)R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, ''Butterflies of the Cayman Islands'' (Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2008) , pp. 78-80 *''Brephidium exilis yucateca'' (Yucatan peninsula)

Images

Starr 010211 5426 brephidium exilis.jpg, Lateral view of an adult Starr 040606 0083 brephidium exilis.jpg, Pinned specimen Grand Cayman pygmy blue (Brephidium exilis thompsoni) 3.JPG, ''B. e. thompsoni'',

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles ( ...

Pygmy blue (Brephidium exilis thompsoni) 2.JPG, ''B. e. thompsoni'', Grand Cayman

References

Brephidium Butterflies of North America Butterflies of South America Butterflies described in 1852 {{Polyommatini-stub