''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

. It is found in North America from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and peninsula Florida; south in the mountains to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, also on Molokai island, Hawaii. Since the publication of a monograph on the '' Lycaenopsis'' group of lycaenid genera in 1983 by Eliot & Kawazoe, ''C. ladon'' has been considered by some taxonomic authorities to be a subspecies of '' C. argiolus'' (Linnaeus, 1758). Other authorities still consider ''C. ladon'' and related species ''C. neglecta'' and ''C. serotina'' to be "full" species. Its wingspan is . The metallic blue wings have a black margin in females. The undersides of the wings are white with speckles. Celastrina ladon Bruce

Similar species

* Cherry gall azure (''C. serotina'') * Holly azure (''C. idella'') * Lucia azure (''C. lucia'') * Summer azure (''C. neglecta'')

References

ladon Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1780 Taxa named by Pieter Cramer {{Polyommatini-stub