''Celastrina lucia'', the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of

butterfly 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 ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest 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 the known butterfl ...

. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

south through the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is between 22–35 mm. Adults are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The dorsal wing surface of males is blue, while females have a broad, dark brown outer forewing margin. They are on wing from April to July. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on ''

Vaccinium ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...

'' species, including '' V. pallidum''. The larvae may be green, yellow, pink or brown, depending on their food source.

Taxonomy

Until the early 1990s, most North American azures were thought to be a single species, ''

Celastrina ladon ''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and ...

''. More recently, research has revealed that there are many different species of azures, including ''C. lucia'',Celastrina ladon complex - USA National Phenology Network
/ref> which had been treated as a subspecies of ''C. ladon''.

Similar species

Cherry gall azure ''Celastrina serotina'', the cherry gall azure, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found across North America as far north as the treeline. Its flight time is between mid-May and mid-June in eastern Ontario after the spring azure and ...

(''C. serotina'') *

Holly azure ''Celastrina idella'', the American holly azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found on the east coast of the United States. Description Adults The wing uppersides are uniform light blue or purplish-blue, shinier in ...

(''C. idella'') *

Spring azure ''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and ...

(''C. ladon'') *

Summer azure ''Celastrina neglecta'', the summer azure, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America. Layberry, Hall, and Lafontaine, in ''The Butterflies of Canada'', describe the species: The upper surface is pale blue with an ext ...

(''C. neglecta'')

Gallery

Celastrina lucia larvae.JPG, Variation in larval colour pattern of ''C. lucia'' found on ''

Viburnum lentago ''Viburnum lentago'', the nannyberry, sheepberry, or sweet viburnum, is a species of ''Viburnum'' native to North America. Description It is a large shrub or small tree growing upwards to tall with a trunk up to in diameter and a short trunk, ...

'' (left column) and ''

Cornus alternifolia ''Cornus alternifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the ...

'' (right column)

References

* * Celastrina Taxa named by William Kirby (entomologist) Butterflies described in 1837 {{Polyommatini-stub