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

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 in North America from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. 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 22-35 mm. The metallic blue wings have a black margin in females. Undersides of the wings are white with speckles. Celastrina ladon Bruce

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'') *

Lucia azure ''Celastrina lucia'', the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the Maritimes south through the Appalachia ...

(''C. lucia'') *

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'')

References

External links

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