''Glaucopsyche lygdamus'', the silvery blue, is a small

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

native to North America. Its upperside is a light blue in males and a dull grayish blue in females. The underside is gray with a single row of round spots of differing sizes depending upon the region. ''G. lygdamus'' is found over much of the western United States and most of

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 ...

extending north excepting most of Nunavut and the high

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

islands. Wingspan is from 18 to 28 mm. It occurs in a variety of habitats including alpine meadows, shale barrens, dunes, and wooded areas. It feeds on ''

Lupinus ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

'' plants.

Subspecies

Endangered Palos Verdes blue butterfly (5170035465)

Listed alphabetically:''Glaucopsyche''
at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera * ''G. l. afra'' ( W. H. Edwards, 1884) – Afra (silvery) blue * ''G. l. arizonensis'' McDunnough, 1934 – Arizona silvery blue * ''G. l. australis'' (F. Grinnell, 1917) – southern (silvery) blue * ''G. l. columbia'' (Skinner, 1917) – Columbia blue or Skinner's (silvery) blue * ''G. l. couperi'' Grote, 1873 – Couper's silvery blue * ''G. l. deserticola'' (Austin & J. Emmel, 1998) – Mojave silvery blue * ''G. l. incognitus'' Tilden, 1974 – Behr's silvery blue * ''G. l. jacki'' Stallings & Turner, 1947 – Jack's (silvery) blue * ''G. l. lygdamus'' (

Edward Doubleday Edward Doubleday (9 October 1810 – 14 December 1849) was an English entomologist primarily interested in Lepidoptera. He is best known for ''The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera: Comprising Their Generic Characters, a Notice of Their Habits and ...

, 1841) – (Georgian) silvery blue * ''G. l. mildredae'' F. Chermock, 1944 – Mildred's silvery blue * ''G. l. minipunctum'' (Austin, 1998) – mini-spotted silvery blue * ''G. l. nittanyensis'' (F. Chermock, 1944) – Appalachian silvery blue * ''G. l. oro''

Scudder Scudder, a surname, may refer to: People * Bernard Scudder, translator from Icelandic to English * Edward W. Scudder (1822-1893), Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court * Horace Scudder, American editor * Henry Scudder (clergyman) (d. 1659?), E ...

, 1876 – oro (silvery) blue * ''G. l. palosverdesensis'' (E. Perkins & J. Emmel, 1977) –

Palos Verdes blue The Palos Verdes blue (''Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis'') is a small endangered butterfly native to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southwest Los Angeles County, California, United States. As its distribution has been proven to be limited ...

* ''G. l. pseudoxerces'' (Emmel & Emmel, 1998) – false Xerces (silvery) blue * ''G. l. sabulosa'' (Emmel, Emmel & Mattoon, 1998) – sand dune silvery blue

Visually similar species

* Eastern tailed-blue (''Cupido comyntas'') has small 'tails' on hindwings *

Western tailed-blue The western tailed-blue (''Cupido amyntula)'' is a Nearctic non-migratory butterfly that commonly takes flight during the spring and summer seasons of March–July. They can be best classified as having a presence of a tail on their hindwing, an ...

(''Cupido amyntula'') has small 'tails' on hindwings * Arrowhead blue (''Glaucopsyche piasus'') * Greenish blue (''Aricia saepiolus'') has two rows of small black spots on the underside of both wingsSilvery Blue
Butterflies of Canada * Boisduval's blue (''Aricia icarioides'') has two rows of small black spots on the underside of both wings

References

External links

*
Silvery blue
Talk about Wildlife
Silvery blue
Massachusetts Butterfly Club {{Taxonbar, from=Q2906463

lygdamus Lygdamus was a Roman poet who wrote in Classical Latin. Six of his elegies, addressed to a girl named Neaera, are preserved in the ''Appendix Tibulliana'' alongside the apocryphal works of Tibullus. He belonged to the literary circle around Marcus ...

Butterflies described in 1841 Butterflies of North America