Boisduval's blue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Boisduval's blue |
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| Mission blue, male upperside. | |
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| Fender's blue, male underside. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Icaricia
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| Species: |
icarioides
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| Subspecies | |
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See text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Icaricia icarioides, or Boisduval's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae found in North America. This butterfly has 25 recognized subspecies.
This species has been classified in at least four different genera since it was named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1852. It started out in Lycaena, was transferred to Icaricia by Nabokov (Hodges et al., 1983), moved to Aricia by Bálint and Johnson (1997), merged with some other genera in the supergenus Plebejus by Gorbunov (2001), which was accepted by Opler & Warren (2003) and Pelham's Catalogue (as of 2012); however, Lamas (2004) among others use Aricia. More recently, it was moved back to the genus Icaricia, which was reinstated as a result of molecular studies (Vila et al., 2011; Talavera et al., 2013). Synonymy, subgenera, and subspecies vary considerably depending on the author.
Their range extends throughout the western US and Canada from southern Saskatchewan to British Columbia.
Larvae feed on species of lupines (Lupinus).
Wingspan: 21 to 32 mm.
Similar species
- Greenish blue (Icaricia saepiolus)
- Silvery blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)
Subspecies
- Icaricia icarioides evius
- Icaricia icarioides santana
- Icaricia icarioides moroensis
- Icaricia icarioides atascadero
- Icaricia icarioides pardalis
- Icaricia icarioides missionensis – Mission blue
- Icaricia icarioides pheres (extinct)
- Icaricia icarioides parapheres
- Icaricia icarioides fenderi – Fender's blue
- Icaricia icarioides blackmorei - Puget blue
- Icaricia icarioides montis
- Icaricia icarioides helios
- Icaricia icarioides icarioides
- Icaricia icarioides eosierra
- Icaricia icarioides albihalos
- Icaricia icarioides inyo
- Icaricia icarioides argusmontana
- Icaricia icarioides panamintina
- Icaricia icarioides austinorum
- Icaricia icarioides fulla
- Icaricia icarioides pembina
- Icaricia icarioides lycea
- Icaricia icarioides sacre
- Icaricia icarioides nigrafem
- Icaricia icarioides buchholzi
