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Spring Azure / Summer Azure Butterfly
- Celastrina ladon
Aka Summer Azure, Holly Azure / Family:
Lycaenidae (Harvesters, coppers, hairstreaks, and blues) / Subfamily
Polyommatinae / Species: Celastrina ladon
Live adult butterflies
photographed in the wild at Winfield IL USA.
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Summer Azure Butterfly |
This butterfly is part of what has
been called the "Spring Azure Complex" - that is, several species of
butterflies so closely related and similar in appearance that even
experts have trouble telling them apart. They are variously known as
Spring Azure, Summer Azure, Hops Azure and Holly Azure, et al. Until
recently, all North American azures were thought of as one wildly
variable species, and their classification is still being studied.
It has been suggested that the layman simply enjoy these butterflies
as azures and leave it at that.
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These azures were all photographed
in the month of July, near the west branch of the DuPage River in
northern Illinois. I suppose, therefore, that they are summer azures
(Celastina ladon neglecta); I do not see these butterflies here at
any time of year other than deep summer. These are small butterflies
(about the size of a U.S. dime), very erratic flyers and difficult
to catch sitting still for long. |
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