Acmon_blue

Acmon blue

Acmon blue

Species of butterfly

Icaricia acmon, the Acmon blue, is a North American butterfly. It ranges mainly in California but can be seen north to Oregon and south through Baja California.

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...

Wingspan is 17-30 mm.[1] The tops of the wings are blue with dark edges in males and brown in females. Its underside is white with black spots for both sexes with a red-orange band on the hindwing.[2] Caterpillars are yellow with white hairs and a green stripe down the back.[1]

Adults feed on nectar while caterpillars can feed on deerweed, buckwheats, lupines, trefoils, and milkvetches.[3][1]

Like many other lycaenid butterflies, it has a mutualistic relationship with ants, who protect Acmon blue larvae in exchange for honeydew that the larvae secrete.

References

  1. [1]
    Will, Kip; Gross, Joyce; Rubinoff, Daniel; Powell, Jerry A. (2020). Field Guide to California Insects. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 406. ISBN 9780520288744.
  2. [2]
    "Acmon Blue Plebejus acmon (Westwood, [1851]) | Butterflies and Moths of North America". www.butterfliesandmoths.org.
  3. [3]
    "Icaricia acmon". explorer.natureserve.org.


This Polyommatini-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Acmon_blue, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.