Eastern Tailed-blue

Here's a type of butterfly I've been meeting quite a bit over the last month, the Eastern Tailed-Blue.

You might be asking "where's the blue?". This isn't a case of weird lighting or individual color variation; this is a female, and they are more gray than blue. With the wings up, you would see a small, primarily white but slightly speckled butterfly.

If you look closely, you can see a pair of "tails", which are little parts of the rear wing that protrude out a bit. (They appear white-black-white in this picture.) Those tails make for an easy identification here in New Jersey, since it rules out the Spring and Summer Azures.

May 2, 2021 at the Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 128321541, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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