(Euphilotes ancilla)
Blues
Appearance: Above, male is dark blue with medium black borders; female is brown with orange on trailing edge of hindwing. Below, hindwing light blue-gray on both sexes and a row of submarginal orange crescents edged outwardly with disconnected black spots that form a band. The underside of forewings show numerous bold black spots on dusky gray background.
Wingspan: Small; 5/8 to 1 inch.
Habitat: Trails, rocky hilltops, ridges and slopes with host plant colonies; foothills, montane.
Flight Times: Late April to early August depending on location and elevation, one brood.
Larval Foodplant: Various buckwheat (Eriogonum) species, especially sulphur flower.
Did You Know…
A member of the “Buckwheat Blues” and the genus Euphilotes, these are probably part of a complex similar to the Square-Spotted Blue complex and difficult to identify to species. “They are best identified by flight period, locality and association with type of buckwheat…” (Brock and Kaufman, 2003). Caterpillars overwinter and are tended by ants.
