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Marine Blue - Leptotes marina
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Only two observations in BAMONA - at northern limit of species distribution.
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001; Pyle 2002) Forewing 1.2-1.3 cm. Uppersurface of male with both wings purplish toward bases, females without white, both sexes with one or more dark spots visible on trailing edge of hindwing; undersurface zebra-striped, chalky-white between concentric gray-brown bands, with a series of submarginal chevrons and a pair of blue-black spots on hindwing.
Phenology
Many fights throughout the year in the south, mostly March to October, May to October northward (Scott 1986). Mainly March to October, all year near Mexican border (Glassberg 2001). Late May to late October in Colorado (Scott and Scott 1978), late May to early August in Oregon (Pyle 2002; Warren 2005), early August for Idaho record (Austin and Fothergill 2006), mid-October for first Montana record (FLMNH Lepidopteristis' Society database).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best determined by the undersurface zebra-striped, chalky-white between concentric gray-brown bands, with a series of submarginal chevrons and a pair of blue-black spots on hindwing.
Range Comments
Resident from Guatemala north to southwestern US, from southern California east to southern Texas. An emigrant north to central Oregon and east to the Great Lakes region (Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001; Pyle 2002); to at least 2075 m elevation in California (Shapiro 1974), 1310 m to 2590 m elevation in Colorado (Scott and Scott 1978), to at least 1580 m elevation in Oregon (Pyle 2002), to at least 1694 m elevation in Idaho (Austin and Fothergill 2006). In Montana, unreported prior to 2002 (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993) when first documented at Billings, Yellowstone County at about 975 m elevation (FLMNH Lepidopteristis' Society database), since reported in Pondera County. Common to abundant near Mexican border, decreasing immigrant northward (Glassberg 2001).
Migration
Migratory; emigrates northward and up in elevation. Extralimital individuals in the north do not survive to establish new populations (Shapiro 1974; Scott 1986; Glassberg 2001; Pyle 2002).
Habitat
Mesquite thorn scrub, coniferous forest, tropical lowlands, urban gardens, alfalfa fields, waste areas, open areas (Scott 1986; Brown 1990; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001). Habitat not described for Montana, but probably similar (urban gardens and agricultural lands, especially alfalfa).
Food Habits
Larval food plants include Acacia, Amorpha, Astragalus, Dalea, Dolichos, Galactia, Glycyrrhiza, Lathyrus, Lotus, Lysiloma, Medicago, Phaseolus, Plumbago, Prosopis, and Wisteria (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986, 1992, 2006; Brown 1990). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Apocynum, Baccharis, Chrysothamnus, Cirsium, Eriogonum, Geranium, Medicago, Melilotus, Phaseolus, Polygonum, Schinus, Trifolium) and mud (Shapiro 1974; Brown 1990; Austin and Fothergill 2006; Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs singly on host plant flower buds. Larvae build no nest, feed on flower buds, developing seeds, rarely on petals, never on host plant leaves, are closely associated with ants (Iridomyrmex humilis reported in urban California), depart host plant to pupate in soil or litter. Adults eclose (emerge from pupa) in about 7 days (Scott 1986, 1992; Brown 1990). Males patrol erratically throughout the day in valley bottoms near host plant in search of females (Scott 1975b, 1986).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Austin, M.L. and K. Fothergill. 2006. First record of Marine Blue (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Idaho. Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science 42(1): 20-21.- Brown, J.W. 1990. Urban biology of Leptotes marina (Reakirt) (Lycaenidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 44(3): 200-201.
- Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown (eds). 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 442 pp.
- Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. Oxford University Press.
- Kohler, S. 1980. Checklist of Montana Butterflies (Rhopalocera). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1): 1-19.
- Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright. 1999. A field guide to western butterflies. Second edition. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 540 pp.
- Pyle, R.M. 2002. The butterflies of Cascadia: a field guide to all the species of Washington, Oregon, and surrounding territories. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, Washington. 420 pp.
- Scott, J.A. 1975b. Mate-locating behavior of western North American butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14:1-40.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Scott, J.A. 1992. Hostplant records for butterflies and skippers (mostly from Colorado) 1959-1992, with new life histories and notes on oviposition, immatures, and ecology. Papilio new series #6. 185 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2006. Butterfly hostplant records, 1992-2005, with a treatise on the evolution of Erynnis, and a note on new terminology for mate-locating behavior. Papilio new series #14. 74 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2014. Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower visitation by Colorado butterflies (40,615 records) with a review of the literature on pollination of Colorado plants and butterfly attraction (Lepidoptera: Hersperioidea and Papilionoidea). Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthopod Diversity. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 190 p.
- Scott, J.A. and G.R. Scott. 1978. Ecology and distribution of the butterflies of southern central Colorado. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 17(2): 73-128.
- Shapiro, A.M. 1974. Altitudinal migration of central California butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 13(3): 157-161.
- Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies: including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Unpubl. Report. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado 275 pp.
- Warren, A.D. 2005. Lepidoptera of North America 6: Butterflies of Oregon, their taxonomy, distribution, and biology. Contributions of the C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University. Fort Collins, Colorado. 406 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Forister, M.L., C.A. Halsch, C.C. Nice, J.A. Fordyce, T.E. Dilts, J.C. Oliver, K.L. Prudic, A.M. Shapiro, J.K. Wilson, J. Glassberg. 2021. Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science 371:1042-1045.
- Forister, M.L., E.M. Grames, C.A. Halsch, K.J. Burls, C.F. Carroll, K.L. Bell, J.P. Jahner, et al. 2023. Assessing risk for butterflies in the context of climate change, demographic uncertainty, and heterogeneous data sources. Ecological Monographs 93(3):e1584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1584
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
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