Lupine blue
The lupine blue is a little butterfly from western North America. It belongs to the blues, a group of small, dainty butterflies. It flutters over mountains and high plains and sips nectar from flowers.
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Fun facts
Its wings measure only about 2 to 3 centimetres from tip to tip.
The mother lays her eggs on or near the flowers of the plant her caterpillars will eat.
It spends the winter as a very young caterpillar, resting until spring.
In many places there are several families of butterflies each year, flying from March to July.
Most asked questions about Lupine blue
?What does the lupine blue eat?
The butterflies drink nectar, and the caterpillars eat wild buckwheat plants, not lupines.
?Is the lupine blue dangerous?
No. It is a tiny, harmless butterfly.
Myth buster
Myth: Lupine blue caterpillars live on lupine plants.
Truth: No. Despite its name, its caterpillars eat wild buckwheat plants instead.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Icaricia lupini
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Icaricia lupini (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Ingrid Taylar. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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