North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Oregon

Acmon Blue (Plebeius [Icaricia] acmon)
JPG -- species photo

Acmon Blue (Plebeius acmon [Westwood & Hewitson])

Wing span: 3/4 - 1 1/8 inches (2 - 2.9 cm).

Identification: Upperside of males blue with dark narrow border; female brown. Underside white with black spot pattern. Hindwing above and below with red-orange submarginal band.

Life history: Males patrol near hosts for females. Eggs are laid singly on leaves or flowers of host plants. Caterpillars feed on leaves, flowers, and developing seeds, and are tended by ants. Second-stage caterpillars hibernate.

Flight: Many flights from March-October.

Caterpillar hosts: Various species of buckwheats (Eriogonum nudum), lupines (Lupinus), trefoils (lotus), and milkvetches (Astragalus).

Adult food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Desert, fields, prairie hills, weedy areas, road edges.

Range: Primarily California west of Sierra Nevada-Cascade Divide south to northern Baja California. Precise limits in neighboring Oregon and Nevada not ascertained.

Conservation: Not usually of conservation concern.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.

References:


Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the  Great Plains. Johns 

    Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.



Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern  butterflies. Peterson 

    field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co.,  Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.



Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford  University Press, 

    Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.



Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies.  Houghton-Mifflin Co.,

     Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:


Dornfeld, E. J. 1980. The Butterflies of Oregon. Forest Grove, 	Ore., Timber 

     Press.



Hinchliff, J. 1994. An atlas of Oregon Butterflies. Oregon State University

     Bookstore, Corvallis.



Hinchliff, J. 1994. The distribution of the butterflies of Oregon. Evergreen 

     Aurelians. Oregon State University Bookstore, Corvallis, 176 pp. + map. 



Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised 

     edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.



Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies. 

     Privately published, Denver, Colo. 



Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. 

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.

Acmon Blue (Plebeius [Icaricia] acmon)
distribution map
map legend

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