Acmon Blue (Icaricia acmon)

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Acmon blue
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Icaricia
Species:
I. acmon
Binomial name
Icaricia acmon
(Westwood, [1851])
Synonyms
  • Lycaena acmon Westwood, [1851]
  • Lycaena antaegon Boisduval, 1852
  • Rusticus acmon (Westwood, [1851])
  • Plebejus acmon (Westwood, [1851])
  • Aricia acmon (Westwood, [1851])
Acmon blue butterfly[1]

Icaricia acmon, the Acmon blue, is a North American butterfly. It ranges mainly in California and Oregon but can also be seen in southwestern Canada and in the Great Plains Region of the United States, with a total range of about 2,500,000 square km. Because of the breadth of its range, it occurs in several different habitats, such as grasslands, fields, shrub lands, forests, and deserts.[2] Amcon blue was discovered by Pierre Lorquin in 1850, while he visited California during the Gold Rush. It is believed that Amcon Blue was discovered in the San Francisco area.[3]

Wingspan is between the range of 17-30 mm.[4] The tops of the wings are blue with dark edges in males and brown in females. Its underside is white with black spots for both sexes and a red-orange band on the hindwing.[5] Caterpillars are yellow with white hairs and a green stripe down the back.[4] The Acmon is richly colored, more specifically the females with contrasting rows of red lunules (sometimes fused into a band). Meanwhile, the male's hindwing lunules tend to become pink and may disappear during autumn.[6]

Like many other lycaenid butterflies, it has a mutualistic relationship with ants, who protect Acmon blue larvae in exchange for honeydew that the larvae secrete.


Diet

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Adults: Feed on nectar

Caterpillars: Feed on, leaves, flowers,deerweed, buckwheats, lupines, trefoils, fruits of wild buckwheat, legumes such as trefoils,[7] and milkvetches.[8][4]


Risk of Extinction

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Not much is known about the predators of this species, but the Acmon blue is at risk due to global warming and decreased/changing precipitation levels caused by human development.[9]



References

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  1. ^ Arrigoni, Bettina (2019-04-13), Blue Butterfly |V&R | Silver Creek | Portal | AZ|2019-04-13|09-14-36, retrieved 2024-10-23
  2. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  3. ^ "Icaricia acmon". socalbutterflies.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  4. ^ a b c Will, Kip; Gross, Joyce; Rubinoff, Daniel; Powell, Jerry A. (2020). Field Guide to California Insects. Oakland, California: University of California Press. p. 406. ISBN 9780520288744.
  5. ^ "Acmon Blue Plebejus acmon (Westwood, [1851]) | Butterflies and Moths of North America". www.butterfliesandmoths.org.
  6. ^ "Plebejus acmon Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site |". butterfly.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
  7. ^ "Plebejus Icaricia acmon". digitalatlas.cose.isu.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  8. ^ "Icaricia acmon". explorer.natureserve.org.
  9. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
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Synonyms

  • Plebejus acmon

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