Agriades podarce

Agriades podarce, the arrowhead Arctic blue, gray blue or Sierra Nevada blue, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from southern Oregon to central California in the Klamath Range and the Sierra Nevada. The habitat consists of subalpine meadows.

This article is about the North America butterfly. For the European Sierra Nevada blue, see Polyommatus golgus.

Agriades podarce
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Agriades
Species:
A. podarce
Binomial name
Agriades podarce
(C. & R. Felder, [1865])[1]
Synonyms
  • Lycaena podarce C. & R. Felder, [1865]
  • Plebejus podarce
  • Cupido podarce
  • Agriades glandon podarce
  • Lycaena tehama Reakirt, 1866
  • Lycaena cilla Behr, 1867
  • Lycaena nestos Boisduval, 1869

The wingspan is 22–26 mm. The upperside of the males is gray blue, while females are red brown. The underside of the forewings has black arrowhead-shaped spots that point inward. The hindwings have a discal spot which is not black.[2] Adults are on wing from June to September in one generation per year. They feed on flower nectar, including yellow composites and bistort.

The larvae feed on Dodecatheon jeffreyi.[3] Caterpillars or chrysalids hibernate.

Subspecies
  • Agriades podarce podarce
  • Agriades podarce cilla (Behr, 1867) (California)
  • Agriades podarce klamathensis J. Emmel & T. Emmel, 1998 (Oregon, California)
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References
  1. Agriades at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
  2. Butterflies and Moths of North America
  3. Butterflies of America


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