Euphilotes rita

Euphilotes rita, the rita blue or desert buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico. The species was first described by William Barnes and James Halliday McDunnough in 1916.[2]

Euphilotes rita
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Euphilotes
Species:
E. rita
Binomial name
Euphilotes rita
Synonyms
  • Lycaena rita Barnes & McDunnough, 1916

The wingspan is 17–22 mm. The upperside of the males is bright lilac blue with dark borders and a small orange patch at the corner of the hindwings. The upperside of the females is brown with an orange marginal band. The underside of both sexes is off white with black spots. Adults are on wing from July to late September in one generation per year. They feed on the flower nectar of Eriogonum species.

The larvae feed on the flowers and fruits of wild Eriogonum species, including Eriogonum effusum, Eriogonum flavum, Eriogonum leptocladon, Eriogonum racemosum and Eriogonum wrightii. The larvae are tended by ants.

Subspecies
  • Euphilotes rita rita
  • Euphilotes rita coloradensis (Mattoni, 1966)
  • Euphilotes rita mattoni (Shields, 1975)
  • Euphilotes rita emmeli (Shields, 1975)
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References
  1. Savela, Markku. "Euphilotes rita (Barnes & McDunnough, 1916)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  2. Lotts, Kelly & Naberhaus, Thomas (2017). "Rita Dotted-Blue Euphilotes rita (Barnes & McDunnough, 1916)". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Retrieved June 14, 2019.


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