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Project Noah Nature School
Hemiargus ceraunus
Very small butterfly from the Blue subfamily. It's white with a brown pattern and black spots on the underside. I did not see the tops of the wings. "Two prominent black spots on leading edge of hindwing, below. One or more prominent large eyepots along the outer edge of hindwing (regional variations - southeastern ones seem to have one, southwestern ones, two)." - BugGuide " Upperside of male light blue with a darker narrow border; female dark brown, often with wing bases blue. (Wingspan) 3/4 - 1 1/8 inches (2 - 3 cm)." - Butterflies and Moths of North America.
California Buckwheat in coastal scrub. They prefer "open woodland, desert scrub, dunes, pastures, road edges, and vacant lots." - Butterflies and Moths of North America. The range is the "Southeastern and southwestern states. Year-round in FL and TX, ranging northwards in warmer months." - BugGuide
This is the first of this species from California that was submitted to BugGuide. Another good resource for this species: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/speci...
Spotted on Jul 29, 2012
Submitted on Jul 30, 2012
2 Comments
Thank you Bernadette!
Love that first shot! So delicate.