Eastern Tailed-Blue

Notes:

The eggs from C. comyntas are laid on the leaves and flowers. The eggs, which are pale green in color, will develop into mature larvae that hibernate within the host's pod. The caterpillars are hairy with a dark green body. They also have dark brown stripes and a small black head. The caterpillars will use the flower bud that they were laid on as food, and then will later construct and hibernate their cocoon for the winter months. In the spring, an E. comyntas butterfly will emerge from the cocoon, and the life cycle will start over again. The males will look for mates during warm, daylight hours. Usually mating takes place from late morning to midafternoon. Female C. comyntas butterflies lay their eggs on immature flowering buds, in order to preserve the flowers for the caterpillars when they hatch early in the season. There are usually two or more generations a year.