En Kobber Butterfly in Disguise

For alle henseender det ligner en blå sommerfugl (som i underfamilie Polyommatinae)… det er meget, meget blå efter alle. Men forudsætninger baseret på farve ville føre dig ned den forkerte vej; som det viser sig denne sommerfugl er faktisk en art kobber. Der er subtil forskel i fløj form og sandsynligvis årer, but when I first saw these butterflies I assumed they were a sub-species of Plebejus icarioides (hvilken were også flying at this location on the Kaibab Plateau). But then I began seeing female butterflies (nedenfor) interacting with these blues and then it dawned on me – blue copper – Lycaena heteronea austin (Blåfugle: Lycaeninae)!

This subspecies was originally described in 1998 by the late, store George T. Austin as L. heteronea rutila. Given however that rutila more or less = rutilus, it was later determined rutila was actually unavailable and the subspecies name was changed to austin in honor of George.

male Lycaena heteroena austin (Blåfugle)

female Lycaena heteroena austin