''Celastrina neglecta'', the summer azure, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly ...

. It is found in North America. Layberry, Hall, and Lafontaine, in ''The Butterflies of Canada'', describe the species:

The upper surface is pale blue with an extensive dusting of white scales, especially on the hindwing. In some females the blue is almost entirely replaced by white with a small amount of blue near the wing bases. Females have a broad blackish-grey band on the outer third and costa of the forewing. The underside is chalky white to pale grey with tiny dark grey spots and a zigzagged submarginal line on the hindwing.

Wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is . The summer azure occurs across most of eastern and central United States as well as southern Canada from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

to southern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

. Adults fly from mid-June until early October with two or three generations in the south. The taxonomic status of this butterfly, originally described as ''Lycaena neglecta'' Edwards, 1862, has been in flux over the years. It was at one time treated as a synonym of ''Celastrina argiolus lucia'' ('' Lycaena lucia'' Kirby, 1837).

Similar species

Spring azure ''Celastrina ladon'', the spring azure or echo blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra, through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and ...

(''C. ladon'') *

Cherry gall azure ''Celastrina serotina'', the cherry gall azure, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found across North America as far north as the treeline. Its flight time is between mid-May and mid-June in eastern Ontario after the spring azure an ...

(''C. serotina'') *

Holly azure ''Celastrina idella'', the American holly azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found on the east coast of the United States. Description Adults The wing uppersides are uniform light blue or purplish-blue, shinier in ...

(''C. idella'') *

Lucia azure ''Celastrina lucia'', the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the Maritimes south through the Appalachia ...

(''C. lucia'')

References

External links

Summer azure
Butterflies and Moths of North America Celastrina Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1862 Taxa named by William Henry Edwards {{Polyommatini-stub