Celastrina ladon

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}

{{Redirect|Spring azure|the other butterfly with this common name|Holly blue}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Spring azure

| image = Celastrina ladon 03745.JPG

| image_caption = Male, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, Washington, United States

| image2 = Spring azure (Celastrina ladon) female.jpg

| image2_caption = Female, Panama

| taxon = Celastrina ladon

| authority = (Cramer, 1780)

| synonyms =

| status = G4

| status_system = TNC

| status_ref = {{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Celastrina ladon Spring Azure |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.116204/Celastrina_ladon |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=20 September 2020}}

}}

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 peninsula Florida; south in the mountains to Colombia, also on Molokai island, Hawaii.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Since the publication of a monograph on the Lycaenopsis group of lycaenid genera in 1983 by Eliot & Kawazoe,{{smallcaps|Eliot, J. N. and Kawazoe, A.}}, 1983. Blue butterflies of the Lycaenopsis group: 1-309, 6 pls. London. C. ladon has been considered by some taxonomic authorities to be a subspecies of C. argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758). Other authorities still consider C. ladon and related species C. neglecta and C. serotina to be "full" species.[http://bugguide.net/node/view/41017 Cherry Gall Azure full species status], BugGuide.com[http://www.cbif.gc.ca/spp_pages/butterflies/species/SpringAzure_e.php Spring Azure], Butterflies of Canada[http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1591 Spring Azure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313045109/http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1591# |date=2009-03-13 }}, Butterflies and Moths of North America[http://www.eol.org/pages/262161 Spring Azure], Encyclopedia of Life[http://www.funet.com/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/polyommatinae/celastrina/index.html Celastrina] at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera

Its wingspan is {{convert|22|-|35|mm|in}}. The metallic blue wings have a black margin in females. The undersides of the wings are white with speckles.{{Cite book |last=Will |first=Kip |title=Field Guide to California Insects |last2=Gross |first2=Joyce |last3=Rubinoff |first3=Daniel |last4=Powell |first4=Jerry A. |publisher=University of California Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780520288744 |location=Oakland, California |pages=406}}

File:Celastrina ladon Bruce.jpg

Similar species

References

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ladon

Category:Butterflies of North America

Category:Butterflies described in 1780

Category:Taxa named by Pieter Cramer

{{Polyommatini-stub}}