acmon blue ~ 06/02/10 ~ Huckleberry Hill

acmon blue
Plebejus acmon

This is one of my better butterfly pictures and had to post. It's a sweet little butterfly which tends to hold still long enough for me to get the camera out. I like the iridescent blue spots and the seemingly snobby upturned nose. For something so small, it's got presence and stylish attitude.

ps 06/21/10 - There's a possibility that this is a lupine blue (Plebejus lupini). I certainly can't tell the difference just by looks from the underside. I believe (and I could be wrong), that we have both species flying locally this time of year. Glassberg notes that these two species may be one and the same.

pss 05/0514 - I originally posted this as acmon blue (Plebejus acmon) and have changed the ID above to lupine blue.  I've been in discussion with Paul Johnson at Pinnacles about these two look-alike butterflies, and I'm posting this with his permission.  So often one can only get a clear picture of the underside of the hindwing, because of the way these small butterflies like to perch.  His idea is that the metallic scales are different colors in each species.  I've looked at a ton of online photographs, and based on his idea, I've decided the following for my blog IDs:
gold-greenish = acmon: see Bill Bouton's 2008 photo
silver-bluish = lupini:  see Ken Kertell's 2009 photo

Therefore, the above should be lupine blue, like the color of the flower.  This idea has yet to be tested.

pss 06/13/14 - Wishy-washy.  I've decided this has to be acmon... small dainty dots and fresh June appearance.  Maybe the color of scales may not be reliable across locations?  For reference, lupine blue, Plebejus lupini, (Shapiro and Tenney).