Karner blue
The Karner blue is a tiny butterfly, about as wide as a big coin. The male is silvery blue to deep blue on top, and the female is darker, with orange marks near the edges. Underneath, both are silvery grey with black dots and orange half moons.
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Fun facts
It was described in 1944 by Vladimir Nabokov, a famous writer who also loved studying butterflies.
Its caterpillars eat only wild lupine. Without lupine, there are no Karner blues.
It is endangered in the United States and has not been seen in Canada since 1991.
It is the official state butterfly of New Hampshire.
There are two families a year. The second summer group is often three or four times bigger than the first.
Most asked questions about Karner blue
?Why is the Karner blue endangered?
Its open sandy homes have been built over or overgrown by trees, and its caterpillars can eat only wild lupine.
?What does the Karner blue eat?
The caterpillar eats only wild lupine leaves. The grown-up butterfly drinks nectar from flowers.
?How big is the Karner blue?
Its wings are only about 2.5 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Plebejus samuelis
- Named by
- Nabokov, 1944
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Karner blue (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hollingsworth, J & K. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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