Page 157 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Lycaenidae
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Northwestern United States (Washington State, Oregon)
DIS
DISTRIBUTION
HABIT
A
HABITAT T Open areas in moderate to high elevation forests and shrub-steppe
HABITAT
HOST PLANTS S Sulphur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum)
T PLANT
HOS
HOST PLANTS
NOTE
TE
NOTE One of many Euphilotes caterpillars in western North America
NO
CONSERV A TION S T A TUS Not evaluated
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERVATION STATUS
ADULT WINGSPAN
⅞–1 in (23–25 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
⁷∕₁₆ in (11 mm)
EUPHILOTES GLAUCON
SUMMIT BLUE 155
(W. H. EDWARDS, 1871)

Summit Blue caterpillars hatch from their eggs in five days. The

first instars do not eat their eggshells but feed primarily on the

buds, flowers, and fruits of the host plant. When feeding on
seeds, the caterpillars cut small, round holes and hollow out
the insides with their extendable necks. Development from
egg hatch to pupation takes around 30 days. The caterpillars
are solitary and do not construct nests. The primary survival
strategy appears to be camouflage, although ants may also
attend and protect the caterpillars from the parasites that
commonly attack them.

The pupae overwinter, with adults emerging in the spring.
Adult Summit Blues associate closely with the host plant, the
females flying from flower to flower, bending their abdomens Actual size

to lay eggs on the blossoms of freshly opened blooms and
avoiding the more mature ones. Females lay their eggs singly,

almost always on the inside parts of an open flower. There is a
single generation annually.
The Summit Blue caterpillar is variable in
color but usually pale cinnamon to red with a
contrasting yellow to red, broken stripe dorsally
and laterally. The pale setae are ne and longer
laterally than dorsally. The caterpillar’s coloration
deepens to dark red as it approaches pupation.