I left these two pictures on the right, because they are of the first Ceraunus Blue Butterfly I found. The fuzzy white dot on the vine is her tiny egg; I watched her lay it.
| Ceraunus Blue Butterfly |
These tiny flutterers look a bit blue from the top. They're not inclined to
sit still for a photo very often, but if you find a
Vigna luteola vine, you have a
good chance of getting a brief glance while they pause to lay eggs on
it.
Look to the left of the Vigna luteola flower in my hand. The green slug
like bug isn't slimy at all. It's a caterpillar, well designed to blend
in with the plant it's eating. When it's eaten enough, it will turn into
a chrysalis, and a couple of weeks later, a Ceraunus Blue Butterfly like
the one above will emerge and fly away.
The blue butterflies I've found generally perch with their wings closed.
This one seemed to be sunning; it landed, opened and closed it's wings a
few times, and then flew off. Fortunately it repeated this behavior
several times, so I was able to pick a spot, crouch, ready the camera,
and wait for an opportunity. I was baking in the mid-summer Florida sun,
sweat running in rivulets down my neck, and quickly got more miserable
than I was excited about getting the pictures so I retreated to the air
conditioning.
The tiny purple flower the Ceraunus Blue Butterfly is perched on is
Desmodium.
