Spring Azure
(Celastrina landon)

This delicate blue butterfly first appears early in March and is present until the middle of September. It is more common along the edge of wooded areas and adjacent openings than it is in the butterfly garden. Females are reported to lay their eggs on wingstem, which is common along the edge of the prairie and near the bike trail. It will visit a wide of variety of plants for nectar and is also known for using mud puddles as a source of moisture. The spring azure is similar in appearance to the Eastern Tailed-Blue , however it lacks tails and the orange eye-spots that are on the hindwing of the eastern tailed-blue. This butterfly rarely lands with its wings spread. The butterfly pictured on the left has lost one of its hindwings and so you are able to see the pattern that is on the dorsal surface of the forewing. Often there is only one wide dark border band instead of two.