Pollinator
Boisduval's blue
Icaricia icarioides
A silvery western blue bound to lupines.
- Family
- Lycaenidae (gossamer-wings)
- Wingspan
- 1 to 1.4 in (2.5 to 3.6 cm)
- Flight season
- Spring to summer
- Range
- Western North America
- Caterpillar food
- Lupines
- Conservation
- Secure (some subspecies imperiled)
Boisduval's blue is a silvery-blue western butterfly, larger than most blues, its underside pale and spotted. It is closely tied to the lupines it depends on.
It flies in a single long brood in meadows, sagebrush, and forest openings across the West.
Caterpillars feed only on lupines; several local subspecies, restricted to particular lupines, are of conservation concern.
Plants for the boisduval's blue
8 caterpillar host plants and 17 documented nectar plants. Pick a role, then narrow with the filters below.
22 plants
Nectar
1 of 2 Common Sunflower Helianthus annuus Nectar
1 of 2 Common yarrow complex Achillea millefolium Nectar
Chokecherry Prunus virginiana Nectar
1 of 2 Big Sagebrush Artemisia tridentata Nectar
California buckeye Aesculus californica Host
1 of 3 Texas bluebonnet Lupinus texensis Nectar
1 of 3 Pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea Nectar
1 of 3 Great blanketflower Gaillardia aristata Host
1 of 2 Sundial Lupine Lupinus perennis Nectar
1 of 2 Spreading dogbane Apocynum androsaemifolium Nectar
1 of 2 Seaside daisy Erigeron glaucus Host
1 of 2 Nootka Lupine Lupinus nootkatensis Nectar
1 of 3 Prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris Host + Nectar
1 of 2 Silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus Host + Nectar
1 of 2 Coastal bush lupine Lupinus arboreus Nectar
1 of 2 Bluehead gilia Gilia capitata Nectar
1 of 2 Sulfur buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum Host
1 of 2 Sandyland Bluebonnet Lupinus subcarnosus Host + Nectar
1 of 2 Miniature Lupine Lupinus bicolor Host
1 of 3 Sky Lupine Lupinus nanus Nectar
1 of 3 Scarlet bugler Penstemon centranthifolius Nectar
Prairie Groundsel Packera plattensis
1 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 31 of 31 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 3No plants match those filters.
Sources
- Butterflies and Moths of North America ↗
- iNaturalist ↗
- Plant associations from GloBI flower-visit records and NPIN larval-host data. Butterfly photographs via iNaturalist (CC BY).