Acmon Blue

Sipping nectar from wild spearmint

Acmon Blue
Plebejus acmon
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae

Life History: Males patrol near hosts for females. Eggs are laid singly on leaves or flowers of host plants. Caterpillars feed on leaves, flowers, and developing seeds, and are tended by ants. Second-stage caterpillars hibernate.

Flight: Many flights from March-October.
                                                                                                                                                                          

Caterpillar

Caterpillar Hosts: Various species of buckwheats (Eriogonum nudum), lupines (Lupinus), trefoils (lotus), and milkvetches (Astragalus).

Chrysalis

Sipping nectar from wild spearmint

Adult Food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Desert, fields, prairie hills, weedy areas, road edges.

Range: Primarily California west of Sierra Nevada-Cascade Divide south to northern Baja California.
Precise limits in neighboring Oregon and Nevada not ascertained. 











Caterpillar and chrysalis photos from web.