Western pygmy blue

Brephidium exilis

B. e. exilis California

B. e. thompsoni Grand Cayman
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Brephidium
Species:	B. exilis
Binomial name
*Brephidium exilis* (Boisduval, 1852)^[1]
Synonyms
Lycaena exilis Boisduval, 1852 Lycaena fea Edwards, 1871 Brephidium exilis ab. coolidgei Gunder, 1925 Brephidium exilis yucateca Clench, 1970 Lycaena isophthalma Herrich-Schäffer, 1862 Brephidium barbouri Clench, 1943 Brephidium exilis thompsoni Carpenter & Lewis, 1943

The western pygmy blue (Brephidium exilis or Brephidium exile) is one of the smallest butterflies in the world and the smallest in North America. It has reached Hawaii, as well as the Persian Gulf, including eastern Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

It has a wingspan of about half an inch (12 mm).

Subspecies

Brephidium exilis exilis (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico, New Orleans to Florida, Georgia)
Brephidium exilis isophthalma (Herrich-Schäffer, 1862) (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Bahamas)
Brephidium exilis thompsoni (Carpenter & Lewis, 1943) (Grand Cayman)^[2]

Images

B. e. thompsoni
Grand Cayman
B. e. thompsoni
Grand Cayman

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Western pygmy blue.

Wikispecies has information related to: Western pygmy blue

↑ Brephidium at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera
↑ R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, Butterflies of the Cayman Islands (Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2008) ISBN 978-87-88757-85-9, pp. 78-80

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.