Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas)

So, back to Saturday. I almost missed this Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas). It is a very small butterfly. At first I thought it was a small gray moth as it flew in the grass and then I realized that it was more blue than gray – something that should be investigated more closely. It was much more skittish than the Red-Banded Hairstreak. I couldn’t get close at all.

Its' ventral wing pattern…

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) [Female]

Its' dorsal wing pattern. Its' dorsal wing colors were more muted than

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) [Male]

the colors of this male Eastern Tailed-Blue I photographed in June 2009.

Identification resources:
- West Central Georgia Butterflies by Michael Beohm: Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas)
- BugGuide: Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) [Male dorsal] [Female dorsal] [Ventral]
Click the image to view a larger image