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North American Ecology (US and Canada)

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Resident in much of northern North America and extending patchily south into the Rocky Mountains, with a non-contiguous population in California/southern Oregon (Scott 1986). Habitats are usually CANADIAN TO ARCTIC/ALPINE ZONE PRAIRIE, OPEN WOODLAND, TUNDRA. Hosts plants are usually herbaceous and include species from many families. Eggs are laid on the host plant singly. Individuals overwinter as larvae or pupae. There is one flight each year with the approximate flight time JULY1-AUG30 in most of the range, JUN15-JULY15 in lower altitudes, and JULY 15-AUG15 in the most northern parts of the range (Scott 1986). Synonomized with Plebejus glandon by some sources (Scott 1986).
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Leslie Ries
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Leslie Ries

Conservation Status

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Not of concern.
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Cyclicity

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One yearly flight in the mountains in July and August, and during June on the prairies.
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Distribution

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Due to the unresolved taxonomy of this group, the range limits are not clear. The North American representatives of Agriades blues, in one form or another, range from northern Alaska to Newfoundland and south to central Manitoba and south through the American west to New Mexico (Guppy & Shepard 2001).
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General Description

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" The only other Alberta blue with a large white patch (sometimes with a central black spot) in the middle of the hindwing underside is the Arrowhead Blue (Glaucopsyche piasus), but the Agriades blues are smaller, lack a checkered wing fringe, and have black discal spots on the upperside. Subspecies megalo inhabits the mountains, and is darker overall with prominent underside black spots compared to the Rustic Blue (A. glandon rusticus) of the prairies and parkland. These two are most likely different species. Subspecies lacustris inhabits the Canadian Shield region in the far north, and is most similar to the mountain populations (contra Guppy & Shepard 2001). This group of blues has been the subject of much taxonomic debate over the years, and the correct names for our species are as yet unresolved; many names have been applied to this species (Kondla & Schmidt 1991), most recently treated as subspecies of Agriades glandon or aquilo (Layberry et al. 1998, Opler 1999, Guppy & Shepard 2001), which were described from Europe. A growing body of evidence strongly suggests that there are at least two species here in Alberta, neither of which are the European glandon (C. Schmidt & N. Kondla, unpubl. data)."
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Habitat

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Alpine and subalpine meadows, sparsely vegetated grasslands and boreal sand dunes.
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Life Cycle

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No data available for Rocky Mountain populations. Hardy (1963) provides a description of some of the early stages from Vancouver Island, BC: the white egg is slightly flattened dorsoventrally, and second instar larvae are tan-coloured with faint subdorsal lines and a wine-coloured head. Adult males often congregate to sip moisture at damp earth along roadisdes or mountain paths. Arctic Blues can be easy to miss because of their rapid flight close to the ground.
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Trophic Strategy

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The Arctic Blue lays eggs on Saxifrage (Saxifraga bronchialis and S. tricuspidata) in southwestern BC and the Yukon (Hardy 1963, Guppy & Shepard 2001). Adults will nectar on a variety of wildflowers.
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Agriades glandon

provided by wikipedia EN

Agriades glandon, the Arctic blue or Glandon blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.[1] It in found in Eurasia and North America.

Range

In North America, this species is found from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south through the mountains to Washington, northern Arizona, and northern New Mexico.[2] In Europe, it is found in mountainous areas like the Pyrenees and Alps, as well as the far north. It is also found in parts of Russia, including Siberia, and Kamchatka. Its habitats include arctic tundra, subarctic and subalpine forests, mountain meadows, and bogs.[2]

BLUE, ARCTIC (Plebejus glandon) (6-14-13) 8800ft, hannigan ck, 2 m north of hannigan lodge, greenlee co, az (1) (9059083533).jpg

Description

The wingspan is 17–26 mm. The male wing uppersides are silver-coloured, steely blue or pale shining blue and become increasingly brown towards the edges. The female wing uppersides are almost entirely brown but with a slightly bluish pollination in the basal region. The incidence of darkening increases with altitude. All wings usually have small, dark disk spots that are sometimes surrounded by white. Both sexes have white-rimmed black dots on the pale grey-brown ground of the forewing underside, while the underside of the hind wings reveals striking white spots and occasionally orange-colored dots on the greyish-brown ground.

Despite a large geographic variability in the pattern of the wing, the species is, in Europe, clearly distinguishable from other bluish species in a complex of three species widely separated geographically. Only two species overlap in range in Europe that could be confused. In the Alps and the Pyrenees, the more local and less frequent, Aricia nicias, has fine underside markings and a white stripe. In the Pyrenees, Agriades pyrenaicus may also fly in the same locations. In this species the underside forewing submarginal spots are bold black not faint grey-brown and the black markings on the underside hindwing are relatively greatly reduced or absent. Other similar species do not overlap in distribution. They are Agriades zullichi (Spain) and Agriades aquilo (Arctic Europe), and are sometimes viewed as subspecies of Agriades glandon.

Ecology

The butterfly flies from mid-May to September depending on the location.[3]

Clarke 2022 lists Astralagus alpinus, Saxifraga aizoides and Saxifraga oppositifolia as larval food plants in the European part of its range for Agriades aquilo.[a][4]

For Agriades glandon, Clarke lists Androsace species A. alpina, A. chamaejasme, A. lactea, A. laggeri, A. obtusifolia, A. villosa and A. vitaliana; Soldanella alpina and Soldanella pusilla; and Oxytropis campestris.[4] Further recorded food plants for Agriades glandon include Androsace bungeana and Androsace septentrionalis, Diapensia lapponica, Vaccinium, and Saxifraga species Saxifraga bronchialis and Saxifraga spinulosa.[5]

Subspecies and taxonomy

Several subspecies have been described:[6]

  • A. g. glandon (de Prunner, 1798) (Pyrenees, Alps)
  • A. g. aquilo (Boisduval, 1832) (Arctic Europe and Arctic Canada)
  • A. g. franklinii (Curtis, 1835) (Alaska)
  • A. g. wosnesenskii (Ménétriés, 1855) (Srednesibirskoe, northeastern Siberia, Kamchatka) has the pale spots of underside smaller and more widely separated from one another, especially on the hindwing.
  • A. g. rustica (Edwards, 1865) (Colorado)
  • A. g. aquilina (Staudinger, 1901) (polar tundra of Siberia)
  • A. g. megalo (McDunnough, 1927) (British Columbia)
  • A. g. bryanti (Leussler, 1935) (Alaska, Northwest Territories)
  • A. g. lacustris (Freeman, 1939) (Manitoba)
  • A. g. centrohelvetica Rezbanyai-Reser, 1981 (Switzerland)
  • A. g. punctatus Austin, 1998 (Arizona)
  • A. g. cassiope Emmel & Emmel, 1998 (California)
  • A. g. kelsoni Emmel & Emmel, 1998 (California)
  • A. g. ustjuzhanini Yakivlev & Churkin, 2003 (Mongolia)
  • A. g. saluki Churkin, 2005
  • A. g. brutus Churkin, 2005 (eastern Sayan Mountains)
  • A. g. rubini Churkin, 2005 (eastern Kazakhstan)
  • A. g. batchimeg Churkin, 2005 (Mongolia)
  • A. g. labrador Schmidt, Scott & Kondla, 2006 (Labrador, Newfoundland)

The relationships between these taxa are not yet fully understood. Many authors treat A. g. aquilo as a separate species. Some authors also consider all the above North American subspecies to belong to one separate species, which they call Agriades franklinii. Subspecies rustica and cassiope are sometimes also treated as valid species.

References

  1. ^ treated here as a subspecies of Agriades glandon
  1. ^ Agriades glandon, Catalogue of Life (LepIndex)
  2. ^ a b "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
  3. ^ Arctic Blue, Butterflies of Canada
  4. ^ a b Clarke, Harry E. (14 April 2022). "A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants". Nota Lepidopterologica. 45. Supplementary material: spreadsheet. doi:10.3897/nl.45.72017. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  5. ^ Kosterin, Oleg. "Lycaenidae of Asian Russia [translation of Korshunov & Gorbunov (1995)]". pisum.bionet.nsc.ru. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  6. ^ Savela, Markku. "Agriades glandon". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved August 11, 2019.

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Agriades glandon: Brief Summary

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Agriades glandon, the Arctic blue or Glandon blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It in found in Eurasia and North America.

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