Western pygmy blue
The western pygmy blue is one of the smallest butterflies in the world, and the smallest in North America. Its wings are copper brown with a little dull blue near the body. With its wings open, it is not much wider than your fingernail.
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Fun facts
Its wings measure only 12 to 20 millimetres from tip to tip.
The boys guard a little patch of land and wait there for a girl to visit.
The mother lays her eggs on all parts of the plant, but mostly on top of the leaves.
In South Texas you can see it flying all year round.
It has travelled all the way to Hawaii and to the deserts of the Persian Gulf.
Most asked questions about Western pygmy blue
?What is the smallest butterfly in North America?
The western pygmy blue. Its wings are only about 12 to 20 millimetres across.
?What does the western pygmy blue eat?
Grown-ups drink only nectar. The caterpillars eat salty plants like saltbush and pigweed.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Brephidium exilis
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Australia and Oceania, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Western pygmy blue (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Stickpen. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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