Date Posted:09:46:00 05/08/06 Mon Author:Beverly Subject: Eastern Tailed Blue
As I turned the horses out, on this rainy morning, a very tiny butterfly caught my eye, as it fluttered close to the ground, from one bit of crabgrass to another. I got my digital camera and my trusty clear plastic square jar (from Santa Barbara Salsa ... Deli Style 'medium' hot - a great addition to an omelet!), and managed to detain this delicate little jewel for just enough time to do a sketch, so I'd be able to ID him, after release. Such tiny and flittering butterflies are nearly impossible to photo, especially on an overcast day, for they don't stay in one place very long, and they don't often 'open' their wings, for a dorsal view. But this little fellow caught my eye with his two orange eye spots, on his ventral lower wings, and I did manage a few photos, before bringing him inside for his portrait session.
Eastern Tailed-Blue (Everes comyntas)
I could tell, as he moved about inside the jar, that his dorsal side was darker than his ventral side - it looked to be slate coloured. When he rested in one spot, he kept his wings folded, and rubbed his lower wings together, just barely showing that the wing eyespots were evident 'topside', as well as on the ventral side. His ventral side was a very pale dusty grey colour, just tinged with blue toward the lower hind wings, and tinged with a dusty orange, on the upper wings, toward the edge. His ventral side had marginal dark spots, but the lower wing orange and black 'eye' spots, and the two dark spots toward his legs, seemed like they'd be the best starting point, for ID'ing him. Armed with the photos and sketch, using the Maryland Butterflies checklist, and already feeling certain this tiny fellow was either a Hairstreak or a Blue, I found him quickly:
For an excellent online close-up of this tiny butterfly, visit:
http://www.cirrusimage.com/butterfly/Eastern_Tailed_Blue_butterfly_1.jpg
When I released him, from my kitchen side deck, he did not descent, as I expected, but instead flew upward, coming to lite on a leaf of the sweetgum trees that grow alongside my carpark. He rested for several minutes, then fluttered away.
