Eastern Tailed-blue on Green Milkweed

I was out photographing wildflowers and found this example of Cupido comyntas nectaring on Green Milkweed. Note that some older references will list this species as Everes comyntas. Everes is now a subgenus of Cupido. The Eastern and Western Tailed-blue butterflies are the two species of this genus you can find in North America.

This individual has had a lot of wear and tear on its wings. Its colors have dulled and the white fringe on the margins of its wings have mostly worn away. This butterfly belongs to the Lycaenidae family which contains the blues, hairstreaks and harvester butterflies.

The orange spots at the outer margin of the hindwings close to the little tail-like projection are characteristic for this species. The lack of iridescent blue scales on the fore and hindwings make this individual a female.

In the above image you can see the underside of the wings which have some faint grey spots. The wear and tear on this specimen has removed the black spots that should decorate the underside of the wings.

For more information, you might like to visit  Butterflies and Moths.org