Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)

Apparently over the several years, the spring brood of Summer Azures has been increasing while Spring Azures have been declining. According to Harry Pavulaan, in many areas of NC, it now appears that Summer Azures are outnumbering/displacing Spring Azures.

		Spring brood of Summer Azure. Note the whitish underside with bold black spots and very white hindwing margin.
Orange Co, NC 29 Mar 05	Orange Co, NC 29 Mar 05

males Clay Co., NC 21 May 2005

females Clay Co., NC 14 May 2005 (left) 21 May 2005 (right)

Female Clay Co., NC 13 May 2006	Female Clay Co., NC 13 May 2006

Durham Co., NC 2 July 2005	Durham Co., NC 2 July 2005

Unusually lightly marked Orange Co, NC 20 May 04

Note the dorsal color of the roadkilled victim Orange Co, NC 20 May 04

Caldwell Co, NC 28 June 2003.

St Clair Co., MI 8 July 2003	Buncombe Co., NC 26 July 2004

		These two individuals are females from the season's second brood. The right-hand butterfly is more worn than the left.
Person Co., NC 13 June 2006	Person Co., NC 13 June 2006

Although the lighting and angles are less than ideal, we observed in the field that the left-hand 2 azures were significantly larger than the right-hand azure. The right-hand azure appeared to be "typical" size for Summer Azure, leading us to speculate whether the larger individuals represented a large range of individual size variation for C. neglecta or whether these could be very late emerging male C. neglectamajor (Appalachian Azure), or whether they could be yet another unnamed species.

Buncombe Co, NC 26 June 04

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Created on ... June 28, 2003; updated ... Nov 23, 2006 | jspippen@duke.edu