Talk about tiny!
This fellow has a wingspan well under an inch and is sipping from a bluet, one of our smallest flowers. He’s blue on top, gray underneath, and very fluttery. I’m guessing that he’s a northern azure (Calastrina lucia) or some other azure species. Since they reclassified the little azures into many species, I have more than my usual identification problems with small butterflies and moths.
Northern azures are residents here. They’re not only tiny, they’re short-lived and have to make the most of life to propagate their species. They apparently emerge from their chrysalises throughout the spring and summer, starting about mid-May. But, once out, they reportedly live only a week or two. Females are said to mate within hours of emerging – welcome to the Lycaenidae family!. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 11, 2025.)