A tutti gli effetti sembra una farfalla blu (come nella sottofamiglia Polyommatinae)… è molto, dopotutto molto blu. Ma le ipotesi basate sul colore ti porterebbero su una strada sbagliata; a quanto pare questa farfalla è in realtà una specie di rame. Ci sono sottili differenze nella forma delle ali e probabilmente nella venatura, but when I first saw these butterflies I assumed they were a sub-species of Plebejus icarioides (che were also flying at this location on the Kaibab Plateau). But then I began seeing female butterflies (sotto) interacting with these blues and then it dawned on me – blue copper – Lycaena heteronea austin (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae)!
This subspecies was originally described in 1998 by the late, grande George T. Austin as Il. heteronea rutila. Given however that rutila more or less = rutilus, it was later determined rutila was actually unavailable and the subspecies name was changed to austin in honor of George.
male Lycaena heteroena austin (Lycaenidae)
female Lycaena heteroena austin
What a beauftiful picture !
I like the picture so bad
Do you have any picture similar with that ?
Impressive. Certainly a trick to trip up beginners!