Mission Blue Butterfly - Icaricia icarioides missionensis

Formerly relatively widespread in California and on the San Francisco and Marin peninsulas in California, the mission blue butterfly is now restricted to only a few sites. On San Bruno Mountain, in San Mateo County, 2000 acres of habitat for the butterfly are being managed by the county department of Parks and Recreation. A habitat conservation plan was also developed for rare butterflies, including the mission blue, at San Bruno Mountain. Revisions will include the newly discovered colonies. Much of the habitat the mission blue occurs on private lands that have been planned as housing developments in the City of Pacifica General Plan.

Preservation of existing butterfly populations relies on many factors common to butterfly conservation programs: replanting of host plants, removal of introduced plants, and protection from excessive recreational use and development.

Description

The mission blue (Icaricia icarioides missionensis) is a small butterfly in the Lycaenidae (gossamer wing) family. Wingspan is about 1 to 1.5 inch (2.5-3 cm). The dorsal wing surfaces of the male are iridescent blue and lavender with black margins fringed with long white hair-like scales. There are no spots on the upper surfaces of the wings. In males, the ventral surfaces of the wings are whitish with small circular gray spots in the submarginal areas and larger circular black spots located in post-median and submedian areas of the fore and hind wings. The body of the male is dark bluish brown. Females have dark brown dorsal wing surfaces marked with blue basal areas. The margins and wing fringe are similar to the male. Female ventral wings are stone gray with a dot pattern similar to the males.
Life History

The adult flight season extends from late March to early July, depending on the location and microclimatic conditions. The adults feed on hairy false goldaster (Heterotheca villosa), bluedick (Dichelostemma capitatum), and seaside buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium), and do not wander far from the three species of lupine that are the larval food plant. These species are silver lupine (Lupinus albifrons), summer lupine (L. formosus), and manycolored lupine (L. versicolor). Females lay eggs throughout the mating flight. The eggs are laid singly on leaves, stems, flowers and seed pods of lupine species.

One generation of butterflies is produced each year. Colonies are located at sites ranging from 690 to 1,180-foot elevation. Some colonies occur in the fog belt of the coastal range. Coastal chaparral and coastal grasslands dominate the vegetation type where colonies are found.

Source: www.butterflyrecovery.org/species_profiles/mission_blue/

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