Euphilotes battoides, the square-spotted blue or buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
| Euphilotes battoides | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Euphilotes |
| Species: | E. battoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Euphilotes battoides | |
| Synonyms | |
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Distribution
It is found in western North America from California south to Baja California Norte and then west to southern Colorado and New Mexico.[2] This species may also occur in Oregon and Washington, but more study is needed to verify this.[3] [4]
The wingspan is 16–17 mm. Adults are on wing from mid April to August in one generation per year. They feed on the flower nectar of various plants, but mostly Eriogonum species.
Subspecies
- E. b. battoides (Behr, 1867) (California)
- E. b. comstocki (Shields, 1975)
- E. b. centralis (Barnes & McDunnough, 1917) (southern Colorado to northern New Mexico)
- E. b. argocyanea (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. fusimaculata (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. mazourka (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. panamintensis (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
- E. b. vernalis (Pratt and J. Emmel, 1998)
Invalid Subspecies
E. b. bernardino(Barnes & McDunnough, 1916) – Bernardino Square-spotted BlueE. b. centralis(Barnes & McDunnough, 1917)E. b. glaucon(Edwards, 1871) (British Columbia to northeastern California and southern Idaho)E. b. intermedia(Barnes & McDunnough, 1917)E. b. baueri(Shields, 1975)E. b. ellisi(Shields, 1975)
The El Segundo blue (Euphilotes allyni) was originally thought to be a subspecies, but recent authorities consider it its own species.[5][6]