Celastrina lucia

Celastrina lucia, the lucia azure, northern azure, eastern spring azure or northern spring azure, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found eastern North America, ranging from the Maritimes south through the Appalachian Mountains to West Virginia.^[2]

Celastrina lucia
Male, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Celastrina
Species:	C. lucia
Binomial name
Celastrina lucia (Kirby, 1837)[1]
Subspecies
C. l. lucia C. l. lumarco Scott, 2006
Synonyms
Lycaena lucia Kirby, 1837 Lycaena marginata Edwards, 1883 Celastrina fumida (Scudder, 1889) Celastrina pseudora (Scudder, 1889) Celastrina brunnea Tutt, 1908 Celastrina subtusjuncta Tutt, 1908 Celastrina inaequalis Tutt, 1908 Celastrina ladon lucia

The wingspan is between 22–35 mm. Adults are sexually dimorphic. They are on wing from April to July.^[3]

The larvae feed on Vaccinium species, including V. pallidum.

Taxonomy

Until the early 1990s, most North American azures were thought to be a single species, Celastrina ladon. More recently, research has revealed that there are many different species of azures, including C. lucia,^[4] which had been treated as a subspecies of C. ladon.

Similar species

• Cherry gall azure (C. serotina)
• Holly azure (C. idella)
• Spring azure (C. ladon)
• Summer azure (C. neglecta)

Gallery

• 
  Variation in larval colour pattern of C. lucia found on Viburnum lentago (left column) and Cornus alternifolia (right column)