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Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Becker's White butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Summer Lake, Lake County, August 5 Becker's White Pontia beckerii Size: 1.5 - 2.0 inches wingspan Key ID features: Above, white with black markings near tip of forewing. Below, bold greenish borders along veins especially on hindwing. Similar species: Western White is smaller and much less green along veins below. Host plant: A large number of arid land mustards. Habitat: Arid habitats, both disturbed and undisturbed. Range: Primarily east of the Cascade Mtns, with a few records in the Willamette Valley. Season: Mid-March to mid-September Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the American Copper butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Oregon State Arthropod Collection #0000819569 - male Thank you to Dana Ross and Paul Hammond , volunteers at OSAC! American Copper Lycaena hypophlaeas Size: 0.75- 1.25 inches wingspan Key ID features: Above FW coppery orange with black spots and dark brown borders. Above HW gray-brown with wide orange band along most of trailing margin. Below HW gray with black spots, orange wavy submarginal line. Similar species: Upperside is unlike any other copper. Separated from Purplish Copper by location and habitat. Host plant: Suspected to be Mountain Sorrel (Oxyria digyna) . Habitat: Steep high-elevation talus slopes. Range: High peaks in the Wallowa Mtns. Season: Mid-August to mid-September Abundance: Uncommon Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Clodius Parnassian butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Mule Mountain Ridge, Lane Co, August 5, male Clodius Parnassian Parnassius clodius Size: 2.25 - 3 inches wingspan Key ID features: Above, white, gray/translucent wings with red spots, and all-black or nearly all-black antennae. Same general pattern below, but HW below often has additional red patches basally, and red spots in the median area usually have pink centers. Similar species: Mountain Parnassian (Parnassius smintheus ), which is smaller, and has boldy black/white barred antennae. Host plant: Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa ). Habitat: Mountain meadows and moist, open mountain woodlands, occasionally in lowlands. Range: Western Oregon, Blue Mountains, Ochocos, Warner Mountains. Season: late May to late August Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Ancilla Blue butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Sage Hen Rest Stop, Harney Co, June 12 Ancilla Blue Euphilotes ancilla AKA Rocky Mountain Dotted Blue Size: Up to 0.85 inch wingspan Key ID features: Small. Male blue above with narrow dark wing borders. Female dark brown above with variable orange zigzag along trailing margin. Both sexes have checked fringe on FW. Below yellowish-gray with bold black spots, and orange edges to submarginal black spots on HW, often forming solid band. Similar species: Best told from other Euphilotes blues by host-plant association, location and flight period. Host plant: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum (rock buckwheat). Habitat: Well-drained sites where hostplant grows, including gravelly slopes and roadsides. Range: Harney County . Season: Late May to early July Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Gold-hunters Hairstreak butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Kinney Cr Rd, Jackson Co, May 26 Thank you to Dana Ross and Paul Hammond, volunteers at OSAC! Gold-hunter's Hairstreak Satyrium auretorum Size: 1.0 - 1.25 inches wingspan Key ID features: Light brown above. Slightly darker brown below with variable uneven spot bands, and submarginal band of black chevrons, female more strongly marked. Tail barely noticeable, with adjacent blue frosted patch, and one or two of the chevrons with a small orange patch. Similar species: Somewhat similar to Hedgerow HS, which has more defined median line on HW below. Mountain Mahogany HS is more grayish below, often with a more frosted look. Host plant: Oaks (Quercus ), primarily Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana ) . Habitat: Oak-pine stands and shrubby habitats near oaks. Range: Along California border in Jackson County and SE Klamath County. Season: Early June to mid-July Abundance: Uncommon Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Eastern Tailed Blue butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Doral View Little Groundhog Mtn, Lane Co, July 22 - female Eastern Tailed-Blue Cupido comyntas Size: 0.75 - 1.0 inches wingspan Key ID features: Male bright blue above, female dark gray or gray-brown, with coppery-green iridescence when fresh. HW with white fringe and marginal band of black spots with gray borders. Below, gray or bluish-gray, with black spots rimmed with white, variable marginal band of spots and chevrons, orange patches next to small white-tipped tails. Usually shows black cell-end bar on FW above and below. Similar species: Western Tailed-Blue tends to be whiter below and usually lacks black cell end bar on the FW above. Host plant: Many species in the pea family including lupines, vetches and clovers . Habitat: Often in weedy, disturbed habitats, but also in native wet meadows and riparian areas. Range: West of the Cascade Range, Wallowa Mtns and NE Blue Mtns. Season: Early April to early August Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Boiduval's Blue butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Catherine Cr Rd, Wallowa Co, July 8 Boisduval's Blue Icaricia icarioides Size: 1.0 - 1.5 inch wingspan Key ID features: Male bright blue above with charcoal wing borders. Female brown above with orange-brown highlights on FW, often with blue shading basally and vague or no orange band along trailing margin of HW. Both sexes may have dark cell end bars on FW. Male blue-gray below with very small black spots with wide white halos and marginal row of small black triangles. Female below brownish-gray with similar spot pattern. Similar species: Separated from Greenish blues by tiny black spots below having broad white halos, especially on the hindwing, and lack of orange edged triangles at anal angle. Host plant: Many lupine species (Lupinus ) . Fender's Blue subspecies uses Kincaid's Lupine (Lupinus oreganus var. kincaidii ). Habitat: Mountain meadows and roadsides, subalpine slopes, and occasionally lower elevation meadows (Fender's), always near lupines. Range: All of eastern Oregon, plus central Coast Range, and southern Willamette Valley (ssp. I.i. fenderi ) . Season: Late May to early July Abundance: Common east of Cascade Range, locally common at scattered sites in Willamette Valley. Conservation Status: Fender's Blue listed as Endangered federally.

Directory with photos and links for all of Oregon's butterflies in the skipper family.

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Sierra Nevada Blue butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Bradley Lake Meadows, Douglas Co, July 13 - male Sierra Nevada Blue Agriades podarce AKA Sierra Blue Size: 1.0 - 1.2 inch wingspan Key ID features: Male dusky gray-blue to sky blue above, dark gray wing borders with white fringes, black cell end bars (FW), and white circles with black centers along trailing margin. Female mostly gray to gray-brown above, with prominent FW cell end bar and light blue-gray circles with dark centers along trailing margin. Below FW and HW have black spots ringed with white, and submarginal row of black checks or chevrons rimmed in white against brown or gray-brown background, with marginal row of black spots rimmed with white. Similar species: Arctic Blue has white patches against dark gray background on HW below, and may or may not still exist in Oregon. Host plant: Likely to be Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon aplinum and D. jeffreyi ) . Habitat: Moist meadows above 5,000 feet. Range: Along the crest of the southern Cascades, along the western border of Klamath County. Season: Late June to early August Abundance: Uncommon Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the California Tortoiseshell butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Buford Park, Lane Co, June 2 California Tortoiseshell Nymphalis californica Size: Up to 2.5 inch wingspan Key ID features: Above bright orange with black and white patches on the leading edge of FW, a few smaller black spots on FW, and dark border on FW and HW. Below striated two-toned with darker inner half and brown outer half with darker margin, and often a dark gray-blue submarginal line. Similar species: Above, Milbert's dark basally with bright orange rim. Below, Milbert's Tortoiseshell more distinctly two-toned, outer band lighter, more variable and more gray than brown. Host plant: Ceanothus species include snowbrush (C. velutinus ), deerbrush (C. integerrimus ) . Habitat: While dispersing, may be found in any habitat, including in the middle of urban areas. Otherwise in mountain slopes, canyons, meadows, riversides, road edges and shorelines. Range: Throughout Oregon . Season: Late January to early December. Abundance: Common, abundant in some years. Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Gorgon Copper butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Mt. Ashland Rd, Jackson Co, July 15 Gorgon Copper Tharsalea gorgon AKA Lycaena gorgon Size: 1.25 - 1.5 inches wingspan Key ID features: Male above coppery orange, with not spots, with purple irridescence when fresh. Female above light coppery orange with black spots, crescents and margins. Below HW grayish white with black spots, and submarginal row of black chevrons with orange borders. Similar species: Ground color of Great Copper above is more gray; below Great Copper lacks band of chevrons with orange borders below. Edith's is smaller and has brown spots below. Purplish Copper is smaller and has fewer and smaller black spots below. Host plant: Eriogonum nudum (bare-stemmed buckwheat). Habitat: Meadows, open areas along streams, roadsides. Range: Found in Siskiyou Mtns, Klamath Mtns, and Warner Mtns. Season: Late May to mid-August Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure

Photos, flight season, distribution and host plant information, conservation status, and identification tips for the Behr's Hairstreak butterfly. Gallery Prev Next Sand Creek, Klamath Co, July 1 Behr's Hairstreak Satyrium behrii Size: 0.8 - 1.0 inches wingspan Key ID features: Both sexes orange-brown above. Below, gray-brown with white edged black markings against gray on HW. FW below mousy brown with small submarginal spot bands. Very short stubby tails or no tails. Similar species: May be confused with a Hedgerow HS, which has more prominent, white-tipped tails, with an adjacent blue patch and a darker brown ground color. Host plant: Antelope bitterbrush (Purshiana tridentata ) . Habitat: Shrub-steppe, canyons, riparian areas, canyons, oak-pine forests. Range: Siskiyou Mtns, east slope of Cascades, and most of Oregon east of the Cascades except for Blue Mtns. Season: Early May to early September Abundance: Common Conservation Status: Secure