Alamance Co, NC
11 Mar 2024
Spring brood of Summer Azure. Note whitish veins along dorsal leading edge, and note white DHW fringe.
Apparently over the last several years, the spring brood of Summer Azures has been increasing while Spring Azures have been declining. According to Harry Pavulaan, in many areas of NC, it now appears that Summer Azures are outnumbering/displacing Spring Azures. Azures are very difficult to identify in the field, and below are my best attempts, however, some of these may actually be Spring Azures. The best field mark is to get a good look at the uppersurface of the wings of males. Summer Azures tend to be more powder blue with whitish veins, while Spring Azures show a hint/tint of violet blue.
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Alamance Co, NC 11 Mar 2024 Spring brood of Summer Azure. Note whitish veins along dorsal leading edge, and note white DHW fringe. |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Orange Co, NC 29 Mar 05 Spring brood of Summer Azure. Note the whitish underside with bold black spots and very white hindwing margin. |
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Spring brood of 3 Azures of slightly different ages/states of scale wear. The "oldest" individual is on the far left with lots of wear, resulting in a "dirty" look. The "youngest" individual is at the bottom right, looking much "cleaner". Summer Azures (Celastrina neglecta) |
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Same individuals as above but in flight. The youngest (freshest) shows the characteristic whitish blue scaling on the upperside, which is wearing off the older individuals, giving them the appearance of a different color. Summer Azures (Celastrina neglecta) |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), males Clay Co., NC 21 May 2005 |
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Females |
| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 14 May 2005 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 21 May 2005 |
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Females |
| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), Female Clay Co., NC 13 May 2006 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), Female Clay Co., NC 13 May 2006 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 17 May 2025 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 17 May 2025 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), Female Clay Co., NC 17 May 2025 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 17 May 2025 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 17 May 2025 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), Female Swain Co., NC 12 July 2011 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Madison Co., NC 18 May 2023 Note variation in spot boldness. |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Durham Co., NC 2 July 2005 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Durham Co., NC 2 July 2005 |
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Unusually lightly marked Orange Co, NC 20 May 04 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Orange Co, NC 20 May 04 Note the dorsal color of the roadkilled victim. |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Caldwell Co, NC 28 June 2003. |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Alleghany Co., NC 4 June 2025 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Buncombe Co., NC 26 July 2004 |
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These two individuals are females from the season's second brood. The right-hand butterfly is more worn than the left. |
| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Person Co., NC 13 June 2006 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Person Co., NC 13 June 2006 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 19 May 2007 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Orange Co., NC 5 May 2017 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Currituck Co., NC 17 June 2014 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Currituck Co., NC 17 June 2014 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Cedarock Park, Alamance Co., NC 2 May 2020 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Game Land, Caswell Co., NC 3 May 2020 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Durham Co., NC 9 May 2021 Blurry dorsal flight shot, or modern art...you be the judge! :-) |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Orange Co., NC 13 Sep 2020 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Orange Co., NC 1 Aug 2020 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Sandy Mush GL, Buncombe Co., NC 13 July 2011 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Brumley North, Orange Co., NC 28 Feb 2023 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Scotland Co., NC 25 May 2023 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Alamance Co., NC 29 Apr 2023 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Brumley North, Orange Co., NC 28 Feb 2023 |
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Brumley North, Orange Co., NC 28 Feb 2023 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Orange Co., NC 6 May 2025 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Carvers Creek S.P., Cumberland Co., NC 9 May 2025 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Carvers Creek S.P., Cumberland Co., NC 9 May 2025 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Durham Co., NC 6 May 2025 |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Duke Forest, Orange Co., NC 1 Aug 2020 I watched this female azure lay an egg in the flower bud cluster of Shrubby Lespedeza (L. bicolor), |
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Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) Clay Co., NC 19 May 2007 |
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Although the lighting and angles are less than ideal, we observed in the field that the left-hand 2 azures were significantly larger than the right-hand azure. The right-hand azure appeared to be "typical" size for Summer Azure, leading us to speculate whether the larger individuals represented a large range of individual size variation for C. neglecta or whether these could be very late emerging male C. neglectamajor (Appalachian Azure), or whether they could be yet another unnamed species. |
| Buncombe Co, NC 26 June 04 |
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| Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) St Clair Co., MI 8 July 2003 |
Created on ... June 28, 2003 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com