Hemiargus ceraunus, the Ceraunus blue, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793.[2] It is found in the southwestern United States, southern Texas, Florida and the Florida Keys south through the West Indies, Mexico and Central America to South America. Strays may be found in North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas and Nevada. The habitat consists of open woodland, desert scrub, dunes, pastures, road edges and vacant lots.
| Hemiargus ceraunus | |
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| Hemiargus ceraunus antibubastus, Florida | |
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| Hemiargus ceraunus astenidas, Honduras | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Hemiargus |
| Species: | H. ceraunus
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| Binomial name | |
| Hemiargus ceraunus (Fabricius, 1793)
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| Synonyms | |
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List
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The wingspan is 20–30 mm. Adults are on wing year round in Texas and southern Florida and in late summer in other parts of the range. Adults feed on flower nectar.
The larvae feed on the flowers and seedpods of various woody legumes, including Cassia brachiata, Abrus precatorius and Prosopis species.[3]
Subspecies
edit- Hemiargus ceraunus antibubastus (Hübner, 1818) (Florida)
- Hemiargus ceraunus astenidas (Lucas, 1857) (Mexico, Costa Rica)
- Hemiargus ceraunus gyas (Edwards, 1871) (Arizona, California)
References
edit- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Hemiargus ceraunus Ceraunus Blue". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- ^ Savela, Markku (March 22, 2019). "Hemiargus ceraunus (Fabricius, 1793)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Lotts, Kelly & Naberhaus, Thomas (2017). "Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus (Fabricius, 1793)". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
External links
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Media related to Hemiargus ceraunus at Wikimedia Commons
