How do I know that the butterfly Im looking at is a Karner blue?
The Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis, is in the Lycaenidae (gossamer-winged butterfly) family. The adult Karner blue butterfly is about the size of a nickel, with a wingspan of about an inch, and it can be identified by the bands of orange spots on the underside edge of its wings. The top sides of the male’s wings are deep sky blue, while those of the female are darker blue and brown with orange spots on the edges of both hind wings. The dorsal sides of the males’ wings are deep sky blue with black margins bordered by a white band, while those of the female are darker blue and brown with orange crescents on the edges of both hind wings. Both sexes can be identified by the bands of orange crescents on the undersides of both the fore and hind wings. Karner blues are the only small blue butterflies that have orange crescents on the undersides of both the fore- and hind-wings. Positive identification of a Karner blue requires that you observe these orange crescents on the
