Bug FAQReakirt's Blue
Echinargus isola · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Lycaenidae
Reakirt's blue is a small butterfly with a wingspan of about 1.6 to 2.3 cm. It lives in open places such as fields and gardens across Central America and the far southern United States. Caterpillars eat mesquite legumes, while adults sip nectar from herbs like spearmint and white sweet clover.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 16 to 23 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in fields, gardens, open areas, and on its host plants.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on Fabaceae, especially mesquite species (Prosopis). Adults drink nectar from spearmint, white sweet clover, and many other herbs.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from June to October in northern parts of the range and can be seen year-round in the south.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes Central America and the extreme southern United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 28 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, Nevada, Nebraska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Lycaenidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinargus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.