Image Credit: Michael.PortrayingLife.com
Identification: Seasonally variable and sexually dimorphic. Upper side of males blue, females with some black at outer edge of forewing. Late spring and summer forms with white above. Underside hindwing gray-white with faded small black dots, darker gray with larger black spots, or with blotches and black margins in the center.
Wing Span: 7/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.2 -3.5 cm).
Caterpillar Hosts: Flowers of a variety of woody shrubs and occasionally herbs including dogwood (Cornus florida), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americana), meadowsweet (Spiraea salicifolia), and Collinsia.
Adult Food: Flower nectar from dogbane, privet, New Jersey tea, blackberry, common milkweed, and many others.
Habitat: Openings and edges of deciduous woods, old fields, wooded freshwater marshes and swamps.