'Karner' Melissa Blue

The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), less commonly known as the orange-bordered blue and Edward's blue butterfly, is named for the location in which it was first described near Albany, New York. Historically this species occurred from Minnesota to Maine. Populations currently exist in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, and Wisconsin, with the largest populations occurring in Michigan and Wisconsin. Reintroductions are occurring in New Hampshire, Indiana, and Ohio. Karner blue butterflies have a wing span of 2.5 cm, with males being slightly smaller than females. Males' wings are a violet-blue color with black margins and white fringed edges on the top. Females' wings are predominantly dark gray-brown or black, with the violet color occurring on the central part of the wing. Orange crescents are typically present on the hind wings of females. The underside or ventral side of both male and female wings are gray with black spots and have orange crescents and metallic spots. Eggs are small, slightly flattened, and pale green. Karner blue butterflies can only survive where wild lupine plants are found, typically in the sandy soils of pine barrens and oak savannas. Over the last 100 years, this species has declined by 99% and was federally listed as endangered in 1992. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service currently has remaining populations listed as stable. Threats include habitat loss, fragmentation, and modifications such as fire suppression or other disturbances.

These butterflies have two broods per year; hatching coincides with the blooming of wild lupine. Eggs that were laid the previous summer hatch in mid-April. Larvae feed until the end of May, at which point they pupate and become butterflies at the beginning of June. Males hatch first, followed by the females a few days later. Mating occurs soon after hatching, and a female will then lay up to 80 eggs. Eggs are laid on or near patches of wild lupine. Adults live for about two weeks. The second generation of Karner blues hatches in mid-June. They pupate and emerge as butterflies in mid-July. This generation lays its eggs in wild lupine, and they do not hatch until the following year. Larvae of both generations feed exclusively on wild lupine, leaving a windowpane effect on the plant - first larvae chew tiny circular holes in the leaves, then they eat all but the lower and upper epidermis.

Compared to bees, butterflies are often less efficient at transferring pollen between plants because pollen often does not stick to their bodies and they lack specialized structures for collecting pollen. However, on the occasions in which pollen does stick to the butterflies' bodies, it is often inadvertently transferred to another flower while the butterflies are nectaring, earning them the title of pollinators. Research has shown that most butterfly species do indeed end up pollinating some of the flowers they visit. In addition to wild lupine, of which it is a known pollinator, Karner blue butterflies feed on the nectar of over 40 different species of flowers, including butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), leafy spurge (Euphorbia podperae), blazing star (Liatris cylindracae), wild Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus), Canadian horseweed (Conyza canadensis), spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata), white sweetclover (Melilotus alba), common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), and spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa).