Cupido comyntas – A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

Eastern tailed-blue
Cupido comyntas (Godart, 1824) P-no. 77a0638, fam. Lycaenidae
Host plant: Found on wild indigo (Baptisia sp.)
Dates found: 20 June, 2026
Locations found: Victoria Glade Conservation Area, Jefferson County, MO
Notes: A tiny, beautiful, and common butterfly that is often seen in suburban backyards, the eastern tailed-blue (ETB for short) is not a caterpillar that I have had luck in finding. Finally, on an outing with the WGNSS’ Nature Photography Group in June, I found one of these on a wild indigo plant within the glade. I never expected a lycaenid caterpillar to be such a challenging photo subject. This guy was healthy and mobile, rarely settling down to get the desired photo.

Tonight I’m just sharing some photos of a few lovely Lycaenid butterflies that I had the pleasure of photographing this season. The Lycaenidae family is the second largest family of butterflies, with about 6,000 species worldwide. The highlight was the bountiful season that the juniper hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) had. Prior to this year, I had only seen one or two in a season, usually without my macro rig with me. In a few trips to the glades in Jefferson County this spring, Casey and I had at least two dozen individuals. They are not usually cooperative, but we worked pretty hard to get something.

First up is the afore mentioned C. gryneus.