Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly

This past Sunday I saw this lovely little butterfly lingering in our native plant garden area, my first sighting ever.

It is a Western Pygmy Blue Butterfly Brephidium exilis .

It especially loved the Sea Cliff Buckwheat Eriogonum parvifolium that started blooming again two weeks ago.

This tiny butterfly has a wing span of 1/2 to 3/4 inch and its natural habitat is alkaline such as salt marshes, desert and wasteland. Hmmm, what does tell you about our native plant garden....

Its range is vast, from Baja California through central California, central Nevada, Mexico and Venezuela. It migrates to Oregon, Nebraska and Arkansas.

The food for this butterfly is nectar.