Size: Up to 0.85 inch wingspan

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Key ID features:  Small.  Male blue above with dark wing borders. Female dark brown above with vague orange zigzag along trailing margin. Both sexes have checked fringe on FW. Below yellowish-gray with bold black spots, and orange edges to submarginal black spots on HW.

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Similar species: Best told from other Euphilotes blues by host-plant association, location and flight period.

 

Host plant: Eriogonum elatum (tall woolly buckwheat), E. compositum (arrowleaf buckwheat), and E. strictum (Blue Mtn buckwheat).

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Habitat: Well-drained sites where hostplant grows, including high plateaus, ridges, gravelly slopes and roadsides. ​

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Range: Columbia and Snake River basins in NE Oregon.

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Season: Mid-April to late June

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Abundance: Common

 

Conservation Status: Secure