The New Hampshire State Butterfly

New Hampshire State Butterfly

What is the NH State Butterfly? The New Hampshire State Butterfly is an endangered subspecies of butterfly called Karner Blue. The Karner Blue, or Lycaeides Melissa Samuelis is a subspecies of The Small Blue Butterfly.

The Karner Blue Butterfly was adopted in 1992 as the NH State Butterfly but is rarely seen here in New Hampshire.

Identification: The Karner Blue Butterfly is a small species with a wingspan of only about 1 inch. The male and female Karner Blue Butterfly are different in appearance. The male has a silvery or dark blue top with some narrow black lines, while the female is gray/brown, mostly on the outer edges of the wings and transition to blue on the top of the butterfly. The female also has irregular markings of orange half-moon shapes with a black border. Both  male and female have a gray and orange on their underside of both wings with white circles that have black spots inside the white circles.

Feeding Habitats: Wild Lupine has been known to attract the Karner Blue. Karner blue caterpillars feed only on Wild Lupine leaves. The Karner Blue Butterfly feeds on the nectar of the same Wild Lupine flowers.