Karner Blue
FamilyLycaenidae
Scientific NamePlebejus samuelis
RangeNortheastern and Midwestern US
HabitatPine barrens, oak savanna
About the Karner Blue
A small blue butterfly that depends entirely on wild lupine, the only plant its caterpillars eat. It was formally described in 1944 by the novelist Vladimir Nabokov, who was also an expert on blue butterflies. Named after Karner, New York, where it was found. Loss of fire-maintained habitat led to it being listed as endangered in the US in 1992.
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