Plebejus acmon

Resident in western North America, migratory in some parts of its range (Scott 1986). Habitats are Lower Sonoran to Candian zone open woodland, fields, desert and prairie. Host plants are usually herbaceous or shrubs with most known hosts from two families, Polygonaceae and Leguminosae. Eggs are laid on the host plant leaves or flowers singly. Larvae eat flowers, pods and leaves and are tended by ants. Individuals overwinter as larvae. There are variable numbers of flights based on latitude and location, Mar1-Oct31 on the coast, and May15-Sep.15 elsewhere there are many flights, in far north one flight June15-early July and one flight in areas above timberline, July1-early Aug. (Scott 1986).

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) West Coast to the western edges of the Great Plains, with isolated colonies further east. Extends north to southern Canada and south to northern Baja California and Mexico.

Comments: General: except not in urban areas, very dry deserts, dense forest, or highest elevations. Hosts are in family Fabaceae, numerous.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

10,000 to >1,000,000 individuals

Adults sip flower nectar and mud. Males patrol for females (Scott, 1986).

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 47
Species With Barcodes: 1

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank.   Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen.  Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Widespread and abundant in West.

Degree of Threat: D : Unthreatened throughout its range, communities may be threatened in minor portions of the range or degree of variation falls within natural variation

Global Protection: Many to very many (13 to >40) occurrences appropriately protected and managed