Flutter & Discover Facts!
- When their wings are open, blue butterflies can be bright and sparkly blue! When they close their wings, they look dull gray or brown with spots, helping them hide from hungry birds.
- Most blue butterflies are tiny. Some are so small they could sit right on the tip of your thumb!
- Because they are so small, blue butterflies don’t like windy days. They stay close to the ground, fluttering around grasses and desert wildflowers.
- The Western Pygmy Blue is the smallest butterfly in North America.
- Blue butterflies love mud puddles. Groups of them may gather around muddy spots to sip up water and important minerals.
- Blue butterfly caterpillars have a secret friendship with ants. The caterpillars make a sweet liquid that ants love to eat, and in return, the ants protect them from predators like tiny bodyguards!
- Blue butterflies use their feet to taste! Before laying her eggs, a mother butterfly taps her feet on a plant to make sure it’s the right food for her babies.
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High Desert Helpers is sponsored through the Trails+ Grant Program by the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division.
