Karner blue butterfly

The Karner Blue Butterfly is an endangered species native to the Great Lakes region of the United States. It can be found in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in northwestern Indiana, and also occurs in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York. It’s life history is dependent on the wild lupine plant, a wildflower whose preferred habitat is the dry soils of open pine and oak savanna that can be found in the Indiana Dunes National Lake shore.

Reproductive Behavior: The life cycle of the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly is dependent on the wild lupine plant. Two generations of this butterfly occur each year. The first hatch occurs in late April from eggs laid the previous year, and the second hatch from eggs laid early in the summer season.

This small butterfly has a wingspan of about 1 inch. Viewed from above, males differ from females, but on the underside, both sexes show a continuous band of orange crescents along the edges of both wings and scattered black spots circled with white.

Adult Karner Blues feed on the nectar of flowering plants, but the caterpillars of the Karner Blue feed only on the leaves of the wild lupine.

The wild lupine prefers dry soils in open woods and clearings such as pine and oak savannas and barrens. Because the Karner Blue depends on wild lupine, Federal recovery plans for the Karner Blue Butterfly include protection and management of wild lupine habitat.