Alaska Natural Heritage Program Conservation Status Report glandon - de Prunner, 1798 Common Name: Arctic Blue ELCODE: IILEPH0050 Taxonomic Serial No.: 777932

Synonyms: glandon (de Prunner, 1798), Plebejus aquilo (Boisduval, 1833), Notes: More recent systematic studies have suggested that generic assignments within Plebejus sensu lato are warranted (see Talavera et al. 2013), thus the name Agriades is applied here (see Philip & Ferris 2016). Additionally a number of names have been applied at the -level to populations of this complex in (see Opler 1999, and Pelham 2008). Specimens from Alaska correspond to megalo (McDunnough, 1927) (Philip & Ferris 2016). The majority of records were determined only to species. We therefore only treat this butterfly at the species level for conservation assessment while recognizing that currently Alaskan specimens are considered to fall under (name of subspecies) - as treated by Ferris 2016. NatureServe concept reference that corresponds to Plebejus glandon (de Prunner, 1798): Layberry et al. (1998). Report last updated – 23 May 2016 Conservation Status G5 S4 ASRS: not yet ranked

Occurrences, Range Number of Occurrences: number of museum records: 546 (KWP 2017, UAM 2017), number of EOs: 94 (occasionally found in abundance, but typically uncommon in Alaska – Philip & Ferris 2016) AK Range Extent: 1,108,909 km2 (absence of records in southwestern

Alaska is likely due to lack of sampling – Philip & Ferris 2016) Occupancy 4 km2 grid cells: 104 Nowacki Ecoregions: Arctic Coastal Plain, Seward Peninsula, through the interior and Alaska Range to the Kenai Peninsula and southeastern Alaska; encompassing Arctic Tundra, Bering Tundra, Intermontane Boreal, Alaska Range Transition, Coast Mountain Transition, and Coastal Rainforest Ecoregions. North American Distribution: Holarctic and widespread in North America, from Alaska south through the western coastal mountains to Washington and through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and New Mexico; east through Canada to Newfoundland (BAMONA 2017). Trends Short-term: Proportion collected has remained stable (<10% change). Long-term: Proportion collected has been variable in the past, but appears to have declined in the last 50 years (>10% change).

Plebejus glandon Collections in Alaska 450 20

400 18

350 16 14 300 12 250 10 200 8 150 6

100 4 Percent Percent ofMuseum Collections NumberofMuseum Collections 50 2 0 0 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Collections by Decade

P. glandon P. glandon Proportion

Threats Scope and Severity: Most threats (including development, pollution, biological resource use, etc.) are anticipated to be negligible in scope and unknown in severity. Climate change and severe weather has the potential to affect populations; however we cannot anticipate the scope or severity of such impacts.

Ecology Habitat: In Alaska this species occurs in open areas from sea-level to 3,000 ft (Philip & Ferris 2016). More generally it is associated with tundra, alpine fellfields, subalpine meadows, bogs and gravelly hills (BAMONA 2017). Host Plants: In Alaska the hostplant is suggested to be (Philip & Ferris 2016). Elsewhere this species is associated with members of the Primulaceae: Dodecatheon and as well as , Diapensia, and Saxifraga (BAMONA 2017). Life History: Flight period is mid-June to mid-July. Males patrol for females close to the ground and near hostplants. Females lay eggs singly on leaves or sepals of the host plant. Overwinter hibernation occurs as pupae (Philip & Ferris 2016, BAMONA 2017). Intrinsic Vulnerability: Unkown. Literature BAMONA. 2017. and Moths of North America. Attributes of Plebejus glandon. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Plebejus-glandon. Accessed 23 May 2017. KWP, Kenelm W. Philip Collection. 2017. Date Accessed 24 April 2017. Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, Canada. 280 pp. + color plates. NatureServe. 2017. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://explorer.natureserve.org. Accessed 21 May 2017. Opler, P. A., and A. D. Warren. 2002. Butterflies of North America. 2. Scientific Names List for Butterfly Species of North America, north of Mexico. C.P. Gillette Museum of Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 79 pp. Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, vol. 40. xiv + 658. Philip, K. W. and C. D. Ferris. 2016. Butterflies of Alaska: A Field Guide. Second Edition. Alaska Entomological Society. Clifford D. Ferris. Laramie, Wyoming.110 pp. Talavera, G. V. A. Lukhtanov, N. E. Pierce, and R. Vila. 2013. Establishing criteria for higher- level classification using molecular data: the systematics of Polyommatus blue butterflies (Lepidoptera, ). Cladistics 29:166-192.