BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Agriades optilete
Cranberry Blue
| Scientific Name: | Agriades optilete (Knoch, 1781) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Plebejus optilete
Vacciniina optilete |
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| English Name: | Cranberry Blue | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | 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. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-PLEOPT | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G4G5 (Mar 2022) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S3S4 (Feb 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Blue | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Wetland / Bog / Facultative - frequent use
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Moslty boggy taiga, spruce bogs, wet tundra; in northern prairie provinces also sandy coniferous forest (perhaps really woodland) areas. See Layberry et al. (1998), Opler (1999). Closely associated with the foodplant cranberry and certain other low Vaccinium spp. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Nectarivore: Adult
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | In North America, this Holarctic species occurs in the Yukon River valley and southern Yukon east to northern Hudson Bay, Canada. Also occurs in the European Alps, arctic Europe, Asia, and Japan. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 15, 2001 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Guppy, C.S., and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia. UBC Press in collaboration with Royal B.C. Mus. 414pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2001. Species Summary: Agriades optilete. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).