Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Appalachian Azures and Common Black Cohosh, their only host plant, are found on shady, moist hillsides within rich mountain forests. The butterflies produce only one generation per year and usually fly after Spring Azures but before Summer Azures are common.

The best way to find Appalachian Azures is to search for the host plant in the appropriate habitat. That is how Sara Bright and Paulette Haywood Ogard found them at the Walls of Jericho in Jackson County and documented them for the state of Alabama. Male Appalachians fly first and often engage in puddling behavior, where their large size helps to separate them from other azures. Butterflies are usually on the wing when flower buds are tiny and cob-like. It is easy to see females curling their abdomens as they place eggs along budded flower spikes. Young caterpillars bore into buds to eat developing pollen grains.  Older caterpillars eat entire buds and are usually tended by ants. By the time cohosh flowers are in bloom, caterpillars are often well on the way to maturity. To see butterflies, searchers may need to locate the plants and/or caterpillars one year and return early the following year to see the adults.

The name Appalachian Azure is only partially accurate--these azures also occur in the Ozarks. In Alabama, they are known from Jackson County but should be looked for in other mountain sites that support Common Black Cohosh.