About Leptotes cassius (Cramer, 1775)
Leptotes cassius, commonly known as the Cassius blue or tropical striped blue, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Lycaenidae. Its distribution ranges from Florida (including the Florida Keys) and Texas in North America, southwards through the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America, all the way to South America. Wandering stray individuals have been recorded in New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. The wingspan of this butterfly measures 20 to 35 mm. This species holds an important role in Marisha Pessl's 2006 novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics, where the protagonist Blue van Meer is named in honor of the Cassius blue. Native host plants for the species' caterpillars belong to the plant family Fabaceae. Confirmed food plants on record include Amorpha crenulata, woolly rattlepod (Crotalaria incana), Galactia regularis, and lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). Leptotes cassius caterpillars can also successfully develop when feeding on Cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata) or doctorbush (Plumbago scandens). These two plant species are eudicots not closely related to the butterfly's usual food plants.
