Upperside of males blue, females with some black at outer edge of forewing. Late spring and summer forms with white above. Underside hindwing gray-white with faded small black dots, darker gray with larger black spots, or with blotches and black margins in the center. Males patrol and perch all day but are most active from midafternoon until dusk. Eggs are laid on flower buds.
Caterpillars feed on flowers and fruits and are tended by ants.
Flower nectar from dogbane, privet, New Jersey tea, blackberry, common milkweed, and many others. Openings and edges of deciduous woods, old fields, wooded freshwater marshes and swamps. Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.