72 Microseasons of the Pacific Northwest

The Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) is the Pacific Northwest's first butterfly of spring — the "first of the blues" — emerging from its chrysalis on warm March days when most people still consider winter to be underway. Adults have a wingspan of roughly 1.0–1.25 inches. Males are a delicate lilac-blue above, almost translucent in bright light, while females show more grey. The underwing is pale grey with faint dark spots. They are easily overlooked due to their small size, but their early appearance and characteristic low, erratic flight just above vegetation makes them identifiable to anyone who takes a moment to look. Echo Azures overwinter as pupae and are often visible before the catkins of red alder have finished shedding pollen and before most spring wildflowers have opened. They can appear as early as late February in coastal Oregon and the warmer parts of the Willamette Valley, and regularly emerge in the Puget Sound lowlands by mid-March. Look for them in sheltered, sunny spots along the edges of second-growth forest, riparian corridors, suburban greenbelts, and parks — especially near flowering Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis), which is an important early nectar source. Males perch on vegetation waiting for females, rising to investigate any small passing object. The appearance of the Echo Azure is one of the most reliable phenological signals that true spring has begun in the Pacific Northwest lowlands, preceding the arrival of Mourning Cloaks by only a week or two. Other early-emerging blue butterflies follow in its wake across the spring. A warm, sheltered clearing with dappled sunlight and flowering Indian plum or red-flowering currant in the Puget Sound lowlands on a mid-March afternoon is the ideal place to observe the season's first butterfly.