The Rita Blue or Desert Buckwheat Blue (Euphilotes rita) is a species of butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Lycaenidae

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

 family. It is found in Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 and northern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 17-22 mm. The upperside of the males is bright lilac-blue with dark borders and a small orange patch at the corner of the hindwings. The upperside of the females is brown with a orange marginal band. The underside of both sexes is off-white with black spots. Adults are on wing from July to late September in one generation per year. They feed on the flower nectar of Eriogonum

Eriogonum

Eriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...

species.

The larvae feed on the flowers and fruits of wild Eriogonum

Eriogonum

Eriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...

species, including Eriogonum effusum, Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name alpine golden buckwheat. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska to Colorado. It is a mat-forming herb producing erect flowering stems to a maximum height approaching 40 centimeters. Leaves are located at ground...

, Eriogonum leptocladon, Eriogonum racemosum and Eriogonum wrightii

Eriogonum wrightii

Eriogonum wrightii is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names bastardsage and Wright's buckwheat. It is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwest Mexico, where it grows in many plant communities, such as chaparral, in rocky habitats from mountains to...

. The larvae are tended by ants.

Subspecies

• Euphilotes rita rita
• Euphilotes rita coloradensis (Mattoni, 1966)
• Euphilotes rita mattoni (Shields, 1975)
• Euphilotes rita emmeli (Shields, 1975)