Marine Blue - Leptotes marina - female on host Plumbago in my backyard garden in Long Beach, CA. August 29, 2008.

Marine Blue male at Caribou Creek near Big Bear. July 18, 2005.

I have come to not pay much attention to these common blues in the garden or on hikes (they seem to be everywhere I go), but this one was really fresh so I grabbed my camera and it posed for me for several minutes. July 13, 2019.

Marine Blue on host Plumbago in my garden. September 7, 2008.

Marine Blue egg on host Plumbago in my garden. October 3, 2008.

A 200x magnification of a Marine Blue egg, also on Plumbago in my garden, but 12 years later. September 23, 2020.

A tiny Marine Blue larva on host Plumbago, September 7, 2008. I got what I was hoping for when I put these plants in about a year ago: to attract the butterfly and watch the life cycle. I planted two of the fast-growing Plumbago and they quickly grew to pretty large bushes. They're very attractive to Marine Blues; I see several every day now.

A different Leptotes marina caterpillar - they can vary quite a bit. October 1, 2020. Twelve years later, same plants, still a great host for this butterfly.

To get a chrysalis of this blue, I reared a larva in a cup to maturity (the one pictured immediately above) and let it pupate there. I've never been able to find one in the garden otherwise. October 5, 2020. This was a small pupa, approx. 9mm long (3/8"). The pupa is below.