Females of Plebejus melissa paradoxa can be predominantly brown or blue. Whiskey Flat Trail above Kernville, April 13, 2014.

I went to Lake Cuyamaca and found 'Orange-Margined' Melissa Blues, Plebejus melissa paradoxa, flying on August 25, 2007. This is another female.

A male Melissa Blue from the same day.

Ventral of Plebejus melissa paradoxa, same day. This is a photogenic butterfly!

This one is from the Tehachapis, where a few were flying among lupines along the PCT south of Oak Creek. July 2, 2017.

An egg from a Melissa blue in the San Jacintos. There is a colony along Forest Service Road 5S21 near Keen Camp Summit. May 15, 2022.