Shopworn blue, garden

The wild asters are putting on a great show, and a number of bumblebees and butterflies are coming by daily to admire and sample the white flowers. Some of the lepidopterans are easy to identify—I'm still woeful on bees—while others pose a real challenge. This guy fits the latter category, especially since the diagnostic patterning of the wing edges has been worn away by time and experience. If I had to guess, I'd call this one a Summer Azure, based on the spot pattern of the wing undersides. It's considered a variety of the Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon), one of the first butterflies on the wing in April, but the various field guides I use for identification purposes note that Celastrina is a genus in transition, with, no doubt, lots of different species to emerge from unity—and ignorance. Whatever name comes from the molecular jury's deliberations, it's clearly one of the Blues, and I hope it's journey through the season has resulted in success and offspring.