Celastrina iryna
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Celastrina iryna, or Iryna's azure, is a butterfly species in the family Lycaenidae,[1][2] named in honor of Iryna Zarutska, who was killed in 2025. Thought to be a hybrid species, the males differ from Celastrina neglecta by their absence of androconia and presence of elongated wing scales, while the females have a nearly immaculate white underside.[1]
| Celastrina iryna | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Celastrina |
| Species: | C. iryna |
| Binomial name | |
| Celastrina iryna Pavulaan, 2025 | |
The butterfly has been observed in South Carolina's Aiken, Barnwell, Dorchester, Jasper, and Orangeburg counties, as well as in Georgia, northern Florida and Mississippi.[3] The Aiken flight was observed in April, however the species is thought to be multivoltine as it has been observed from April to August in Georgia, for example.[1]
History
Celastrina iryna was originally discovered in the Aiken and Barnwell counties of South Carolina by Ronald Gatrelle in 1985.[4] After Gatrelle's death, Harry Pavulaan inherited his collection and formally described the butterfly in 2025 after further field studies in 2018 and 2019.[4] Pavulaan named the species Celastrina iryna, rather than Celastrina carolina, after the Ukrainian refugee to help bring awareness to her case.[5]
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