A painted pollinator

You can thank this common blue butterfly's discerning palate for the delightful palette of our photo. Lavender is well loved by us humans as a delicious aromatic herb, and common blues agree, happily harvesting nectar from the tiny purple blossoms. Common blues' color patterns differ by sex, a perfect example of dimorphism. By the blue belly and grayish outer wings of this little guy, we can tell he's a male—if he were to spread his wings, we'd see where the 'blue' part of the name comes from.