I had to get some help with this one. I thought it may be a Short-tailed Blue, but they are not native to this part of the world. I contacted a naturalist at the Miami County Parks District and learned that is is actually a Eastern Tailed-blue. This one is a female. Here is a interesting fact from Wikipedia:
Eastern tailed-blues feed on various legumes and are known to secrete a substance which is favored by some ant species. The ant in turn protects the larva of the butterfly from other predators.
Very cool!!
(A special acknowledgment and thank you to Amalee at Miami County Parks District for her help identifying this beautiful butterfly)
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