''Satyrium liparops'', the striped hairstreak, is a
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...
of the family
Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly ...
described by
John Eatton Le Conte
John Eatton Le Conte, Jr. (sometimes John Eatton LeConte or John Eaton Leconte) (February 22, 1784 – November 21, 1860) was an American naturalist. He was born near Shrewsbury, New Jersey, the son of John Eatton Le Conte and Jane Sloane ...
in 1833. It is found in North America,
[ from the ]Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
south from southern Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
to Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, east to Maine
Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...
and south to Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
.
The wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...
is 25–39 mm. The hindwings have one long and one short tail. The upperside is dark brown. The males have a long, oval spot along the forewing costa. The underside of both wings has rows of widely separated white stripes and a blue spot near the tails, which is topped with orange. The outer margin of the hindwings is indented above the short tail. Adults are on wing from July to August in the north and in May in the south. There is one generation per year. Adults feed on nectar from various flowers, including chinquapin, common milkweed, dogbane, goldenrod, meadowsweet, New Jersey tea, staghorn sumac, viburnum, and white sweet clover.
The larvae feed on the plum and cherry (''Prunus
''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds.
Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...
'' species) and hawthorns ('' Crataegus'' species).Striped Hairstreak
''Butterflies of Canada'' They feed on the buds, leaves, flowers, and young fruit of their host plant.
Subspecies
*''S. l. aliparops''
(Michener & dos Passos, 1942) – (Colorado, southern Alberta to Manitoba)
*''S. l. fletcheri''
(Michener & dos Passos, 1942) – (Manitoba, northern Ontario to Alberta)
*''S. l. floridensis''
Gatrelle, 2001 – (Florida)
*''S. l. liparops'' – (Georgia)
*''S. l. strigosa''
(Harris, 1862) – (Massachusetts, New England, eastern Canada)
References
Butterflies described in 1833
Satyrium (butterfly)
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