Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate
Common Names:White-lined Green Hairstreak, Little Green Hairstreak.
Note: The green hairstreaks of the genus Callophrys can
be difficult to identify. There is still some debate among scientists about
the exact boundaries between some species.
Range:
The species ranges from southern British Columbia and Alberta south through
most of the Pacific Northwest and eastern California, and east to western Montana
south to northern New Mexico. Isolated populations may be found in North Dakota,
Nebraska and southeastern New Mexico. It occurs in patches throughout the state
of Idaho.
Habitat:
It occurs in chaparral, woodlands, sagebrush steppe,
and scrublands.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars eat the leaves of a variety of wild buckwheat (Eriogonum)
species.
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
Usually there is one generation of caterpillars each summer.
The caterpillars pupate,
then overwinter within their chrysalises in a physiological state
called diapause
until spring. Adults generally fly from March to July.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females to pass by. Females lay eggs singly on the leaves
of host plants.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.