Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name:
Orange Hairstreak.
Note: Some authors refer to this species using the genus name
Callipsyche.
Range:
It occurs from southern British Columbia south along the various mountain ranges
to southern California, and east to southern Idaho, western Wyoming and Colorado, and central New Mexico.
Habitat:
This species is found in dry habitats including sagebrush steppe, chaparral, and pinyon-juniper
woodlands.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars eat the leaves of bitterbrush (Purshia spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar, often from wild buckwheat (Eriogonum
spp.).
Ecology:
Eggs are laid in the fall, overwinter, and hatch in the spring. There is
only one generation of caterpillars each year. The caterpillar is equipped with
a honey gland, also known as a dorsal nectary organ, which
emits a sugary solution agreeable to ants. The ants feed on the solution and
in turn protect the caterpillar from predators. Each caterpillar undergoes four
stages of growth, called instars.
Adults generally fly
from May through August. Butterflies tend to stay near host plants
and are fairly local within the described range of the species.
Reproduction:
Males perch
on shrubs located on hilltops to wait for receptive females. Greenish white
eggs are laid singly on the leaves and branches of bitterbrush (Purshia
spp.). The eggs turn white before hatching.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Ferris, C. D. and F. M. Brown. (eds.) 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 442 pp.
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.