Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Name:
Buckthorn Hairstreak.
Range:
This species ranges from southern British Columbia south to Baja California,
and east to central Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and in patches of Utah, Colorado,
and the southwest. It occurs in patches throughout Idaho.
Habitat:
It occurs in dry, shrubby areas, including chaparral, sagebrush steppe, oak woodlands,
and ponderosa pine forests.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves and flower buds of buck brush (Ceanothus
spp.) and possibly mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar, often from yerba santa (Eriodictyon
spp.), buck brush (Ceanothus spp.), and wild buckwheats (Eriogonum
spp.).
Ecology:
Eggs are laid in the fall, overwinter, and hatch in the spring.
There is one generation of caterpillars each year. Each caterpillar undergoes
four stages of growth, called instars.
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. To feed, caterpillars cut holes
in the upper side of leaves. Adults generally fly from mid-May through August. Butterflies
may be found in large groups. The tails of the two hindwings resemble antennae
and may act to fool predators into biting the wrong end of the butterfly allowing
it to escape.
Reproduction:
Males perch
on short shrubs to wait for receptive females. Pale green eggs are laid singly
on the branches, leaves, and flower buds of buck brush (Ceanothus spp.).
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.