Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Satyrium californica

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Family
  
Lycaenidae

Rank
  
Species

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Lepidoptera

Genus
  
Satyrium


Similar
  
Satyrium saepium, Glaucopsyche piasus, Lycaena heteronea, Lycaena arota, Lycaena nivalis

Satyrium californica, the California hairstreak, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from British Columbia south to southern California and east to Colorado.

The wingspan is 25–32 mm. The upperside is brown with an orange spot on the hindwings. The outer edge of the forewings usually has row of orange spots. The underside is brown-grey with orange crescents and a postmedian band of black spots. Each hindwing has two tails. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Eriogonum and Asclepias species.

The larvae feed on Cercocarpus, Salix species, buckbrush (Ceanothus spp.), antelope-brush (Purshia tridentata), oaks (Quercus spp.), cherry (Prunus spp.), and saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.

  • S. c. brashor Kondla & Scott, 2006
  • S. c. californica
  • S. c. cygnus (Edwards, 1871)
  • S. c. obscurafacies (Austin, 1998)
  • S. c. wapiti Fisher, 2006
  • References

    Satyrium californica Wikipedia