Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Lycaenidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Satyrium | |
Similar Satyrium calanus, Satyrium liparops, Satyrium edwardsii, Satyrium, Satyrium titus | ||
Satyrium caryaevorum, the hickory hairstreak, is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in eastern North America, from southern New England west to Minnesota and Iowa, south in the Appalachian Mountains to eastern Tennessee.
The wingspan is 22–28 mm. The hindwing has one tail. The underside is light brown with broad, offset, white postmedian dashes. The hindwings have a blue tail-spot and a black-capped orange eyespot. Adults are on wing from June to August in one generation per year. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including common milkweed, dogbane, New Jersey tea, staghorn sumac and white sweet clover.
The larvae feed on the leaves of bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis), butternut (Juglans cinerea), red oak (Quercus rubra), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and hawthorn (Crataegus species). The species overwinters as an egg.