''Chlorostrymon simaethis'', the silver-banded hairstreak, is a

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...

.Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). ''Butterflies of North America.'' Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY. Jeffrey Glassberg (2007). ''A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America.'' Sunstreak Books, Inc. It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak.Rick Cech and Guy Tudor (2005). ''Butterflies of the East Coast.'' Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Description

The upperside of the wings is dark, iridescent purple in males. Females are grayish brown, sometimes having iridescent purple on the basal area of the wings. The underside of the wings is bright, lime green in both sexes. Both wings have a bright silvery-white postmedian band. The silver band on the hindwing juts out towards the margin and turns back in, forming a V shape. Beyond this band, there is a dark brownish-red patch with a variable amount of silvery-white frosting. The frosting extends across the entire edge of the hindwing. The hindwings have one pair of tails. The wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 3.2 cm.

Similar species

The amethyst hairstreak ('' Chlorostrymon maesites'') is the only similar species in the silver-banded hairstreak's range. The amethyst hairstreak is smaller. The upperside of the male is dark, vivid, purplish blue. The upperside of the female is bright blue with dark forewing apexes. The underside of the forewing lacks the silver band. The hindwing has a silver band but it does not stretch across the entire wing. The hindwings have two pairs of tails. Another related butterfly species to ''Chlorostrymon simaethis'' found in North America is '' Callophrys xami'', which is commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak. Aesthetically, ''C. simaethis'' differs significantly from ''C. xami'' in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings as the silver-banded species has a much broader silver-white postmedian line on the underside of the hindwing.

Habitat

The silver-banded hairstreak is found in habitats such as

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s, and

hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, resting. It normally consists of one ...

edges. It is found in these habitats only if its host plants are nearby.James A. Scott (1986). ''The Butterflies of North America.'' Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

Flight period

The silver-banded hairstreak is seen from May to December in southern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and from June to December in southern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is seen from March to June and again from October to mid-November in southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

.Bob Stewart, Priscilla Brodkin and Hank Brodkin (2001). ''Butterflies of Arizona.'' West Coast Lady Press, Arcata, CA. It will occasionally stray to southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in October. These butterflies are usually a very pretty light green with a white streak along the top of the wing. Some say this butterfly is a blue to a light brown.

Life cycle

The female lays her

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

singly on the young fruits of the host plant. The eggs are shiny green. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

lives inside the seed pod of the host plant and feeds on the unripe seeds. The caterpillar is yellowish green to a brownish color. It has dark, wavy dorsal and subdorsal lines.Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock and Jeffrey Glassberg (2005). ''Caterpillars in the Field and Garden.'' Oxford University Press, New York, NY. There is a dark greenish middorsal stripe edged on each side with red ovals. The head is tan. The caterpillar will turn red just before pupating. The

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

is tan to grayish brown with a gray middorsal stripe. It is covered in black and brown spots. It is attached to a surface by a silk pad and girdle. The silver-banded hairstreak has two or three broods per year.

Host plants

Host plants of the silver-banded hairstreak: * ''

Cardiospermum halicacabum ''Cardiospermum halicacabum'', known as the lesser balloon vine, balloon plant or love in a puff, is a climbing plant widely distributed across tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Australia, and North America that is often found as a weed a ...

'' – balloon vine * '' Cardiospermum corindum'' – faux persil * '' Eupatorium villosum'' – Florida Keys thoroughwort

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2964143 Theclinae Butterflies of North America Butterflies of Central America Butterflies of the Caribbean Lycaenidae of South America Butterflies of Cuba Lepidoptera of Brazil Butterflies described in 1773