The gray hairstreak (''Strymon melinus'') is also called the bean lycaenid or cotton square borer. It is a member of the

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 ...

family, known as the gossamer-winged butterflies and the second-largest family of butterflies. It is one of the most common

hairstreak The subfamily Theclinae is a group of butterflies, often referred to as hairstreaks, with some species instead known as elfins or by other names. The group is part of the family Lycaenidae, the "gossamer-winged butterflies". There are many tropi ...

s in North America, ranging over nearly the entire continent. It also occurs throughout

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and in northern

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 ...

General Description

The adult gray hairstreak has a wingspan of . The upper sides of the wings are gray with an orange spot on the hind margin. The underside of the wings are a lighter gray with white and black lines and orange and blue marginal spots near the hind-wings' tail-like extensions. Caterpillars are green with markings on the sides, covered in short yellow hairs. Strymon melinus gray hairstreak butterfly

Strymon melinus gray hairstreak butterfly

Habitat

The gray hairstreak lives in a wide range of habitats ranging from

tropical forests Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...

and

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

to temperate woodland areas and

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

, as well as cities and farmland.

Food

The caterpillars of the gray hairstreak butterfly consume a wide range of food plants. However, they do mainly use mallows and

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

as their preferred host plant. They commonly use clovers as their food plant as well, eating rabbit-foot clover (''Trifolium arvense''),

white clover ''Trifolium repens'', the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (otherwise known as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe, including the British Isles,Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg., E.F. 1968. ''Excursi ...

(''T. repens''),

bush clover ''Lespedeza'' is a genus of some 40 species (including nothospecies) of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or (particularly East Asian species) Japanese clovers (''hagi''). The genus is native to warm ...

(''Lespedeza capitata''), white sweet-clover (''Melilotis alba''), and ''

Malva neglecta ''Malva neglecta'' is an annual growing to 0.6 m (2 ft). It is known as common mallow in the United States and also as buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, dwarf mallow, and roundleaf mallow. This plant is often consumed as a food, wit ...

.'' Young caterpillars are typically found eating flowers and fruiting bodies of their host plant while the older caterpillars eat the leaves.

Notes

External links

eNatureButterflies and Moths of North America
Eumaeini Butterflies of North America Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Butterflies described in 1818 {{Eumaeini-stub