Observation date: April 29, 2026
Submitted by: hranson
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: I'm pretty sure this is Gold-hunter's. They are known from this location (Knapp's Castle, Santa Ynez Mountains). It's a fresh-looking individual and lacks the iridescent tones of Hedgerow. Mark Bright and I watched it at close quarters for some minutes, and the colors in the photos are very true to what we observed. We saw it make short flights and did not discern any orange tones on the upperside. I attach a crop where you can just see the upperside, which appears to be brown. Another note of interest is that we observed this hairstreak walking along twigs. This is a behavior I've observed in Gold-hunter's in past years, but have not observed this in other hairstreak species.
Status: Resident
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: May 02, 2026
Coordinator notes: Without seeing an upperside, I can't be 100% sure of the identification, but if auretorum, the subspecies would likely be spadix.-Ken Davenport
