Observation date: August 16, 2013
Submitted by: richtrebbien
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: Poor thing floating in a small pond. Seems a bit large for a skipperling, maybe 1 1/4" across with black spots on the fore wing (male?).
Status: Resident
Verified by: James Steen
Verified date: February 18, 2025
Coordinator notes: My first thought was a male hairstreak, definitely a butterfly. JAMES STEEN
Strangely, this looks like a Hermes Copper, Tharsalea hermes, though this is far out of range for that species. You can even see the tails on the hindwing. J Calhoun
Your comment J Caloun, especially concerning tails made me looked thru several of my books as well as countless images. I'm pretty confident this is a male Satyrium saepium. The wing shape, patch location and size on forewings, over all suggestion of tawny color, small tails point strongly to a male Hedgerow Hairstreak. Thanks for looking and commenting, pushed me to look a bit more. JAMES STEEN
