National Moth Week is July 18-26!
Moths are amazing creatures. Take photographs and share your moth sightings with us to document the moths where you live.
Gray Hairstreak
Strymon melinus (Hübner, 1818)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Theclinae
Identification: One tail on hindwing. Upperside blue-gray with large red spot near tail. Underside of spring/fall form is dark gray, summer form is paler gray. Relatively straight postmedian line is white, bordered with orange on the inside edge.
Wing Span: 7/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.2 - 3.5 cm).
Life History: Males perch all afternoon on small trees and shrubs to seek receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on flowers of host plant. Young caterpillars feed on flowers and fruits; older ones may eat leaves. Chrysalids hibernate.
Flight: Two flights from May-September in the north, three-four flights from February-November in the south.
Caterpillar Hosts: Flowers and fruits from an almost endless variety of plants; most often from pea (Fabaceae) and mallow (Malvaceae) families including beans (Phaseolus), clovers (Trifolium), cotton (Gossypium), and mallow (Malva).
Adult Food: Nectar from many flower species including dogbane, milkweed, mint, winter cress, goldenrod, tick trefoil, and white sweet clover.
Habitat: Open, nonforested sites; common in disturbed, weedy areas.
Range: Throughout continental United States from southern Canada south to Mexico; southward to Venezuela. Comments: The most widespread hairstreak in North America.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: Caterpillars may cause economic damage to bean and cotton crops.
Please donate!
We depend on donations to keep Butterflies and Moths of North America freely available. We want to express our gratitude to all who showed their support by making a contribution this year. You can donate to support this project at any time.
Advertise with us!
Do you have a product or service that you think would interest BAMONA users? If you would like to advertise on this website, contact us by email, or use the contact form and select the "Advertising" category.
Verified Sightings
Displaying 529 - 552 of 7147 verified sightings
Observation date: Jul 20, 2020
Submitted by: robtluke@aol.com
Region: Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Nov 12, 2021
Observation date: Sep 12, 2016
Submitted by: scousins
Region: Cecil County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 08, 2021
Observation date: Jun 25, 2017
Submitted by: Kurt R. Schwarz
Region: Howard County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 08, 2021
Observation date: Jul 16, 2017
Submitted by: Col
Region: New Castle County, Delaware, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Sep 10, 2021
Submitted by: Jon Kindschy
Region: Larimer County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: mikefisher
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Jul 30, 2017
Submitted by: grayhairstreak
Region: New Castle County, Delaware, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Aug 30, 2017
Submitted by: Daniel Taylor
Region: Worcester County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Aug 30, 2017
Submitted by: Daniel Taylor
Region: Worcester County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Sep 05, 2017
Submitted by: Daniel Taylor
Region: Worcester County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Sep 09, 2017
Submitted by: rogerashton
Region: New Castle County, Delaware, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Sep 26, 2015
Submitted by: Dave Webb
Region: Harford County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 06, 2021
Observation date: Sep 05, 2017
Submitted by: B. Elby
Region: Montgomery County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 05, 2021
Observation date: Jun 07, 2019
Submitted by: kellydfl
Region: Baltimore County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 04, 2021
Observation date: Aug 10, 2019
Submitted by: rabbitrun
Region: New Castle County, Delaware, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Nov 03, 2021
Observation date: Jul 22, 2017
Submitted by: Mark Salvato
Region: Monroe County, Florida, United States
Verified by: John Calhoun
Verified date: Nov 02, 2021
Observation date: Aug 18, 2021
Submitted by: Smalltowngirl
Region: Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States
Verified by: S. J. Stedman
Verified date: Oct 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 08, 2018
Submitted by: Mark Salvato
Region: Indian River County, Florida, United States
Verified by: John Calhoun
Verified date: Oct 29, 2021
Observation date: Oct 06, 2019
Submitted by: GardenAum
Region: Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Oct 27, 2021
Observation date: Sep 25, 2021
Submitted by: ObserverofGod'sart
Region: Bexar County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Oct 26, 2021
Observation date: Apr 24, 2021
Submitted by: ObserverofGod'sart
Region: Bexar County, Texas, United States
Verified by: stomlins701
Verified date: Oct 26, 2021
Observation date: Aug 15, 2018
Submitted by: jrmbutterfly
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: davidwdroppers
Verified date: Oct 26, 2021
Observation date: Jul 27, 2020
Submitted by: jmgesell
Region: Kent County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Oct 25, 2021
Observation date: Aug 23, 2021
Submitted by: Ashwnota
Region: Washington County, Maryland, United States
Verified by: jwileyrains
Verified date: Oct 24, 2021
Observation date: Jun 19, 2018
Submitted by: Mark Salvato
Region: Glenn County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 19, 2021
- ‹ previous
- 23 of 298
- next ›