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.
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Verified Sightings
Displaying 553 - 576 of 7147 verified sightings
Observation date: Sep 30, 2021
Submitted by: Ed Rothwell
Region: Perkins County, Nebraska, United States
Verified by: Emily Geest
Verified date: Oct 19, 2021
Observation date: Aug 14, 2021
Submitted by: Rmclaughlin
Region: Pima County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 16, 2021
Observation date: Sep 24, 2021
Submitted by: Sarah Miller
Region: Maricopa County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 16, 2021
Observation date: May 25, 2019
Submitted by: Mark Salvato
Region: Apache County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 16, 2021
Observation date: Sep 27, 2021
Submitted by: dayers@hotmail.com
Region: Pima County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 16, 2021
Observation date: Aug 27, 2021
Submitted by: Lwilliams8480
Region: Maricopa County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Saba
Verified date: Oct 16, 2021
Observation date: Oct 13, 2021
Submitted by: mstanek
Region: Ventura County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 14, 2021
Observation date: Sep 11, 2021
Submitted by: L Reid
Region: Cumberland County, Illinois, United States
Verified by: rogerdowner
Verified date: Oct 11, 2021
Observation date: Oct 03, 2021
Submitted by: opiliones
Region: Clark County, Nevada, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 10, 2021
Observation date: Sep 06, 2021
Submitted by: Joshua C
Region: Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Oct 07, 2021
Observation date: Oct 05, 2021
Submitted by: DeepSkyKelly
Region: Colfax County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Oct 06, 2021
Observation date: Oct 03, 2021
Submitted by: MEW2021
Region: San Bernardino County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 04, 2021
Observation date: Sep 29, 2021
Submitted by: jmgesell
Region: Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States
Verified by: davidwright
Verified date: Sep 30, 2021
Observation date: Sep 07, 2021
Submitted by: BarbSendelbach
Region: Burlington County, New Jersey, United States
Verified by: curtis.lehman
Verified date: Sep 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 22, 2021
Submitted by: jrmbutterfly
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: davidwdroppers
Verified date: Sep 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 28, 2021
Submitted by: DeepSkyKelly
Region: Colfax County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Sep 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 27, 2021
Submitted by: Cactuswren1976
Region: Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Sep 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 24, 2021
Submitted by: Debo Boddiford
Region: Chatham County, Georgia, United States
Verified by: Mikelchap
Verified date: Sep 29, 2021
Observation date: Sep 23, 2021
Submitted by: pkondrashov
Region: Macon County, Missouri, United States
Verified by: CA Ivy
Verified date: Sep 28, 2021
Observation date: Sep 12, 2021
Submitted by: camflies
Region: Ventura County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Sep 23, 2021
Observation date: Sep 11, 2021
Submitted by: camflies
Region: Ventura County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Sep 23, 2021
Observation date: Sep 12, 2021
Submitted by: Patricia12
Region: Ventura County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Sep 23, 2021
Observation date: Sep 20, 2021
Submitted by: Jebflutterby
Region: Santa Cruz County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Sep 23, 2021
Observation date: May 28, 2019
Submitted by: Mark Salvato
Region: Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Sep 22, 2021
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