North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Gray Ministreak (Ministrymon [Tmolus] azia)
JPG -- species photo

Gray Ministreak (Ministrymon azia [Hewitson])

Wing span: 5/8 - 15/16 inch (1.6 - 2.4 cm).

Identification: Tiny; tailed. Wings gray; underside hindwing with narrow postmedian line of orange bordered with white.

Life history: Females lay eggs on flower buds, which the caterpillars eat.

Flight: March-September in Florida and Texas; throughout the year in most of the tropics.

Caterpillar hosts: Mimosa malacophylla in lower Rio Grande Valley; Leucaena leucocephala and wild tamarind (Lysiloma bahamensis) in southern Florida.

Adult food: Seen nectaring at Leucaena leucocephala, Melilotus alba, Cynoglossum amabile, Bidens alba, Turnera ulmifolia, Mimosa pudica, and Acacia species.

Habitat: Subtropical thorn scrub.

Range: Brazil through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to South Texas, southern Florida, and the Keys.

Conservation: Not usually required.

The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G4 - Apparently secure globally, though it might be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Management needs: None reported.

References:


Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the  Great Plains. Johns 

    Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.



Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern  butterflies. Peterson 

    field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co.,  Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.



Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford  University Press,

     Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.



Smith, D. S., L. D. Miller, and J. Y. Miller. 1994. The butterflies of the West 

    Indies and South Florida. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 264 pages, 32 

    color plates.



Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies.  Houghton-Mifflin Co., 

    Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

Gray Ministreak (Ministrymon [Tmolus] azia)
distribution map
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