North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Virginia

Hickory Hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum)
JPG -- species photo

Hickory Hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum [McDunnough])

Wing span: 1 1/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.9 - 3.5 cm).

Identification: Hindwing with 1 tail. Underside light brown with broad, offset, white postmedian dashes. Hindwing with blue tail-spot and black-capped orange eyespot.

Life history: Males perch high up in trees to wait for females. Eggs hibernate; caterpillars feed on lower surface of leaves.

Flight: One flight from June-August.

Caterpillar hosts: Mostly hickory (Carya); also ash (Fraxinus), chestnut (Castanea), and oak (Quercus) species.

Adult food: Nectar from flowers of common milkweed, dogbane, New Jersey tea, staghorn sumac, and white sweet clover.

Habitat: Deciduous forests and second-growth woods in areas of rich soil.

Range: Southern New England west to Minnesota and Iowa, south in the Appalachians to eastern Tennessee.

Conservation: Not usually required, but on sensitive species list for some states.

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.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:


Glassberg,  J.  1993.  Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to 

     Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region.  Oxford Univ. Press, 

     New York, N.Y.  160 pp.    



Clark, A.H. and Clark, L.F. 1951.  The Butterflies of Virginia.  Smithsonian

     Miscellaneous collection No. 116:1-239.



Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998.  The Butterflies of 

     Canada.  University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON.  280 pp. 

     

Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.

     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.     



Woodbury, E.N.  1994.  Butterflies of Delmarva.  Delaware Nature Society, Inc., 

     Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD.  138 pp.  [NOTE: this book only 

     treats True Butterflies (Papilionoidea).  It does not treat Skippers 

     (Hesperioidea).]

Hickory Hairstreak (Satyrium caryaevorum)
distribution map
map legend

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