| Silver-banded hairstreak | |
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| Species: | C. simaethis |
| Binomial name | |
| Chlorostrymon simaethis (Drury, 1773) | |
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Chlorostrymon simaethis, the silver-banded hairstreak, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. [2] [3] It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak. [4]
The upperside of the wings is dark, iridescent purple in males. Females are grayish brown, sometimes having iridescent purple on the basal area of the wings. [4] The underside of the wings is bright, lime green in both sexes. Both wings have a bright silvery-white postmedian band. The silver band on the hindwing juts out towards the margin and turns back in, forming a V shape. Beyond this band, there is a dark brownish-red patch with a variable amount of silvery-white frosting. The frosting extends across the entire edge of the hindwing. The hindwings have one pair of tails. [2] [4] The wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 3.2 cm. [5]
The amethyst hairstreak ( Chlorostrymon maesites ) is the only similar species in the silver-banded hairstreak's range.
The amethyst hairstreak is smaller. The upperside of the male is dark, vivid, purplish blue. The upperside of the female is bright blue with dark forewing apexes. The underside of the forewing lacks the silver band. The hindwing has a silver band but it does not stretch across the entire wing. The hindwings have two pairs of tails. [4]
Another related butterfly species to Chlorostrymon simaethis found in North America is Callophrys xami , which is commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak. Aesthetically, C. simaethis differs significantly from C. xami in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings as the silver-banded species has a much broader silver-white postmedian line on the underside of the hindwing. [6]
The silver-banded hairstreak is found in habitats such as subtropical woodlands, deserts, and hammock edges. It is found in these habitats only if its host plants are nearby. [4] [7]
The silver-banded hairstreak is seen from May to December in southern Florida and from June to December in southern Texas. [7] It is seen from March to June and again from October to mid-November in southern Arizona. [8] It will occasionally stray to southern California in October.
These butterflies are usually a very pretty light green with a white streak along the top of the wing. Some say this butterfly is a blue to a light brown. [7]
The female lays her eggs singly on the young fruits of the host plant. The eggs are shiny green. The caterpillar lives inside the seed pod of the host plant and feeds on the unripe seeds. The caterpillar is yellowish green to a brownish color. [7] It has dark, wavy dorsal and subdorsal lines. [9] There is a dark greenish middorsal stripe edged on each side with red ovals. The head is tan. The caterpillar will turn red just before pupating. [7] The chrysalis is tan to grayish brown with a gray middorsal stripe. It is covered in black and brown spots. It is attached to a surface by a silk pad and girdle. [7] The silver-banded hairstreak has two or three broods per year. [2]
Host plants of the silver-banded hairstreak: [7]
The white-letter hairstreak is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.
The Zabulon skipper is a North American butterfly first described by the French naturalists Jean Baptiste Boisduval and John Eatton Le Conte from the state of Georgia, United States.
Lampides boeticus, the pea blue, or long-tailed blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or gossamer-winged family.
Boloria eunomia, the bog fritillary or ocellate bog fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Polyommatus amandus, the Amanda's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
Boloria bellona, the meadow fritillary, is a North American butterfly in the brushfoot family, Nymphalidae. The common name, meadow fritillary, is also used for a European butterfly species, Melitaea parthenoides.
Nathalis iole, the dainty sulphur or dwarf yellow, is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Callophrys gryneus, the juniper hairstreak or olive hairstreak, is a butterfly native to North America. It belongs in the family Lycaenidae.
Euptoieta claudia, the variegated fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Even though the variegated fritillary has some very different characteristics from the Speyeria fritillaries, it is still closely related to them. Some of the differences are: variegated fritillaries have two or three broods per year vs. one per year in Speyeria; they are nomadic vs. sedentary; and they use a wide range of host plants vs. just violets. And because of their use of passionflowers as a host plant, variegated fritillaries also have taxonomic links to the heliconians. Their flight is low and swift, but even when resting or nectaring, this species is extremely difficult to approach, and, because of this, its genus name was taken from the Greek word euptoietos meaning "easily scared".
Euptoieta hegesia, the Mexican fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Autochton cellus, the golden banded-skipper, is a North and Central American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. There are two populations, one in the eastern United States and the other in the southwestern United States and Mexico. The eastern population is rare and local and uses only one host plant, the thicket bean. The southwestern population is uncommon to common and uses more than one host plant. The golden banded-skipper is most active mid-morning and late afternoon. Their flight is sluggish and low to the ground, compared to closely related species.
Danaus eresimus, the soldier or tropical queen, is a North American, Caribbean, and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Eurema mexicana, the Mexican yellow, sometimes called the wolf-face sulphur, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae. It occurs mainly in Mexico but occasionally is found in central and southwestern United States and rarely in Canada.
Eurema proterpia, the tailed orange, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Chlosyne lacinia, the bordered patch or sunflower patch, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Callophrys henrici, the Henry's elfin or woodland elfin, is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. In Canada it is found from southern Manitoba to southern Nova Scotia. It has two main groups of populations in the United States; the first is found along the Atlantic Coast and uses various hollies (Ilex) as host plants; and the second is found mainly in the north and the Appalachians where they use redbud as a host plant. Henry's elfin is increasing in New England because of an introduced buckthorn it now uses as a host plant. It is listed as a species of special concern in the US state of Connecticut.
Papilio palamedes, the Palamedes swallowtail or laurel swallowtail, is a North American butterfly in the family Papilionidae.
Kricogonia lyside, the lyside sulphur or guayacan sulphur, is a North American, Caribbean, and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae.
Chlorostrymon telea, the telea hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by William Chapman Hewitsonin 1868. It is found from southern Texas and Mexico to Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, eastern Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. The habitat consists of stream valleys of semideciduous dry forests.
Callophrys xami, commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak, is a butterfly included in the subgenus Xamia and the genus Callophrys in the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Tryon Reakirt in 1867. Other common names for this species, depending on the region, include green hairstreak and elfin. C. xami is considered to be a very rare species of butterfly, and its typical range is in southern Arizona and Texas including down south to Guatemala. The juniper hairstreak and the silver-banded hairstreak butterflies are similar species, but both differ significantly from C. xami in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings.
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