Hairstreak Butterflies and their Host Plants

Subfamily Theclinae: Hairstreaks

Like the blues, hairstreaks are an artificial assemblage of genera that might have their origin in more than one ancestral line. In fact, what we call hairstreaks is the hairlike tails projecting from the outer angle of the hindwing. There may be one, two, or rarely three tails per hindwing, and even the tails species tend to have a drawn out stub that looks as if it is about to grow a tail. The tail often have bright orange and/ or blue " hairstreak spots" near them, further exaggerating  the false head mechanism by drawing birds attention to the rear wing rather than the body.  See below some of them.

  • Banded Hairstreak  "Satyrium Calamus"
  • Gray Hairstreak  "Strymon Melinus"
  • Great Purple Hairstreak  "Atlises Halesus"
  • Red-Banded Hairstreak  "Calycopis Cecrops"
  • Southern Hairstreak  "Satyrium Favonius"
  • Striped Hairstreak  "Satyrium Liparops"
  • White M Hairstreak  "Parrhasius M Album"

Shop below for their host plants!