Spring green

  

Eric spotted this beautiful green hairstreak during a walk in Glen Ellen this afternoon (29 March 2025).  The taxonomy of this group has been challenging, but it sounds like this is currently being called Lotus Hairstreak (Callophrys dumetorum).  

With many thanks to Eric for sharp eyes and patience with the camera, and to Alan for assisting with the identification and taxonomy update.

Sipping nectar in the backyard

  

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) butterfly in our backyard in Cotati on 13 October 2024.

Mint condition

 

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

nectaring on mint flowers in our backyard, 30 August 2020

 

Checkers and streaks

 

You guessed it — tonight's post features butterflies seen at The Cedars on 25 April 2015. 

First, the checkerspot:

 

I'm pretty sure these are Edith's Checkerspots (Euphydryas editha).  However, I'm a little hampered without access to my field guides right now.  If you think this identification is wrong, just let me know and I'll correct it (I'm happy to hear about confirmations, too!).

They were actively nectaring on Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum).

 

Next, the hairstreak:

 

Muir's Hairstreak (Callophrys muiri) is a serpentine endemic.  Its host plant at The Cedars is probably Sargent Cypress (Hesperocyparis sargentii).

I had trouble photographing the hairstreaks, but I'm including one more image below:

 

And for the record, I also photographed a duskywing:

 

My guess is Propertius Duskywing (Erynnis propertius).  But I'm open to other ideas, as I don't have a lot of experience with duskywings in California yet.

Here's one more picture of it — not great, but it shows the light spots in the wings that are useful for identification:

 

Although none of these butterflies are likely to be found on Bodega Head, it's fun to think about them in The Cedars, only about 20 miles away.

Almost

Well, I was a little hesitant to post these photos.  They're not the best.  But it's my first Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) on the Bodega Head peninsula, and I haven't posted a butterfly picture in a while — so here we go!  (If I get better images in the future, I'll add them, too.)

You know how it is sometimes — this butterfly was always at an odd angle, or some of its features were hidden behind flowers, or the light was too bright or too dark.

In the picture below, almost the entire butterfly is visible, but not quite.  At least you can see its striped antennae with black-and-orange tips.

 

In the next photo, once again the butterfly is almost out in the open, except for one flower.  But this is a fairly decent view of the pattern on the underwings, which is important for identifying hairstreaks.

 

Next, the butterfly is almost in a good position.  But the "tails" are quite visible at the trailing edge of the hindwings — these thread-like "tails" or "streaks" are the origin of the name "hairstreak."

 

And yes, in the following image the butterfly is almost front-and-center.  But the open wing position still gives you a feel for the dark blue-gray color of the upperwings.

 

So there you have it.  Marginal shots of a Gray Hairstreak.  A good record for the village of Salmon Creek, though.  Photographed on 16 August 2014.  

And to end this post, here's a truly marginal shot:

 

The is the hind margin of the Gray Hairstreak as it walked away.  I liked how you could see the small rounded "flares" of the hindwing and how they might almost appear to be eyes when viewed by another animal.

It's green

We were walking up the Pinnacle Gulch Trail today, when Eric paused, looked down, and quietly said , "This one's different...it's green."

I couldn't see what his eyes were focused on at first, but then I finally spotted it:

 

We had been seeing quite a bit of butterfly activity along the trail, and then we were very lucky that he noticed this beautiful green hairstreak basking on a Phacelia leaf.

I didn't have a close-up lens on the camera at the time, but I did the best I could to take a few pictures before the butterfly flew off:

 

This is a Coastal Bramble Hairstreak, sometimes called a Coastal Green Hairstreak (Callophrys dumetorum).  [The taxonomy of this species is confusing, so you might encounter different common names and scientific names depending on your source.  I'm just listing what I'm seeing used most frequently right now.]

Coastal Bramble Hairstreaks are known for wonderful blue-green colors on the lower surfaces of their wings.

Their caterpillars feed on perennial buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.) and Deerweed (Acmispon glaber, formerly Lotus scoparius).

The adults fly between February and June, so watch for them if you're in the right habitat at this time of year!

I took one more shot before more hikers came along the trail.  I hope this encourages you to watch for this little jewel of a butterfly!