Desert Green Hairstreak (Callophrys comstocki Henne)
Wing span: 13/16 - 1 inches (2.2 - 2.9 cm).
Identification: Upperside gray. Underside gray-green with sinuous row of white dots on hindwing.
Life history: Males perch to watch for females in depressions or gulch bottoms. Females lay eggs singly on host plant leaves. Caterpillars eat leaves, although some prefer flowers and young fruits. Chrysalids hibernate.
Flight: One or two flights from March-May and August-September, second flight usually small.
Caterpillar hosts: Various wild buckwheats (Eriogonum), especially Wright's buckwheat and racemose buckwheat
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodland.
Range: Great Basin and arid inter-mountain West from northern Nevada and eastern California east to southern Utah and western Colorado.
Conservation: Habitats are being invaded by Cheatgrass in some areas. Subspecies interrupta Austin in Nevada may be in greater need of conservation.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G2,G3 - for species. Imperiled because of rarity (6 to 20 occurrences), or because of other factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range. (Endangered throughout its range).
