Hessel's Hairstreak (Callophrys hesseli [Rawson & Ziegler])
Wing span: 1 - 1 1/8 inch (2.5 - 2.8 cm).
Identification: Two tails on hindwing. Underside blue-green; white spots surrounded by patches of red-brown. Forewing's costal white spot is set inward of the other spots in postmedian row.
Life history: Males perch at tops of host trees to seek receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on terminal growth of host tree; caterpillars eat new growth and older foliage. Chrysalids hibernate.
Flight: One flight in late May in New England, two flights from April-July in the south.
Caterpillar hosts: Atlantic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) in the family Cupressaceae.
Adult food: Nectar from flowers including swamp milkweed, shadbush, sand myrtle, sweet pepperbush, highbush blueberry, buttonbush, and dogbane.
Habitat: Coastal plains swamps and stream banks, associated barrens.
Range: Southern Maine south along the Atlantic coastal plain to northern Florida on the Gulf Coast.
Conservation: Most populations are small and local. All are worthy of being conserved.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G3 - Very rare or local throughout its range or found locally in a restricted range (21 to 100 occurrences). (Threatened throughout its range).
Management needs: Maintain different successional stages of white-cedar swamps and prevent loss of white-cedar stands.
