Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum [Hewitson])
Wing span: 1 - 1 1/4 inches (2.5 - 3.2 cm).
Identification: Tailed. Upperside steel-blue. Underside reddish brown; hindwing with white postmedian band which forms a W near tails.
Life history: Males perch in tall trees to find receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on mistletoe and caterpillars eat all external parts of it. Chrysalids hibernate in the mistletoe mass.
Flight: One flight from May-August.
Caterpillar hosts: Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium species), in the Loranthaceae family, which grow on juniper, pine, and fir trees.
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Pinyon-juniper forest, mixed woodland, coniferous forest.
Range: Usually local and rare. British Columbia southeast through Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and into Mexico; south through California into Baja California.
