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Coral Hairstreak - Satyrium titus

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Satyrium

Description

The coral hairstreak has a wingspan of 1-1.5 inches and no tail. The male's wings are more pointed than the female's wings. It is dark brown on its upperside. The underside of its wings is light brown with a row of coral-red spots at the edges and a row of black spots ringed in white in the middle of the wings.

Range

The coral hairstreak is found throughout the northern 2/3 of the United States and in parts of Canada. It is found throughout New Hampshire.

Habitat

The coral hairstreak is found in shrubby areas, openings in woodlands, old pastures and fields, roadsides, streamsides, and brushy clearings.

Diet

The coral hairstreak caterpillar eats a variety of plants in the Rosaceae (rose family) including: wild cherry, wild plum, and chokecherry. The adult feeds on the nectar of butterfly weed, dogbane, and sulphur flower.

Life Cycle

The male coral hairstreak perches on a bush and waits for a female. The female lays one egg at a time on the twigs or in the leaf litter at the base of a host plant. The caterpillar stays in the leaf litter during the day and feeds at night.