Callophrys spinetorum
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Callophrys spinetorum, the thicket hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by William Chapman Hewitson in 1867. It is found in North America from British Columbia through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico and Mexico and through California to Baja California.[1] The habitat consists of pinyon-juniper forests, mixed woodlands, and coniferous forests.[2]
_(6-28-2018)_blaine_co,_id_-04_(41554474110).jpg)
| Thicket hairstreak | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Callophrys |
| Species: | C. spinetorum |
| Binomial name | |
| Callophrys spinetorum (Hewitson, 1867) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults are on wing from May to August in one generation per year. They feed on flower nectar.
The larvae are specialists, feeding on the shoots, flowers, and fruit of dwarf mistletoes in the genus Arceuthobium.[3][4] In particular, larvae have been documented feeding on A. campylopodum, A. occidentale, A. abietinum, A. blumeri, A. cyanocarpum, A. laricis, A. vaginatum subsp. cryptopodum, A. divaricatum, and A. globosum.[4] The larvae resemble their host plants, both because of their segmented bodies and because they take on the color of their food, an example of mimicry.[4]
Subspecies
- Callophrys spinetorum spinetorum (California, Colorado)
an illustration from Hewitson's formal description of C. spinetorum
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