Gray Hairstreak

Here's a Gray Hairstreak butterfly, a species I'll usually see 2-4 times a year. They're not considered rare, but there are lots of easier-to-find butterflies. They do cover a lot of territory and are considered the most widespread American hairstreak and can be found in all the lower 48 states, most of Mexico, and parts of southern Canada. As you'd expect with such a widespread butterfly, they're not picky eaters. They use many legumes and mallows as host plants, sometimes putting them at odds with farmers. 

The Gray Hairstreak doesn't have a lot of relatives around here; most of their relatives prefer gulf states down to the tropics. They're the oddballs of their genus, handling colder temperatures that most of their close relatives want no part of.

They can overwinter in their chrysalis depending on how cold the winter is; in the northern part of their range they probably die in the winter and repopulate when warmer weather returns. I'm not sure whether they can overwinter around here. There are April sightings in NJ, though most of them are from southern NJ; this might mean they can overwinter in southern NJ.

September 29, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 248785828, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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