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Acadian Hairstreak - Satyrium acadica
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S5
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001] Forewing 1.5-1.7 cm. Tailed. Uppersurface gray with one orange spot on hindwing opposite tail; undersurface gray with row of submarginal orange spots capped with black, hindwing with postmedian row of fairly uniform round black spots, blue tail-spot capped with orange, black bar above tail spot often sharply angled.
Phenology
One flight; late June to early August (Scott 1986). Mid-June to August (Glassberg 2001). Early July to early August in Colorado (Scott and Scott 1978), late June to early September in British Columbia if correctly identified (Threatful 1988).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best determined by a combination of undersurface gray with row of submarginal orange spots capped with black, blue tail-spot capped with orange.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Extreme southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, western Montana east across southern Canada and adjacent US to Nova Scotia and New England, south to Colorado in the west, New Jersey and Maryland in the east (Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999). Although reported as common in parts of southeastern British Columbia (Threatful 1988), other authorities state that the species has not been reported in British Columbia, northern Idaho, or anywhere else west of south-central Montana since 1920 (Pyle 2002); to 2560 m elevation in Colorado but typically 1830 m or below (Brown 1957; Scott and Scott 1978). In Montana, reported from several south-central and eastern counties (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993). Locally uncommon to locally common (Glassberg 2001).
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Riparian woodland, stream courses, marshes, willow thickets (Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001). Willows and along streams in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Debinski and Pritchard 2002).
Food Habits
Larval food plants include several species of Salix (Scott 1986, 1992). Adults feed on flower nectar, including Apocynum, Asclepias, Ceanothus, Cirsium, Medicago, Melilotus, Polygonum, and Tamarix (Scott 1986, 2014; Tooker et al. 2002).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs in small numbers (1-6 eggs per oviposition) on host plant twig usually in a small hole, less often at base of leaf, then sealed with a "glue window." Overwinter (diapause) as egg; larvae build no nests, associate with ants. (Scott 1979, 1986, 1992). Males perch (infrequently patrol) on small willows or other plants less than 1 m above the ground during the afternoon waiting for females (Scott 1975b, 1986).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Brown, F.M. 1957. Colorado Butterflies. Proceedings; Numbers Three through Seven. Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Co.- Debinski, D.M. and J.A. Pritchard. 2002. A field guide to the butterflies of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Lanham, MD: Roberts Rinehart Publishers. 107 p.
- Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown (eds). 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 442 pp.
- Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. Oxford University Press.
- Kohler, S. 1980. Checklist of Montana Butterflies (Rhopalocera). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1): 1-19.
- Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright. 1999. A field guide to western butterflies. Second edition. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 540 pp.
- Pyle, R.M. 2002. The butterflies of Cascadia: a field guide to all the species of Washington, Oregon, and surrounding territories. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, Washington. 420 pp.
- Scott, J.A. 1975b. Mate-locating behavior of western North American butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14:1-40.
- Scott, J.A. 1979. Hibernal diapause of North American Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 18(3): 171-200.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Scott, J.A. 1992. Hostplant records for butterflies and skippers (mostly from Colorado) 1959-1992, with new life histories and notes on oviposition, immatures, and ecology. Papilio new series #6. 185 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2014. Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower visitation by Colorado butterflies (40,615 records) with a review of the literature on pollination of Colorado plants and butterfly attraction (Lepidoptera: Hersperioidea and Papilionoidea). Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthopod Diversity. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 190 p.
- Scott, J.A. and G.R. Scott. 1978. Ecology and distribution of the butterflies of southern central Colorado. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 17(2): 73-128.
- Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies: including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Unpubl. Report. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado 275 pp.
- Threatful, D.L. 1988. A list of the butterflies and skippers of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, British Columbia, Canada (Lepidoptera). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 27(3-4): 213-221.
- Tooker, J.F., P.F. Reagel, and L.M. Hanks. 2002. Nectar sources of day-flying lepidoptera of central Illinois. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95(1): 84-96.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Allen, T.J., J.P. Brock, and J. Glassberg. 2005. Caterpillars in the field and garden: a field guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America. Oxford University Press.
- Brock, J.P. and K. Kaufman. 2003. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY 284 pp.
- Forister, M.L., C.A. Halsch, C.C. Nice, J.A. Fordyce, T.E. Dilts, J.C. Oliver, K.L. Prudic, A.M. Shapiro, J.K. Wilson, J. Glassberg. 2021. Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West. Science 371:1042-1045.
- Forister, M.L., E.M. Grames, C.A. Halsch, K.J. Burls, C.F. Carroll, K.L. Bell, J.P. Jahner, et al. 2023. Assessing risk for butterflies in the context of climate change, demographic uncertainty, and heterogeneous data sources. Ecological Monographs 93(3):e1584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1584
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
- Scott, J.A. 2006. Butterfly hostplant records, 1992-2005, with a treatise on the evolution of Erynnis, and a note on new terminology for mate-locating behavior. Papilio new series #14. 74 p.
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