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Banded Hairstreak - Satyrium calanus
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001] Forewing 1.4-1.6 cm. Hindwing double-tailed, the anterior tail very short. Uppersurface mostly brown with distinct reddish spot near anal angle of hindwing. Undersurface brown to gray, postmedian line of elongate and almost continuous dark dashes with white outside edges, hindwing with submarginal reddish-orange spots, the blue tail spot not capped with orange.
Shropshire and Tallamy (2025) provide a list, with synonymies, of 13,055 described native, exotic, and occasional straying Lepidoptera species of North America, north of Mexico; known but undescribed taxa, taxa with unresolved taxonomy, and excluded species are also included. The
main manuscript includes links to supplementary materials, including a reference list for Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, and a filterable spreadsheet with information on taxonomy, synonymy, size ranges of species, distribution by state, province, and country with references, and host-plant Family and Genus associations with references.
Phenology
One flight; late April to early June in the south, July to mid-August in the north and mountains (Scott 1986). Mainly April to early June in Texas, late June to early August in Colorado, July to mid-August in South Dakota and Saskatchewan (Glassberg 2001). Late June to late August in Colorado (Scott and Scott 1978; Ferris and Brown 1981).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Probably best determined by the undersurface brown to gray, postmedian line of elongate and almost continuous dark dashes with white outside edges, hindwing with submarginal reddish-orange spots, the blue tail spot not capped with orange.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Southern Canada and eastern US south to the Gulf states, west to the Dakotas, eastern Nebraska and Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, also in Colorado, northern New Mexico, extreme eastern ond southern Wyoming (Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001); 1783 m to 2926 m elevation in Colorado (Brown 1957; Scott and Scott 1978). In Montana, not reported prior to 2004 (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993; FLMNH Lepidopterists' Society database); since reported from Carter County in the extreme southeastern corner of the state.
Shropshire and Tallamy (2025) provide link to a supplemental filterable spreadsheet with information on distribution by state, province, and country with references for all Lepidoptera species of North America, north of Mexico.
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Oak brush and groves along plains rivers, open fields and glades in or near oak woodlands (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001). In Montana, reported from the only area in the state where native oak (burr oak,
Quercus macrocarpa) occurs (FLMNH Lepidopterists' Society database).
Shropshire and Tallamy (2025) provide a link to a supplemental filterable spreadsheet with information on host-plant Family and Genus associations with references for all Lepidoptera species of North America, north of Mexico.
Food Habits
Larval food plants include Acer, Carya, Castanea, Fraxinus, Juglans, Malus, several species of Quercus (the primary host), possibly Prunus (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986, 1992, 2006). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Apocynum, Asclepias, Ceanothus, Centaurea, Cirsium, Heracleum, Melilotus, Pastinaca, Rudbeckia, Rhus, Solidago) and tree sap (Tooker et al. 2002; Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs on host plant twigs; overwinter in egg stage. Larvae eat catkins and holes in leaves, build no nest (Scott 1979, 1986). Males perch on small shrubs or other objects throughout the day, often in gullies or small clearings but sometimes hilltops to await passing females (Scott 1975b, 1986).
Stewardship Responsibility
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.- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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?- 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.
- Shropshire, K.J. and D.W. Tallamy. 2025. Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. Zookeys.1261:101-113.
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