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Hedgerow Hairstreak - Satyrium saepium
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001; Pyle 2002] Forewing 1.3-1.5 cm. Tailed. Uppersurface shiny copper-brown. Undersurface tan to dark red-brown, hindwing with crooked dark postmedian line sometimes edged with white, blue tail spot with little or no orange, often with pale cell-end bars.
Phenology
One flight; mid-July to August in Colorado, late may to early September in Washington to northern California, late May to July in southern California, late April to June on Channel Islands (Scott 1986). Early April to mid-September depending on location in range, mainly July and August in Rocky Mountains (Glassberg 2001). Mid-May to mid-September in Oregon and Washington (Pyle 2002), late June through September in Oregon (Warren 2005), early June to late August in British Columbia (Guppy and Shepard 2001).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best determined by the uppersurface shiny copper-brown, hindwing undersurface with crooked dark postmedian line sometimes edged with white, blue tail spot with little or no orange, often with pale cell-end bars.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Southern British Columbia south though California to northern Baja, south through Idaho and western Montana to northern Arizona and New Mexico (Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001); between 1829 m and 2743 m elevation in Colorado (Brown 1957; Ferris and Brown 1981), 122 m to 2134 m elevation in Oregon (Warren 2005). In Montana, reported from most counties in the montane western 1/3 of the state (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993). Locally common to abundant, except uncommon in Washington and British Columbia (Glassberg 2001).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 4
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Foothill and montane shrubland, sagebrush steppe, pine woodland, oak woodland, chaparral (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Opler and Wright 1999; Glassberg 2001). In Glacier National Park, Montana reported from montane woodland and above treeline in alpine terrain (Debinski 1993), the latter habitat questionable.
Food Habits
Larval food plants include at least seven species of Ceanothus (Scott 1986, 1992, 2006). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Achillea, Aesculus, Anaphalis, Antennaria, Apocynum, Asclepias, Baccharis, Berteroa, Ceanothus, Cirsium, Clematis, Erigeron, Eriodyctyon, Eriogonum, Heterotheca, Monarda, Potentilla, Rhus, Rudbeckia, Solidago, Symphyotrichum) and mud (Pyle 2002; Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Females lay eggs singly on host plant twigs, stems, leaves, buds (Scott 1986, 1992, 2006). Eggs overwinter, hatch 3-4 days after exiting diapause, develop rapidly from L1 instar to L4 instar and pupation in about 19 days, adults eclose (emerge from pua) in 17 days, about 36 days after egg-hatch. Larvae feed on flower buds and underside of host leaves, build no nest, are attended by ants (particularly by Formica pilicornis in California), probably pupate in litter under host plant (Scott 1979, 1986: James and Nunnallee 2011). Males perch throughout the day about 1 m above ground in shrubs on ridgecrests and hilltops while waiting for 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.- Debinski, D. 1993. Butterflies of Glacier National Park, Montana. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. No. 159: 1-13.
- 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.
- James, D.G. and D. Nunnallee. 2011. Life histories of Cascadia butterflies. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. 447 p.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Warren, A.D. 2005. Lepidoptera of North America 6: Butterflies of Oregon, their taxonomy, distribution, and biology. Contributions of the C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University. Fort Collins, Colorado. 406 pp.
- 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
- Guppy, C.S. and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia: including western Alberta, southern Yukon, the Alaska Panhandle, Washington, northern Oregon, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana. UBC Press (Vancouver, BC) and Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria, BC). 414 pp.
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
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