Telea Hairstreak

Telea Hairstreak - a tiny green hairstreak - quite easy to overlook due to its size and coloration. This butterfly made world news as it had not been recorded for the US for 70 years. Berry Nall first photographed it on October 8, 2007 at Falcon State Park (Texas) - it was considered the first Modern Record and a 2nd U.S. record. I drove out there and was able to photograph it on October 16, 2007. We believe there were several of this species at the park during the month of October as numerous people photographed different butterflies. Some were very fresh - leading us to think it was a local emergence instead of a stray from Mexico. ~ Cat

Wing span: 5/8 - 7/8 inch (1.6 - 2.2 cm).

Identification: Upperside of male iridescent purple-blue; female dull gray-blue. Underside postmedian line is white, forming a W near the inner margin.

Life history: Not reported.

Flight: One flight in South Texas in June; January-July in Central America.

Caterpillar hosts: Flowers of Guazuma (Costa Rica) and Central American soapberry (Peru).

Adult food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Stream valleys of semideciduous dry forests.

Range: Southern Brazil north to Mexico. Rare stray to South Texas.