Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
LinkedInPosts Tagged: Strymon melinus
Gray Hairstreak Host Plant: A Record of Some Kind?
Where are the monarch butterflies? They're MIA on the four species of milkweed in our Vacaville pollinator garden But milkweed attracts other insects, including honey bees, carpenter bees, bumble bees, assassin bugs, syrphid flies, leafcutter bees, Anthophora (genus) bees, wasps,...
The gray hairstreak, Strymon melinus, finds a play her lay her eggs, on the buds of a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gray hairstreak, Strymon melinus, laying eggs on the buds of a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gotta Love that Gray Hairstreak
Gotta love that Gray Hairstreak. If you don't like putting "gray" and "hair" in the same sentence, not to worry. This is the butterfly, Strymon melinus. When the it's hanging around a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, the orange spots on its tail accent the color of the...
The Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, sips nectar on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. The orange spots accent the orange flower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, dips low to sip nectar on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Eye to eye: the Gray Hairstreak, resembling the sail on a sailboat, eyes the photographer. Note the "companion" at its side. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Winning Streak
It's delightful to see the gray hairstreak. We're not talking about the gray streaks in our hair as we age (to perfection, of course!). We're talking about the gray hairstreak, a common gray butterfly found throughout the United States, coast to coast, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico....
A common gray hairstreak, Strymon melinus, nectarine on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Check out the length of the proboscis on the gray hairstreak as it sips nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Peek-a-boo! A gray hairstreak peers at the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Seeing Eye-to-Eye on a Sedum
If you've ever watched a Gray Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) nectaring a sedum, and then watched a honey bee (Apis mellifera) land on the same flower, it's a study in sharing. "I was here first," says the Gray Hairstreak, sipping nectar. "I was here second," says the honey bee. So they...
Honey bee sharing a sedum blossom with a Gray Hairstreak. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A little closer...the honey bee edges toward the Gray Hairstreak. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Too close for comfort. The Gray Hairstreak takes off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Streak of Gray
Are you on a winning streak? Or a losing streak? Or somewhere in between? The Gray Hairstreak butterfly (Strymon melinus) is always on a streak--a gray streak. Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, writes about the...
Gray Hairsteak, Strymon melinus, nectaring guara. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bottoms up! Gray Hairstreak sipping nectar from guara. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
