GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, butterfly, Image of the Day
Female Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus.
This butterfly was ovipositing along White OakBayou, E. T.C. Jester Blvd., Houston, Texas.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
Hairstreaks are members of the family Lycaenidae. They are small- to medium-sized butterflies that are found throughout much of the Americas, comprising approximately 1,000 species. They are most speciose in the tropics, and are absent from the far north of the continent.
The upperside of the wings of tropical species is typically iridescent blue, due to reflected light from the wing scales. However, most of the North American hairstreaks are brown above. These butterflies rarely migrate but the gray hairstreak, for example, are good long-distance travelers.
Adults feed on nectar from a wide variety of flowers. Males await mates while perched and females oviposit single eggs. Caterpillars usually feed on leaves or reproductive structures of woody trees or shrubs, and are known to damage bean, hops, and cotton crops. Interestingly, the chrysalids of several species can produce sounds between their abdominal segments, probably due to their interactions with ants. Hairstreaks typically overwinter in the egg or pupal stage.
Comments
Gosh. What a gorgeous butterfly that is.
Posted by: The Ridger | August 13, 2007 6:53 PM
And push....
Posted by: Bob O'H | August 14, 2007 1:03 AM
"... and are known to damage bean, hops, and cotton crops."
Some hairstreaks are made entirely of hot pepper. The larva eats its way right into the fruit.
Sharp picture. What's your camera?
Posted by: Pete Dunkelberg | August 14, 2007 10:27 PM
The camera is a Fuji Finepix S-700, which is about $260 with a 500-megabyte memory card or whatever it is called. You can get a good deal if you get an Internet special with Butterfly Photo.com. Finepix cameras have great macro-autofocus ability with the proviso that a point-and-shoot generally cannot handle something as thin as a damselfly (the latter situation can sometimes be gotten around by lock-focusing on something else and then moving the camera to get a sharp focus on such a small object). I got the butterfly with the long-distance macro and then enlarged and cropped it; cropping can be done right on the camera with the "Trimming" function. Eventually I shall graduate to one of the spectacular new Nikon SLRs with shake control and superb, very bright macro lenses, but right now I am having great fun with the Finepix. I did not realize the Hairstreak was ovipositing till I saw the photo on my computer screen. So the camera enables me to sharpen my amateur-naturalist skills by freezing these insects in their daily lives for observation at leisure. The S-700 anti-shake function, which is nothing more than a one-step turn of a dial to implement a wide-open aperture with attendant fast shutter speed, serves to blur the background and thus contribute to a good picture by keeping one's attention on the insect.
Posted by: biosparite | August 15, 2007 6:54 PM