butterfly to sail away unharmed, recent research has shown that the defense actually evolved against an even more important hairstreak predator: jumping spiders. Spiders hit the tail end of the wings and wind up with only a jawful of scales.
The most common hairstreak in midsummer, and the largest, is gray hairstreak( Strymon melinus). Its caterpillars feed on clovers, which thrive in the Reserve, and the adult is fond of nectaring on clover as well. As the name implies, it’ s also the most somber in color, dark gray on top and light gray with some white striping on the underside.
More colorful are the trio of true summer hairstreaks: banded, striped, and coral. Banded hairstreaks( Satyrium calanus) and striped hairstreaks( Satyrium liparops) are hard for amateurs to tell apart, the differences being the configuration of spots under the“ hairs” and the way the stripes on the underside look. Banded hairstreak is much more common, reflecting the abundance of the caterpillars’ food source, oaks. Striped hairstreak has a wider range of caterpillar hosts, including black cherry, wild plum, and shadbush, but also sometimes oak, hickory, and ash; so it’ s a mystery why it is so much less common.
Rarer still is coral hairstreak( Satyrium titus), the caterpillar of which feeds only on black cherry, also in good supply in the Reserve. It has the eponymous coral-colored spots in a row along the underside of its hindwing; many consider it the most beautiful of Maryland’ s hairstreak butterflies.
Caterpillars of all three have
Photo: Frode Jacobsen
The common wood-nymph’ s coloring serves as its camouflage.
a unique relationship with ants. them are, as the name suggests, The caterpillars produce a sweet, solid brown. So is the woodnymph, except for the addition sticky substance— honeydew— from special glands on their back. Ants of large, bright yellow rings crave honeydew, and in return they around blue eyespots— almost like protect the caterpillars from predators like spiders, ambush bugs, forewing. These eyespots give the
headlights— on the apex of each
and assassin bugs. Ants may even butterfly another common name, carry the caterpillars around to the ox-eye. Its habits are almost better food supplies, or take them as distinctive— the adults bob up into their nests for protection. For and down among tall grasses, their part, the caterpillars of some darting from time to time into the hairstreak species have evolved the woods bordering hayfields, where capacity to squeak like ant larvae! those headlights show their merit. A great place to look for all They effectively camouflage the our hairstreaks is on the round, butterfly when it flits through the pink balls of milkweed flowering sunspots at the woods’ margin. through June.
Like most browns, the caterpillars One of the iconic grassland feed on various grasses. butterflies found in Montgomery
While hairstreaks are among County and especially in meadows our smallest butterflies, fritillaries are among the largest. A real and grass fields, is the common wood-nymph( Cercyonis pegala), success story for the Ag Reserve is part of the group of butterflies the meadow fritillary( Boloria bellona). It’ s not huge as fritillaries go known as the browns. Most of,
22 plenty I summer growing 2026